A wilder Wallington

GIFTED to the National Trust in the 1940s by socialist MP Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, Wallington stretches over a huge area of nature-rich landscape.

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The Northumberland estate covers 20-square-miles from the southern boundary of the River Wansbeck, all the way up to Harwood Forest in the north.

It's home to valuable habitats but as with much of the UK, Wallington has seen a decline in the abundance and variety of wildlife over the last 100 years. Extreme weather has also left its mark as we increasingly experience the effects of climate change, such as increasingly extreme variations in rainfall.

To ensure Wallington is a place where nature and people can thrive, restoration and conservation work is underway across the estate. Ambitions are big: to protect 50km of rivers and streams, create hedgerows and woodlands, restore wetlands and peatlands, champion nature-friendly farming, protect threatened species, and improve the network of public rights of way.

None of this could happen without the support of Wallington's tenant farmers who are actively making space for nature, and a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time for conservation and wildlife. So far, more than 330,000 trees have been planted in woodlands, hedgerows, wood pasture and riverside corridors. Wallington's ambition is to plant one million trees by 2030.