More trees planted at Thirlmere

Our Glenridding Common team joins partners and volunteers to plant trees for the Thirlmere Resilience Project.

A mid-March blast of wintery weather didn’t deter our hardy volunteers and partners from joining the Trust’s Glenridding Common team on the other side of Helvellyn. They were there to help kick off this year’s tree planting season at Wythburn, in the heart of the Lake District National Park.

Planting trees as part of creating a self-sustaining mixed woodland is an important component of the Thirlmere Resilience Project – a partnership between United Utilities, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, John Muir Trust, Natural England, West Cumbria Rivers Trust and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Lancaster University.

A 5.6km-long reservoir located between Grasmere and Keswick, Thirlmere and its wider catchment area has recently experienced both drought and flooding.

This large-scale land management project aims to restore ecosystems and develop a catchment capable of both supporting environmental targets and guaranteeing water supplies for West Cumbria.

Glenridding Common Manager Pete Barron thanked everyone for their hard work in tough weather conditions: “It was a great effort, especially as three inches of snow appeared from nowhere!”

• Find out more about our work at Glenridding Common.

Photograph by Ross Brannigan. Eventually 1,500 trees were planted at Wythburn over five sessions - fortunately they were not all as snowy and blowy as the pictures above showing our volunteers and Glenridding Common Conservation Officer Isaac.