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Laying the first bale

The first straw bale has been put in place to kick-start start the construction of Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s new Wildlife Discovery Centre.

Chris Mullin, author, journalist, former MP for Sunderland South (1987 - 2010) President of Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s North East Committee, was delighted to be given the task of manoeuvring the bale into position, which is no mean feat, on the wildlife charity’s Hauxley reserve on Druridge Bay.

The bale was placed on a wooden base plate and held in place by a row of wooden spikes made from hazel trees grown on the reserve. The base plate rests on a gabion baskets filled with stone from Howick Quarry, which in turn sits on top of a foundation trench.

Once the bale was in place, Chris said: “This is going to be a brilliant facility. I can’t wait to see it up and running.”

Earlier this year, the Trust received a grant of £417,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its Dynamic Druridge project, a large part of which is being spent on the new building, which is being constructed from the landscape and with the potential to be the greenest building in the north-east, using locally grown and traditional building materials. You can follow the build’s progress at https://www.facebook.com/HauxleyNatureReserve

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .