Date: 6 May 2018
Time: 15.47 hrs
Location: Kielder Water
On Sunday the North East Ambulance Service requested Mountain Rescue’s support for an injured cyclist at Kielder Water. Initially the exact location of the cyclist and intended route was unknown. #SARLOC was successfully used by North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and ourselves to fix the cyclist’s location, identified as being on the Lakeside Way, east of Gowanburn.
The cyclist was treated on scene by NEAS and evacuated using the Hazardous Area Response Team’s ATV with Mountain Rescue’s assistance.
Whilst responding to the above incident, both MRTs were also requested to assist Northumbria Police in locating a vulnerable male. The male was successfully located near to Kielder Dam by Mountain Rescue members.
Here is a brand new promotional video for Kielder Water & Forest Park, the most tranquil place in England. www.visitkielder.com for more up to date information.
The Team has just stood down from a search for a missing cyclist. The cyclist split from the rest of his group at Kershope Bridge in Scotland, late afternoon yesterday, and failed to turn up at their overnight accommodation near to Falstone. As Team members were travelling to the RV, one of our Team vehicle was deployed to search towards Kielder from the overnight accommodation. The cyclist was located near to Tower Knowe Information Centre; he was tired, mildly hypothermic but otherwise fine.
A good result involving ourselves, North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and Tweed Valley MRT. Mountain Rescue working together cross the Border!
Deep in the heart of Northumberland you can experience a night sky which is out of this world
Europe’s biggest Dark Sky Park to be created in Northumblerland
According to the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), the star-studded skies above Kielder Water & Forest Park are the darkest in England.
Our skies are so truly dark, that together with Northumberland National Park and Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society, we have been awarded Gold Tier Dark Sky Park status by the International Dark Skies Association (IDA) in December 2013 – the highest accolade the IDA can give.
Our dark sky zone, known as Northumberland Dark Sky Park, is the largest area of protected night sky in Europe.
It is the first of its kind in England and one of the largest in the world, joining the likes of Death Valley and Big Bend Dark Sky Parks in the USA.
The IDA are the leading international organisation working to combat light pollution worldwide. Becoming a Dark Sky Park means that our night skies will be kept free from light pollution and we can create more opportunities for people to be inspired by the stars.
It is estimated that 85% of the UK population has never seen a truly dark sky or experienced the sense of wonder that a clear night filled with billions of stars can give!
Kielder Water & Forest Park is a fantastic place for star gazing and home to Kielder Observatory, as seen on Robson Green’s Tales from Northumberland.
Since the observatory opened in 2008 it has attracted nearly 30,000 people with its exciting programme of astronomical events throughout the year. See our events page for more information.
But you don’t just have to go to the observatory to see our star attractions!
Kielder campsite is filled twice a year by the Kielder Forest Star Camp which draws hundreds of observers from across the UK for five nights of stargazing. See the Kielder Observatory website for more information.
The best time for stargazing is during the autumn and winter months, when the nights draw in. Pack up your binoculars, a deckchair and a hot drink and sit back and enjoy a star-studded show. For more hints and tips on stargazing see our Northumberland Dark Sky Park leaflet.
It’s not just stargazers who benefit from the reduced light pollution, Kielder Water & Forest Park is abundant with a variety of wildlife. The dark skies can enhance the habitat for many of our woodland species such as birds, bats, moths and insects.
Kielder Water & Forest Park won gold to be officially recognised as the best tourism experience in the country. The park won the prestigious honour at the VisitEngland 2013 Awards for Excellence held on May 20th at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Elisabeth Rowark, Director, Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust, said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised as the very best tourism experience in the whole of the country and it was a great honour to represent North East England at these top national awards”.
“Our members across the Park in the last year have enjoyed an increase in the number of visitors to their attractions to nearly 370,000 and the best has yet to come”.
“This year will see exciting developments including our bid for Dark Sky Park status, growth of the art and architecture programme, capital developments across several of our visitor centres and an ever growing, action packed event programme that is attracting visitors from across the UK.”
Stacy Burlett, Head of Customer and Cultural Services for Northumberland County Council, said: “Tourism is a vital economic generator for our county providing 11% of our employment and an area the Council is committed to growing. We are proud to be a core partner on Kielder Water & Forest Park and celebrate its success as a key destination for Northumberland.”
Kate Priestly, Chair of Northumberland Tourism, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Kielder Water & Forest Park has been recognised in the National Tourism Awards as one of the must visit destinations in Northumberland”.
“More than nine million people visit the county each year contributing a staggering £706 million to our local economy”.
“There is no doubt that Kielder Water & Forest Park is an outstanding tourism experience, offering unrivalled events and playing a significant part in the success of tourism in Northumberland.”
Kielder Water & Forest Park, which spans 250 square miles, is home to the largest forest in England and the largest man-made lake in northern Europe. It was voted the most tranquil place in England by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. For more information go to www.visitkielder.com.
May’s event started at our normal start and breakfast venue, the Dukes Pantry at Kielder Castle. The drive along the C200 towards the Castle gave a little clue to what sort of day we were going to have with some rather large puddles spanning the road.
After registration and driver briefing we headed off into Bewshaugh where the tracks were wet and muddy but didn’t pose any problems until we got to a track that crosses Sturdy Sike. Here the track had washed out quite badly but we managed to get all the 4×4’s, ranging from a brand new Land Rover Freelander, a VW Touareg, a Mercedes GL and the usual range of other Land Rovers, down the incline and washed out section with very little problems.
After Bewshaugh we headed into Kielder for a circular loop ending at the Dam for a lunch and toilet stop. After a rather damp lunchtime we headed back over the dam for another loop of the Southern part of the Forest. Once complete we headed back over the dam to Falstone Forest and did a couple of circular tracks around the fire tower before finishing the day off at the dam car park around 5pm.
Chatting to a few of the supporters after the event it transpired that this had been their first time off-road and they were surprised just how capable their own vehicles were and how they had really enjoyed the day. We would love to welcome you back to a future event and extend that invitation to anybody else who has a 4×4 but maybe haven’t really used it off-road, why not book a Kielder 4×4 Safari and come and join in the fun and raise some money for the Mountain Rescue Team.
If this sounds like something you would like to experience then why not head over to our bookings page and sign up for the next Safari on Sunday 30th June 2013
If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch, you can find our details on the Contact Page
The Kielder 4×4 Safari proceeds go to Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team. Registered Charity 511313.
Amateur meteorologist Doug Paulley has started producing weather forecasts just for the Kielder area. Doug, who is studying with the Open University, noted that Kielder and it surrounding areas has its own ‘micro climate’ and some of the forecasts available were not very reliable so Doug decided to produce his own forecasts which he has kindly allowed us to post on our website.
Doug’s forecasts are generated eight times a day and are valid for Kielder Water and the immediate surrounding forest. He provides up to 6 day forecasts with an hour-by-hour resolution, and he also provide a free email service, where subscribers receive the latest forecast once a day at 7:10am.
Doug takes data from thousands of Government METAR and SYNOP weather stations up to 3,000km away; also from weather buoys, weather balloon soundings, ozone measurements and the inter-Government created Global Forecast System model outputs. He then uses this data as the base for his interactive local atmospheric modeling system and parse the output as a detailed weather forecast.
The idea is hopefully to be able to provide a useful resource for organisations such as ourselves and Calvert Trust Kielder are also using his forecasting service. Having carefully tailored his forecasting model specifically for Kielder area, he has hopes that it may be of better accuracy than some of the others. Doug is also trying to implement a Kielder Midge forecast and a midge warning .
April’s event started with a welcome return to The Duke’s Pantry at Kielder Castle for breakfast and sorting paperwork, the Mountain Rescue team also brought their brand new vehicle with them to show off to the the capacity entry for the Safari. By taking part in the Kielder 4×4 Safari you have helped towards the huge cost of buying and equipping the new vehicle, and the Mountain Rescue Team would like to thank all those who support our event and those who support the Team directly as without your support they would not be able to operate.
Making a début on this event also was Kielder 4×4 Safari’s new (to us) support vehicle, the white Land Rover Defender 110 has been retired from an active serving Mountain Rescue vehicle and will now be used by the Safari as a support vehicle on events and also keep an eye out for it at some of the local shows in the summer where we will be doing more fund raising.
As we were fully booked for the event we had to split the cars into two groups, which meant two convoys, each doing a separate route, then meeting up at the Dam at lunchtime and then the convoys switched routes in the afternoon. We had a mixture of surfaces to deal with, from the snow on the higher ground, some muddy trails and we even had to contend with dust on convoy two’s run back to the castle.
We had quite a few new faces on this event and from talking to people at the end everybody seems to have enjoyed themselves and we would love to welcome you back at a future event, this welcome of course is also extended to our regular visitors, some of who have supported us for a long time.
If this sounds like something you would like to experience then why not head over to our bookings page and sign up for the next Safari on Saturday 18th May 2013
If you require any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch, you can find our details on the Contact Page
The Kielder 4×4 Safari proceeds go to Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team. Registered Charity 511313.
Kielder 4x4 Safari Support Vehicle - Curlew X-Ray Kielder 4x4 Safari Support Vehicle - Curlew X-Ray
The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Land Rover Curlew Delta
The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Land Rover Curlew Delta The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Land Rover Curlew Delta
Scream if you are enjoying yourself
The Dam car park nearly full with Safari supporters
Members of The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team
The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Land Rover Curlew Delta The Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Land Rover Curlew Delta
3 Land Rover's daisy chained together to winch a Land Rover Defender out of a ditch 3 Land Rover's daisy chained together to winch a Land Rover Defender out of a ditch
Whoops
and it's out.......
I think it needs a wash now! Kielder 4x4 Safari Support Vehicle - Curlew X-Ray
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