AONB Awards for Excellence

Northumberland Coast AONB Awards for excellence 2011

The Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership presented its Awards for Excellence 2011 at a gala ceremony at the Sun Hotel, Warkworth on Friday 5 August 2011. The Partnership makes the Awards to acknowledge, promote and celebrate excellence in the care, management and development of our coast and countryside.

Building Design Award

Award Winner  - Eleanor’s Byre, Embleton Mill

Attentive drivers concentrating on the winding road may miss this delight; fortunately there’s evidence that many people know what’s in store.

The mellowed stone exterior has subtle clues to a long life of work (back to 1269, which is a lot to ask of any building). The pantiled and slate roofs suggest more hints of a building that’s evolved over time, and, with the sprinkling of red sandstone, would give a buildings archaeologist a pretty good idea where to find it in Britain.

That this humble structure has not only survived fickle weather and fashion but also entered a new lease of life is apparent at the entrance. The braced doors swing wide to reveal the simplest of display windows but close to revert back to agricultural origins. Internally, the shop and café derive their charm from raw historic surfaces, left bare of pretence, alongside crafted new details.

This modest scheme is every inch about how to trade sensitively and successfully in an AONB.

Elizabeth Robertson
Eleanor’s Byre
Spitalford
Embleton
Alnwick
NE66 3DW
www.eleanorsbyre.co.uk
 

Award Winner - Dewar’s Lane Granary, Berwick-upon-Tweed

This building defies gravity. Admittedly with some support from a new internal frame, it has survived sort-of upright to live another day after fate has dealt it some fairly brutal calamities. A fire in the early nineteenth century caused it to lean 1.2m from the vertical – more than the leaning tower of Pisa! Fortunately, motivation was stronger than gravity: this eighteenth century granary translates the imprint of industry, worked out in the tight narrow medieval plots, into cultural inspiration – a towering ‘ship’ with shutters like gun ports, berthed behind the defensive walls from which a ‘gangway’ gives access.

Fortunately, not only has this landmark been salvaged but the industrial character remains everywhere to be seen, squeezing new services and a little extra headroom out of a pretty uncompromising structure. The mix of uses – Youth Hostel, gallery, meeting rooms and bistro – plays to the strengths of the building and has brought life back to this part of the town in a way that a new building would struggle to match. The newly pantiled roof and dormers rejoin the crowded roofscape, so important as a feature of Berwick.

An urban project of this scale may seem remote from the images of the windswept dunes of the AONB, but if an historic coast is to thrive it needs its lifelines of communities and bases for visitors and cultural centres; this project packs all three into one convincing argument.

Berwick-upon-Tweed Preservation Trust
Dewar’s Lane Granary
Berwick-upon-Tweed
TD15 1HJ
www.berwick-pt.co.uk

Farming & Land Management

Award Winner Hunting Hall Farm

“Individuals committed to farming and managing the land in an innovative, sustainable and wildlife friendly way” was how the judges described this nomination. From the well managed hedgerows and field boundaries to the wide field margins, from the herb-rich grassland to the pond creation, from infield regimes to woodland management it was easy to see the ‘whole-farm’ approach and environmentally friendly philosophy to their major responsibilities of looking after the land.

Insects were buzzing, birds were singing, and blooming flowers created colourful swaths across the rolling grassland during the site visit and all the while crops were growing. All these factors contributed to integrated farm management. The passion and commitment of Tom and Karen was plain to see by their positive impact on the land. In the judges’ view, “Hunting Hall Farm makes a significant and worthy contribution to the landscape of the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”.

Tom and Karen Burn
Hunting Hall
Beal
Berwick-upon-Tweed
TD15 2TP
www.huntinghall.co.uk

Highly Commended

Northumberland 4Shores Project – Environment Agency

The innovative Northumberland 4Shores Project is led by the Environment Agency, as part of the Northumbria Local Levy Programme, in partnership with Natural England, Northumberland Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, the AONB and farmers. It is developing sustainable approaches to tidal flooding, and restoring floodplain function, at Warkworth, Alnmouth, Beal and Goswick. It contributes significantly to delivery of UK Biodiversity Action Plan habitat and species targets for the North East.

The Whin Grassland Project – Northumberland Wildlife Trust

Northumberland Wildlife Trust ‘upped a gear’ translating existing theory into on-the-ground good practice with its Whin Grassland Project, engaging multiple landowners and volunteers
in its scrub clearance and conservation grazing on Holy Island, Kippy Heugh, Harpers Heugh, Dunstanburgh Heugh and West Kyloe.

http://www.nwt.org.uk/

Sustainable Tourism

Award Winner - Hunting Hall Farm

If it’s green, Karen and Tom at Hunting Hall have tried it. From high-tech water and energy saving measures to the use of environmentally friendly paint on the walls – they even have rare-breed pigs. Every single opportunity to make this tourism business as green as it can be has been thought of; however, they are still looking at ways to improve.

A green ethos runs through the whole business, but for the visiting guests, it isn’t ‘in-your face’ it’s more a way of life – truly inspirational!

Hunting Hall demonstrates perfectly that being green and providing high-quality accommodation can go hand-in-hand. The attention to detail such as organic cotton and hand-made quilts, a stock of local and fair trade produce as well as homemade bread ensure the guests go home happy. The repeat booking figures speak for themselves

Tom and Karen Burn
Hunting Hall
Beal
Berwick-upon-Tweed
TD15 2TP
www.huntinghall.co.uk

Highly Commended

St Cuthbert’s House B&B, North Sunderland
The high standard and quality of this luxury serviced accommodation is really impressive. The way that Jeff and Jill have integrated such a comprehensive green offer into the high-end experience enjoyed by visitors to St Cuthbert's House is testament to the fact that green doesn't have to equal muesli and hair-shirts. It's immediately apparent why people come back to stay time and time again.

St Cuthbert’s House, North Sunderland NE68 7UB. www.stcuthbertshouse.com

Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel, Embleton

Vickie and Michael have been running the Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel for 12 years. In that time they have applied green tourism principles to absolutely every part of the business. From local and seasonal sourcing of produce for the menu and grey water recycling to waste minimisation and high insulation levels, they seem to have addressed everything. In addition they are constantly on the look out for ways to further green their business.

Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel, Embleton NE66 3UN. www.dunstanburghcastlehotel.co.uk

Download a pdf of the Awards for Excellence 2011 publication