Building Smoutel Ford, September 2019. The pipes will be coming out soon, then the Ford will be underwater and only the stepping stones will be visible.
Revitalising Redesdale made great progress on the catchment-wide effort to improve the River Rede for wildlife and people. Enthusiastic farmers and land managers helped the partners to re-establish natural river processes, capture sediment, create wetlands, plant trees and manage grazing. We also rebuilt the historic bridleway at Smoutel Ford, allowing walkers and riders to enjoy trails between Monkridge Hill and Otterburn for the first time in decades.
The River Rede, a major tributary of the Tyne, is home to salmon, trout and otter and holds one of the two last populations of Freshwater Pearl Mussels in North East England. These mussels are rare and declining as the result of many changes to the river over the past century. Action was needed to improve the health of the river and save the protected mussels. A proactive partnership of Northumbrian organisations pooled their energy and resources to set up a catchment-wide initiative funded by partners and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Revitalising Redesdale Landscape Partnership launched in 2018 with the River Improvement Project at the heart of the programme.
An example of successful river improvement works during historic flooding, August 2019 – Thank You to Philip Walton.
One of the Redesdale walks created by the project takes in Smoutel Ford – for information about self guided walks in the area see our walks page with downloadable pdfs of 18 walk routes.
The Rede rises in the wild, upland bogs of Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Whitelee National Nature ...
The River Rede’s flow and form has been changed in many ways over the past ...
Rede near Smoutel Ford was straightened and over-deepened, looking like a canal The river crossing ...
Severely eroding river bank adding large amounts of sediment to the river During high flow ...
The lower reaches of the River Rede are in generally better condition than the higher ...
In areas where livestock regularly access the river or streams they create muddy areas that ...
