Our 2015 programme provided us with plenty of insights into our local wildlife and culture including a walk with with Chris Ruskin in March to look at the disappearing farms of Weardale, a late date with nightjars in Slaley forest in June and ‘Every flower tells a story’ a fascinating talk from Phil Gates in November - just some of the 13 walks and talks we organised last year!

Our next event is in October 2016, if you would like to join us for a day of leather carving. The local artist Mark Rowney will be teaching us the technique of this fascinating craft. From tooling to piecing together, everyone will be taking home their own hand made leather item. Please see our events page for full details.

Our membership subscription runs from January to January and you can renew your subscription or sign up at any of our talks.

Wildlife is an important part of Weardale's landscape but much of it is being lost. In order to conserve and protect our natural heritage we want to play our part in understanding our wildlife and encouraging others to enjoy our surroundings.

We aim to:

• Bring together people interested in wildlife
• Record key wildlife species and their habitats
• Encourage local interest in wildlife and conservation
• Share our knowledge and skills with other groups and organisations

Initially our focus will be Ashes Quarry in Stanhope, where we are recording the flora and fauna and we will be adding other sites in the future. If you know of any sites that would be of interest to us please feel free to get in touch.

If you would like to get involved, your enthusiasm and interest would be warmly welcome and we have many events in the pipeline. Please see our calendar for upcoming walks, talks, gatherings and training events. We would also like to meet for informal walks, so if you are planning a walk and would like others to join you please contact us. We can be contacted by email at enquiries@weardalewildlifegroup.co.uk or check out our facebook page. Feel free also to post events or news on our blog page on this website, called 'What's been going on' Please note, we have a no dog policy.

Please also check out the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s WildWatch pages. 

We also record wildlife sightings which are submitted to Wildwatch. Please use the following link to record your own sightings Wildwatch