News Archive 2025 Oct-Dec
A project to improve the drainage of the path along the west side of the estuary was commenced this morning by nine volunteers, on a sunny but chilly day.
Memories of the dry months of the 2025 summer are a fading memory now, and the theme of today was mud – wet, sticky mud. Indeed the whole idea of the project is to combat mud and improve the walkability of the estuary path. The problem is that there is a steep slope above the west-side path, which means that when it rains, water pours down onto the path making it muddy and puddley.
The long-standing solution has been to have a ditch along the up-slope side of the path and a series of gullies across the path to get the water away and into the burn. Today we were improving the gullies by digging them out, putting a plastic culvert tube in and covering over with flat stones.
The flat stones were obtained from the river bed. There used to be a stepping-stone crossing, but the stones had got displaced by the force of the burn and were scattered about, along with other stones.
We started off using our hand winch to haul stones out of the river. It soon became apparent, however, that this was too slow so we hauled the stones out by hand to the river bank, then used the winch to get them up and onto the bank.
Photograph A. Removing stones from river
Having got them out, we used our sack-trolley (which has hardly been used before now) to get them to where they were needed.
While four volunteers were doing this, the other five were digging out one of the cross-path gullies. A length of plastic pipe was laid in the trench which was then filled in and paved over with stones from the river.
Photograph B. Digging out gully
By the time this was complete, we were past the halfway mark of the session so rather than dig out another gully, we decided to repair a section of path that had become eroded. This involved digging out the mud from the eroded section and placing flat river stones in that place.
Photograph C. Repaired path.
We will undoubtedly be back next week to continue this project.
The estuary is always good for wildlife, and today we saw a little egret, a heron and lots of mallard, and heard the haunting call of the redshank – the “sentinel of the marsh”. The trees are turning to their autumn shades and the beeches, in particular, are a beautiful mixture of green, yellow and copper.
Eleven volunteers met up at Dene Cottage, on an overcast day with a forecast of showers, for a day of gully clearance in the estuary area and some tree-planting in the same area.
After a quick safety talk and with everyone knowing what job they were doing, off we went with two wheelbarrows of tools and left-over silver birch saplings from our silver jubilee tree planting. Two volunteers took charge of the tree planting, deciding the best position for the saplings. After the planting they rejoined the main party.
The main party went up the estuary to the wooden bridge and started to clear the gullies of mud and leaves. It wasn’t long before the expected rain started to fall, but luckily the trees that line the path provided us with some cover.
Photograph A. Clearing out side-gullies
Photograph B. Clearing out cross-gully
We made good progress, moving slowly back along the path towards the van, clearing path-side and drainage gullies. We also dug a couple of new gullies to drain some areas which are now getting flooded.
I don’t know whether it was fortunately or unfortunately – with the rain falling – but the time beat us, so we cleaned up the tools and headed back to the van and home for a shower and a spot of lunch.
One of us kept an eye open for wildlife and landscape photo opportunities (see Facebook). So here’s a composite image of some of the wildlife she recorded.
Photograph C. Wildlife
A working party of nine turned out on Tuesday morning to do various jobs in the vicinity of the meadow near the stone bridge. We were doing two things that morning: (1) sowing yellow rattle in the meadow, and (2) clearing out drainage channels.
Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a native plant which is often used to improve wildflower meadows. It parasitises tall grasses and other large plants by inserting its roots into those of the plants it preys on. It reduces their vigour and thereby reduces the competition they pose to smaller, more attractive wildflowers. The end result is a meadow with a wide variety of flowers that are attractive to butterflies, bees etc.
So, we strimmed and raked some areas of the meadow, then sowed the yellow rattle seed on the prepared ground and pressed them in. I guess we’ll see how well it has worked next summer.
Photograph A. Meadow sowed with yellow rattle
This work was done by a group of three volunteers. The other six meanwhile set to work clearing out the gully or small ditch running down one side of the Hartley West Farm access road where it comes down a steep bank. Mattocks and spades were the main tools used.
Photograph B. Clearing channel
Photograph C. Result
We do this every year to prevent water flowing down the slope and flooding the meadow as happened a couple of years ago. (We also installed a field drain in the meadow for the same reason.)
The next job was to dig a channel along one side of the stone bridge. The objective, again, was to keep water flowing along the side of the roadway not across it.
While this was going on, the four volunteers who had been sowing yellow rattle started work clearing the channel that runs from the road to the river across the land close to the dipping pond. This also needs an annual clean-out.
It was a dull, misty and damp day without much wildlife interest, but we noticed there was large flock of rooks at the tall beeches alongside Hartley Lane which were calling loudly and flying around apparently aimlessly. A little wren sang loudly as we were having our refreshment break – which was made more pleasant by our lady chair bringing a tin of choccy treats, I think to celebrate our financially successful coffee morning on Saturday.
The Working Party of eight volunteers was working on a variety of jobs near the tunnel this morning, on a dull but dry day.
We assembled near the Northumbrian Water pumping station near Holywell, where we can conveniently park our tools van. We then marched, with all our tools, to the gate at the southern end of the embankment of the old railway. It this point we split into three groups.
One group, of two volunteers, went to clear mud and leaves from the drainage ditch beside the Rest a While seat. This job only took a couple of minutes then they returned to the main party.
Photograph A. Drainage ditch after clearing-out
The second group, of two people, started work on cutting ivy from trees and removing sycamore saplings. This included using the bowsaw to cut down three sycamores that were a bigger than mere saplings.
The third group, of four, started work meanwhile finishing off last week’s work on the gate. A rotten post was removed from the ground – with considerably greater ease than the one that had to be removed last week. Four lengths of timber were cut and attached to the side-panel, replacing the old decaying material. Finally, the gap that people had been pushing through was filled in with a metal grille.
Photograph. B. Repairing gate
Photograph C. Finished gate
As we were finishing for the day, five volunteers went to clear the path of a tree brought down during Storm Amy over the weekend. With loppers and bow saws they soon cleared a path so walkers can get past. Unfortunately the truck of the tree was too big for us to cut, so we will have to send an email to Northumberland County Council to get them to remove it.
Photograph D. Tree blocking path
Photograph E. Partial clearance
Not much to report on the wildlife front, but we were accompanied by a robin while we were having our break, as we often are. I think we are all relieved that Storm Amy did not cause more damage than it did, because the trees were still in full leaf and therefore vulnerable to damage by storm-force winds.
Ten volunteers met up by Dene Cottage this morning to continue our work on the estuary west-side path. This work started almost a month ago, but a record three rain-offs in a row has kept us indoors on Tuesday mornings.
The path running along the west side of the estuary is (as you will know if you have been there recently) prone to muddiness and messiness. Reason: when it rains, the water flows down the steep dene-side slope and somehow has to cross the path to get into the Seaton Burn. Gutters and gullies are therefore necessary to get the water across without flooding the path, but they do not always work.
This project has been an attempt to improve things by (a) increasing the number of cross-path gullies and (b) embedding large stones in the path to counteract muddiness and erosion. So today, as part of the project, we installed a plastic culvert pipe as an under-path gully and placed several large stepping-stones either side of it to stabilise the erosion of the path. The stones had been removed from the river-bed on a previous occasion.
Photograph A. Preparing to lay gully pipe
Photograph B. Filling in afterwards
We finished about an hour early today. Part of the plan had been to retrieve some stones from the river to use in path repairs, but the burn was flowing with such force that this was impracticable.
The estuary was a bit quiet from the wildlife point of view today, but we saw some mallard and redshanks, and heard a grey wagtail, a blackbird and a pheasant. Naturally, the trees are largely without leaf and the flowering plants have died down. The burn was in spate after the recent rains. The day threatened rain but it did not materialise, and as the morning wore on it got pleasantly sunny and mild.
A ten-volunteer working party spent a chilly but sunny Tuesday morning restoring a footpath near St. Paul’s Church, Seaton Sluice. We also gave the steps up from the stepping stones to the waggonway path (at the head end of the estuary) their annual clean-up.
A group of three of us set off on foot up the estuary first to sort out the steps problem. These steps tend to get covered with leaves at this time of year and they can freeze over in cold weather presenting a slip hazard to walkers. Spades a
The footpath in question is the one leading from the chippy carpark down to the estuary. It had been laid many years ago and the topside part had become grassed over. The downhill part had also become narrower because of encroaching verges. We set to work with spades, mattocks, rakes and a couple wheebarrows to restore the path. This was a bit of an archaeological task, as the path at the top was completely hidden from view under the grass. We started at the gateway at the top of the slope and worked in both directions – downhill and back towards the carpark.
The method is:
- use a spade to discover where the edge of the old gravel path is
- score along the edge with the spade
- use a mattock or spade to remove the turf layer revealing the gravel below
- barrow away the removed turf and dump discreetly nearby
- top up the gravel with new gravel from the nearby reserve pile
Proceeding in this fashion, we found that the top path actually extended right back to the carpark. So, we restored it to its original condition, as far as we could.
Photograph A. Restoring the top path
Meanwhile the same procedure was used to push back the verges of the path as it descends to the low-level estuary path.
Photograph B. Refreshing the downhill path
The task fitted neatly within the time allotted, so, having had our day’s exercise, we packed our things back in the van and went home.
A good turnout of 11 volunteers assembled near St. Paul’s church in Seaton Sluice this morning to continue the path work of a fortnight ago. Last week was another wash-out and in fact we have had an unprecedented four cancellations because of rain during November and December!
We finished off the path down from the chip-shop carpark to the estuary path first, with half the volunteers widening the top part of that path and the others working on the lower part. Spades, mattocks, rakes and wheelbarrows were deployed for this work.
Photograph A. Widening lower path
Photograph B. Completed lower path
When we had finished on the top path we started working to widen the path on the north side of the church. This runs steeply down from pavement level to estuary level past the stone commemorating Counsellor Tom Earnshaw, a local painter and historian who died in 1973. The volunteers working on the lower level path joined in later.
Photograph C. Widening path north of church
We were treated to some cheese scones and fruit scones by our lady chair at break time. One of our volunteers also kindly brought some home-baked peanut cookies. All very welcome on a cold winter’s day!
With having a good sized squad of workers, we got the job done well before time, so we cleaned our tools, loaded them up into the van and went home for an early lunch.
So, users of the Dene at the Seaton Sluice end now have a couple of nice wide gravelly paths to ease the descent to the estuary path. Enjoy!
The turf that we removed from the sides of the path has been dumped out of the way against a sandstone rock face below the church. Feel free to take it if you can think of a use for it – on your garden, say – but it’s not suitable for lawn laying.
The wildlife scene was a bit subdued today, but we heard a mallard and a redshank calling – as well as the squawking of the black-headed gulls.
Nine volunteers turned out this morning – not bad for a couple of days before Christmas. We assembled near the gas pumping station on Wallridge Drive, Holywell, for a morning’s footpath maintenance.
At the start of the morning’s work, we planted an oak sapling which has been grown from an acorn from an ancient oak. I won’t disclose precisely where it is, but we wish it well for the future!
The path maintenance activity proceeded much as last week – spades, mattocks and rakes being used to remove turf that was encroaching on the footpath and narrowing it. We managed to get all the way along from Dale Top to the Concord House steps. For added value, we also cleared all the dead leaves and mud off the steps at both the Dale Top end and the Concord House end.
Photograph A. Cleaning path at Dale Top
Photograph B. More path maintenance
Photograph C. Cleaning mud off bridge near Concord House
At tea break we were joined by Emma Foody (Labour/Co-op MP for Cramlington and Killingworth constituency) who wanted to thank us for our work and offered us some festive mince pies – very much appreciated!
There wasn’t much wildlife to report. A robin, some blue tits and goldfinches and a wren were seen and/or heard. We noticed that there are lots of earthworms in the surface soil – undoubtedly a result of the abundant rain we have had over the last couple of months.
We wish all our readers and all users of Holywell Dene a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – cheers!
The working party on Tuesday consisted of seven volunteers, assembling at the Crowhall Farm cattle grid for another session of path restoration and other activities. This was a cold, dull day but the working conditions were OK apart from a couple of showers.
The main job was path restoration, but we also did a couple of side jobs. The first was to seal off a dog slide. In case you don’t know, what happens is that our canine friends have a habit, whenever they see water, of rushing headlong into it, splashing around, then clambering up the river bank to get out again. After this has happened a lot of times in one place, there is found to be a notch in the river bank and a lot of soil in the river, which is not good for water quality.
So, what we do is (1) hammer a post into the river’s edge at the dog slide, (2) pack lengths of planking behind it to make a barrier, and (3) fill the space behind with soil. And that’s job done, until the next dog slide appears!
Photograph A. Mending a dog-slide
Photograph B. Completed repair
The other side task was repairing the stile in the fence near the Crowhall Farm cattle grid. This stile is not heavily used, but is useful for those prepared to cross the cattle field from Hartley Lane to get into the middle of the Dene.
The timber step had come loose, so we removed it, hammered a stake into the ground, sawed it off to the right height and screwed the step back into place. Normal service resumed!
The path restoration project was the main task of the day, and, as usual, this consisted of hacking back the turf that was encroaching on the footpath with spades and mattocks to get down to the original aggregate of the path. Well, today we managed to restore the south-side path all the way from the upstream wooden footbridge right down to a point past the Crowhall stile.
Photograph C. Restoring footpath
Finally, many of you will remember Russell Pannell who was a founder of Friends of Holywell Dene and led the working party for many years before retiring from that role in 2016. Well the sad news is that he passed away on the last day of 2025 at the age of 89. More information will be made available shortly. Russell was devoted to Holywell Dene and will be remembered with affection for a long time by us volunteers.
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