These are just some of the lovely linocut prints created during our Linocut Workshop with Vega Brennan last month.

 

The Geltsdale Gallery hosted a well attended Fabric and Threads Workshop with local textile artist Helen Walsh.  The images below are just some of the imaginative creations produced on the day.

Cumbrian wildlife photographer David Philips is showing his Wildlands exhibition at the Geltsdale Gallery from Friday 26 July until 27 September.  The exhibition will feature photographs of birdlife from Northern England and Southern Scotland.

The Visitor Centre and Gallery is open daily 9am to 5pm. 

For exhibition and accessibility details contact the reserve on 016977 46717 or by email at geltsdale@rspb.org.uk

Brampton Art Club visited the reserve over the weekend and produced some lovely landscape paintings.  The work below was created by Kathy Arthur.

For information on June Sightings see list below:

Tindale Tarn

Trails

 

Visitor centre garden

Mute Swan***

Pheasant***

Stonechat*

Blackbird*

Canada Goose***

Black Grouse*

Whinchat**

Wren*

Greylag Goose**

Red Grouse*

Wheatear**

Dunnock*

Mallard***

Buzzard**

Song Thrush*

Robin**

Tufted Duck*

Kestrel*

Mistle Thrush**

Coal Tit*

Grey Heron*

Oystercatcher**

…

The Geltsdale Gallery is hosting an exhibition by local artist Rachel Gibson whose work is in response to the landscape and nature of the North Pennine Fells.

Transformer: a winter’s tale reflects on the beauty of the season past and is recorded in paint, pencil, book works and animation.

The RSPB Geltsdale Gallery is open daily 9am to 5pm. 

For exhibition and accessibility information, please call 016977 46717…

Geltsdale hosted a Dark Sky Event with Border Astronomical Society on Thursday 14th March.  Unfortunately the clouds failed to part that night, but that didn't stop us from seeing and learning about the planets and stars.

The Adder in the photograph was observed off one of reserve's trails enjoying the unseasonal February weather last Friday.

A new exhibition "The Garden of Eden" is on show at the Geltsdale Gallery from 4th February until 26th April.

The Garden of Eden is Katie Locks first solo exhibition and takes the viewer through a rustic, psychedelic trip via abstraction, symbolism and foliage. 

Katie is currently based and working in Carlisle, although originally from Blackpool. Katie came to the city as an illustration student, studying at the…

The Geltsdale Gallery hosted a successful Mono-printing workshop with local artist Vega Brennan.  Here is just two of the prints created during the day.  Vega's Printing Nature Exhibition is currently on show until 31 January and available to view 9am to 5pm daily.  Further details at geltsdale@rspb.org.uk

The RSPB Dove Stone team made their annual raid on Denton Fell to harvest sphagnum for their peatland restoration project.

Geltsdale volunteers turned out to help bag up a trailer load of moss to start a new life in Derbyshire.  After a hot summer, the peat bog has stayed wet and cranberry has abounded.

In a reciprocal arrangement, the Dove Stone wardens helped lug 1000 tree stakes up the fell to help with a guarding…

Following a successful visit to Geltsdale, members of Carlisle Youth Zone have created a bird and street art inspired exhibition "Spreading Our Wings".

The young people not only learnt about birds and nature but explored their aspirations for the future.  What do they need to fly and what clips their wings?

The exhibition can be viewed daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm - for information including accessibility contact…

In September volunteers and staff from Northumberland Wildlife Trust came to RSPB Geltsdale for some drystone walling training.  Usually planting trees for the Kielder Wildwood project, 15 turned up to be tutored in the art of walling.  With the aim of building a stone seat at Kielder, similar to the one in our carpark, they were keen to get stuck in.  Learning how to repair a wall at Forest Head Quarry, they gained valuable…

by Stephanie from Hamburg, Germany:

 

Work and duties

 

As I am volunteering in September, it seems that most of the work to do with birds is already over and done with so that my duties here focus mainly on conservation work: building fences, repairing drystone walls, clearing out bird boxes for the next breeding season, clearing paths and trails of bracken or overhanging branches, picking litter and all sorts of things…

Carlisle Youth Zone visited the reserve as part of their Hitz Outdoors week.  They learnt about the birds on the reserve and what they eat, looked through binoculars and caught insects in sweep nets, which they identified. They played games and visited an art exhibition… all in a morning! 

We look forward to Carlisle Youth Zone exhibiting their bird inspired artwork at the Geltsdale Gallery from 6th - 28th October…

Belinda Lloyd, Geltsdale's Assistant Farmland Warden has taken up the challenge of walking the Pennine Way.  The photograph above shows Belinda taking a well earned break on the section between Slaggyford to Greenhead. We look forward to seeing her back at Geltsdale next week.

The Geltsdale Gallery is hosting an exhibition by Mark Gibbs’ Curlew Lament, which runs from Saturday 28 July to Sunday 30 September.

RSPB Geltsdale is a fitting choice for Mark’s exhibition as curlews breed on the reserve in the summer months and the site is part of a national conservation project aimed at finding ways to recover the Curlew population.

 

Mark paints and makes sculptures featuring animals…

The weather seems to be a constant topic of conversation for farmers and no wonder given the extremes we seem to get nowadays, though suiting this farm with its damper soils I do have great sympathy for the lighter soiled farms further down towards Brampton who have desert like conditions at the moment ! Cattle and sheep are thriving in the heat wave. The sheep are nearly all clipped and back on the fells, though a careful…

The Geltsdale Gallery are delighted to host an exhibition by Carlisle Artist Amanda Mudge featuring her paintings of Cumbrian wildlife.

Amanda likes to focus on what brings us moments of joy as these moments are often brief and illusive.  Amanda endeavors to capture and hold onto that joy in her work.

"Simply Wild" is part of "Impressions of the Wild", a programme of six exhibitions at RSPB Geltsdale…

The Talkin Fellas, Stooshie, author Karen Lloyd and numerous poets delighted a large audience at Curlew Calling on Saturday 19th at Hallbankgate Village Hall. The event was organised by Ian Ryding, Farm Warden at Geltsdale and lead singer with the Talkin Fellas.  The event marked Curlew Crisis Month raising awareness of the Curlew in the UK and £250 for the RSPB

Our Assistant Farmland Warden hosted a successful Owl Evening Event on Thursday 17th May.  Event participants enjoyed watching the barn owl survey the meadow in search of food and learn about the other owl  species who live on the reserve.  One young participant was so impressed he has joined the RSPB as a youth member as a result.

The Geltsdale Gallery played host to a successful textile workshop with Helen Walsh on Saturday 28th April.  Participants were totally absorbed in the activity and created some wonderful and very individual wall hangings.  You can still see Helen's exhibition "Wingspang" at the gallery until 21st May.  The gallery is open 7 days a week from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

To mark Curlew Crisis Month, Geltdale's Farmland Warden Ian Ryding and his band The Talkin Fellas, plus Stooshie will be performing at Hallbankgate Village Hall on Saturday 19th May.  A donation will be given to the RSPB from the proceeds.

Tickets are available on eventbrite, at the Belted Will Inn, Hallbankgate and on the door.

Be sure to join us as it promises to be a great evening!

 

Geltsdale had it's first Black Grouse count of 2018 last Wednesday 21st March with a total of 41 male birds.

Although the birds were a little subdued it was a good first count this early in the season - counts will continue until the beginning of May. 

If you would like to see the Black Grouse Lek we still have places available on our Black Grouse Lek event - Saturday 21st April 5:00am to 7:00am.  To book contact…

  

The Farmland team would like to thank the members of the public, students from Newton Rigg and RSPB staff who braved the weather to remove tree tubes from Bruthwaite Forest. 

There is now a visible improvement to the view and those tubes still in good condition will be utilised in community woodland projects organised by Living Landscapes.

RSPB Geltsdale planted at total of 110 000 trees 11 years ago to form the Bruthwaite…