Member Article

Fifty shades of Gabion

The sun is shining, so Northumberland Wildlife Trust is making the most of the wonderful weather to forge ahead with the construction of its new Wildlife Discovery Centre on its Hauxley nature reserve, which is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, as part of its Dynamic Druridge project.

The groundworks and foundations for the Centre, were completed at the end of May by Amble based contractor G.L. Groundworks and project architects and main contractor, North Shields based, Brightblue Studio.

The arrival of June now sees an army of Trust volunteers constructing, and filling, over 150 gabion baskets. More commonly spotted stabilising riverbanks, the baskets measuring 1 metre x .5 metres and filled with stones from Howick Quarry in Littlehoughton, will form part of the building’s foundations and act as plinths for the walls, which will be built using straw bales.

The entire Hauxley nature reserve is now closed to visitors until summer 2016 as it is classed as a construction site, however, there will an open day on Sunday 12 July, between 10am and 4pm, for anybody wishing to see at first hand the progress with wildlife charity is making with the construction of its new building.

You can follow the build’s progress at https://www.facebook.com/HauxleyNatureReserve

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .