Northumberland

In the period following World War One, the Government established the Forestry Commission, to undertake a massive programme of afforestation, across large areas of the country, to meet the strategic future demand for timber. Many of these were in remote, sparsely-populated areas of moorland, where new villages had to be built, to accommodate the workforce needed to plant, manage and eventually harvest the vast acreages of timber. In Northumberland, new communities were planned and (to a partial extent) eventually built at Kielder, Stonehaugh and Byrness, with most building taking place in the immediate post-WW2 period.

For a long time, these were not ‘settled communities’. The work was hard and low-paid, and tended to attract-in unemployed and low-skilled workers from Tyneside, some 40-50 miles away. With minimal amenities or other job-opportunities in the villages, the workers would soon become disillusioned and move-away, if they were able to find work elsewhere. ASlec Trotter (as the chief officer of both Northumberland RCC and ALC) worked with and on behalf of the villages at numerous times over the succeeding decades, in a number of roles. For example, collaboration with local MPs and Lords to challenge the Government over the poor social, economic and working conditions, and over the Commission’s opposition to the emergence of democratic structures such as parish councils. Much later, in the Thatcher era of privatisation of public bodies, the work focused much more on helping local community groups to develop, to take responsibility for facilities and services which had hitherto been run directly by the Forestry Commission. By this time, I had succeeded Alec in the joint RCC/ALC roles.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Commission came under pressure from the Government to cease its ‘social landlord’ role. We convened local meetings to negotiate with the Commission’s district managers, and to secure a mutually- acceptable transfer of property and functions. These included, among others:

• In Byrness, the village hall, open spaces and garage blocks

• In Stonehaugh, the social club and open spaces

• In Kielder, various open spaces.

The housing had been sold-off to the sitting tenants or to families from outside the area seeking low-cost rural accommodation. The two schools, in Kielder and Byrness, were already part of the LEA, and the two youth hostels were already part of the YHA.

One of the most unexpected projects which I undertook, involved research and the preparation of a feasibility study for a community take-over of the water supply in Kielder village, which the Commission were under pressure otherwise to transfer to the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company. This was a ‘private supply’, which was fed directly by the Deadwater Burn, running off the Fell behind the village. The community were extremely proud and protective of this water, and feared that the Water Company would shut-off the source, and connect it instead to a supply drawn from the main Tyne Valley treatment works, some 35 miles away. Although the feasibility study paid close regard to issues such as water quality assurance, civil engineering of the pipework, finances and legal agreements, a major concern was to ensure that the community would be able to cope with the administration and possible emergencies. Thankfully, it became a fruitless exercise: somehow, the Government pulled-back, and so the Forestry Commission were able to continue to run the private supply. There is an irony: Kielder lies at the top end of the Kielder Reservoir, the largest artificial reservoir in the United Kingdom, but the locals preferred their tap water to come fresh from their local spring.

David Francis, March 2021