29th November 2012
A grouse moor in County Durham has won a prestigious conservation award for returning block forestry back to globally rare heather moorland. The Weardale Estate in Bishop Auckland won Gold at the 2012 Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation.
In 1984 Michael Stone, well known in the City of London as the former CEO, and latterly chairman, of E D & F Man, bought 4,300 acres of land from the Forestry Commission, comprising 900 acres of commercial forestry, and 3,400 acres of grouse moor. Together with Weardale’s head keeper Nick Walmsley, they then embarked on a long term moorland improvement project which today, almost 30 years on, sees Weardale regarded as one of the finest driven grouse moors in the country. By acquisition of neighbouring properties the estate has grown to cover almost 15,000 acres, and their project has coped with many natural obstacles including high altitude, climate, abundant predators, and the clearing of 900 acres of mature conifer plantation to return to heather moor. This large scale conservation work has not only brought about a dramatic increase in red grouse populations, but has benefited many other wild bird species including Britain’s smallest bird of prey, merlin, as well as rare black grouse, golden plover, curlew, lapwing, grey partridge and woodcock. There has also been a significant return of indigenous and threatened red squirrels.
Commenting on Weardale’s success, Awards Organiser Richard Purdey said, ‘Although the sheer scale of Weardale makes it our largest entry to date, Michael Stone and Nick Warmsley win Gold not on size but for the outstanding quality of their moorland development strategy and its ensuing results. Weardale has set new standards in grouse moor management and Michael Stone is a most worthy winner’. The judges said that Weardale was now regarded by Natural England as a “model for grouse moor management.”
