A PARTNERSHIP set up to celebrate and conserve the environment and cultural heritage of the River Skerne catchment is seeking a £3m lottery grant to bring its vision to life.

The Bright Water Landscape Partnership is drawing together a programme of activities and projects to showcase the river’s rich heritage, while enhancing the natural, built and farmed landscapes surrounding it.

It will focus on a 200 square kilometre area within lowland County Durham, following the River Skerne from Hurworth Burn reservoir near Fishburn to South Park in Darlington.

The partnership, made up of councils and environment and heritage organisations, such as Durham Wildlife Trust, is applying for £3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnerships scheme.

This money will fund a range of projects, including archaeological digs, educational and arts activities, historical studies into riverbank fauna and conservation work to encourage fish, birds and other wildlife.

The team will also work with land owners and communities to restore and enhance key areas, while removing the physical and intellectual barriers which prevent people connecting to the landscape.

It is hoped communities within the catchment area, including Newton Aycliffe, Aycliffe Village, Sedgefield, Fishburn, Heighington, Brafferton, Brampton and Darlington, will get involved and a public consultation has been launched to gather residents’ views.

Jim Cokill, director of Durham Wildlife Trust, said: “It really is a fascinating area and these projects aim to celebrate its environment, history and culture.

“We want to discover how the river has developed over the centuries and how it has been shaped by agriculture and the industrial revolution.”

Mr Cokill referred to the Harrying of the North in 1069 when William the Conqueror waged a campaign to subjugate the north of England in which thousands were slaughtered.

“There are abandoned medieval villages along the river which could result from that,” he said. “Others may have been struck by the plague. The area offers great potential for archaeological digs.”

The funding application is still in its early stages and if successful the project is likely to begin at the start of 2018.

To find out more or to contribute ideas to help shape the project contact Helen Ryde on 0191-584-3112 or hryde@threeriverslnp.co.uk

An online survey is also available via the Durham Wildlife Trust website at durhamwt.com/bright-water-river-skerne/