A GROUP of volunteers planted 200 trees in the Yorkshire Dales as part of a team-building exercise.

Five members of staff from Dales estate agents JR Hopper took part in the day-long effort at Hawes.

And business owner Brian Carlisle said his young staff had enjoyed the task so much that they had talked about how in years to come the trees might be enjoyed by grandchildren.

“This is an opportunity to give a little bit back. It’s also a bit of team bonding, something different from the daily grind,” he said

Another volunteer was the field owner, Steven Ward, a TV engineer and bird watcher.

He said he’d given up a patch of valuable grazing land for “wildlife purposes, to get a bit of diversity back and to create a corridor for animals to move through”.

National Park area manager Matt Neale said: “We’ve put in a conservation-based mix, which will improve things for birds.

“It’s a small scheme, to match the other small areas of planting which are characteristic of Upper Wensleydale.

“On its own it wouldn’t make much difference, but with the other areas it will be good for animals such as red squirrels, which are thriving in Cotterdale and Snaizeholme.”

The mix of trees included silver birch, hawthorn, common holly, Scots pine, bird cherry, blackthorn and rowan. They were bought with a park authority grant from a nursery in the Cheviots.

The new woodland site is on the north side of Hawes close to the River Ure, by a public right of way.

Fencing round the site, to keep out deer, was funded by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.