A MULTI-MILLION pound landscape project hoping to restore, reveal and celebrate life across the region welcomed a special guest to their headquarters.

Discover Brightwater – based in Newton Aycliffe – welcomed Sedgefield’s Labour MP Phil Wilson, to a tour of their projects surrounding the River Skerne.

Prior to the visit, Mr Wilson attended an end of day adjournment debate in the House of Commons where he told the UK about some of the important projects happening across the constituency.

To mark the occasion, the Discover Brightwater team invited Mr Wilson to take part in a not-so-mystery tour around Discover Brightwater where he took a trip down memory lane whilst stepping into the future of the project.

The tour visited key sites and attractions in the area, including Hurworth Burn Reservoir, The Mary Magdalene Church, Fishburn Colliery Pit Wheel, NETPark, Hardwick Country Park, Heighington Station, Hitachi Rail, ROF 59 and Discover Brightwater’s head office.

Mr Wilson said: “I was delighted to travel through my constituency with Discover Brightwater. This project is about the past by preserving the heritage of our area, the present by revealing the natural environment and the future by developing beautiful walks and hubs for visitors and local people to enjoy.”

The morning ended with a business lunch for VIP guests including County Durham businesses, politicians and project partners.

Guests learned more about the £3.3m project funded by the National Lottery via the Heritage Fund and walked away with insight into how to bring together wildlife, historic sites, and the region’s picturesque features.

The project is working north from Darlington and includes the town and villages of Newton Aycliffe, Sedgefield, Bishop Middleham, Fishburn and the Trimdons via Hurworth Burn Reservoir.

It will run for three-year with its biggest project in the Isles area, between Newton Aycliffe and Sedgefield where for centuries there was a large wetland.

However, farmers drained The Carrs – a wetland area – and then deep mining used pumps so that the water table dropped by an average of 70 metres.

Among some of the impacts made by Discover Brightwater – which takes its name, like the river, from an Old English word scir meaning bright or shining – is the improvement of the river in the Skernningham area north of Darlington, and its archaeological investigations at Bishop Middleham which uncovered rich history and elaborate archaeological finds.

For more information visit discoverbrightwater.com