50 YEARS
Celebrating 50 years
1971-2021
ANNIVE
RSARY
TION CELEBRA N EDITIO
by Jim Cokill, Director
I’ve been fortunate enough to be at Durham Wildlife Trust to celebrate both its 40th and 50th anniversaries. The truth is that it’s a bit debatable as to when the anniversary actually falls, as Durham Wildlife Trust formed following the split of a joint Durham and Northumberland organisation. Marking a divorce, however amicable, doesn’t seem right, so our anniversary is set to celebrate the birth of the new organisation, making our birthday 30th July.
1970s
Our charity has achieved a huge amount over the last 50 years, whether as a Naturalists’ Trust, County Conservation Trust, or as the Durham Wildlife Trust we see today. Over these pages, we take a look at some of the major achievements over the last five decades, and look forward to what the next five decades may bring.
1970s
Durham County Conservation Trust came into being on 30th July 1971 and initially the Trust had seven nature reserves – Witton-le-Wear, Hawthorn Dene, Blackhall Rocks, Rosa Shafto, Joe’s Pond, Moorhouse Wood and Redcar Field.
Jim Cokill Director
1980s
50 years ago, the Durham region was a very different place – a landscape still dominated by coal mines and spoil heaps, with millions of tonnes of colliery waste being tipped into the sea along our coast. Before local government reorganisation in 1974, County Durham stretched from the Tees to the Tyne, which is why Durham Wildlife Trust covers the area it does today, not just present day County Durham. Pollution from industry was a major threat to wildlife. Rivers were poisoned by industrial waste, driving species such as the otter to extinction in our area. The Trust had to campaign to prevent Bishop Middleham Quarry – now a nationally designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its wildlife – from being used as a landfill site. Though small in terms of the number of members, the Trust had a powerful voice, and public support for nature conservation was growing.
