Deep in Kielder Forest, on the northern side of the vast Kielder Water stands Silvas Capitalis, a giant, two-storey timber head, one of the most striking of the 20 sculptures tucked between the pines. It\u2019s an eerie sight, almost shocking; its mouth ajar, as if astounded by all it sees. It\u2019s my first visit to Kielder, and my face has been wearing a similar expression since I stepped out of the car at the lakeside trying to take in the scale of the landscapes unfolding around me.<\/p>\n
Kielder doesn\u2019t look like England \u2013 at least, not the England I know. For a start, it\u2019s vast; 250 sq miles (648 sq km), with 158m trees, mostly sitka spruce<\/a> conifers planted by hand. And even though it\u2019s a plantation, there\u2019s a wilderness feel that reminds me of Finland or Canada; a great swathe of nature at its most intense. It\u2019s a working forest, involving 500 full-time jobs (not including tourism) and 2026 marks the centenary of the very first plantings, when the UK was in need of timber reserves after the demands of the first world war.<\/p>\n Silvas Capitalis sculpture is one of six shelters on the Lakeside Way around Kielder Water. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The desolate moorland around Kielder Castle had been identified as a suitable site for a new forest by Roy Robinson, who was instrumental in the creation of the Forestry Commission in 1919. \u201cHe was a visionary,\u201d says Alex MacLennan, part of the Kielder team for more than 20 years. \u201cIt was hard farming country, but perfect for forestry. Originally, there were eight villages planned, to house the timber workers. But three decades later, when the first trees were ready to be felled, mechanisation and new tools such as chainsaws meant they only needed three.\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation markThe careful management of Kielder has made it a benchmark for forestry in the UK, not least for the low-impact tourism that has been carefully folded in<\/p>\n All of which means development in the forest is minimal; the main tourist area is at the Kielder Waterside<\/a>, where 50 unobtrusive lodges<\/a> are tucked between the trees, some of which were damaged when Storm Arwen roared in five years ago and tore down a million trees across the forest and the wider Northumberland national park. \u201cIt\u2019s given a very different feel to the place,\u201d says Gary Storey, general manager of Waterside, \u201cand a chance to replant with different species, native to the UK \u2013 silver birch, oak, aspen, wild cherry \u2013 something other than the sitka spruce.\u201d<\/p>\n The careful management of Kielder has made it a benchmark for forestry in the UK, not least for the low-impact tourism that has been carefully folded in. Aside from Kielder Waterside, there are a handful of places to stay, including Calvert Kielder<\/a>, which in addition to offering self-catering lodges, specialises in respite care breaks packed with forest-based, accessible activities. There are also remote spots with facilities where camper vans can park up for \u00a315 a night<\/a> and a campsite<\/a> (two-person pitch \u00a320). \u201cWe\u2019re not Center Parcs, and we\u2019re never going to be,\u201d says Liz Blair, director of the Kielder Partnership, when we chat over coffee. \u201cBut we\u2019re working to make sure it\u2019s accessible and welcoming for everyone, however you want to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n Kielder Observatory. Photograph: Renato Granieri\/Alamy<\/p>\n Many people who visit, including me, set off along the Lakeside Way<\/a>; a 26-mile (42km) route that encircles Kielder Water, linking the sculptural works and immersing walkers and cyclists in the dense forest. When I visit, the silence that hangs between the trees feels almost thick enough to touch; only broken by the occasional rat-a-tat of a woodpecker, calling out for a mate.<\/p>\n But if Kielder is quiet by day, at night it becomes almost unworldly; a pitch-black void, bereft of almost all signs of life, save for the bright stars of England\u2019s first dark sky park<\/a> (the Northumberland international dark sky park). Driving up to the observatory<\/a>, I\u2019m glad to have my sister Caroline beside me in the car, keeping up a flow of chatter as the 2-mile off-road route winds further and further into the silent forest.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the Northumberland dark skies festival<\/a> when we visit, and we settle in for a fascinating (if slightly science-heavy) talk on exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) before braving the bitter cold to walk across to the telescope room. Sadly, it\u2019s cloudy, but it\u2019s still an extraordinary place, staffed with a mix of professional astronomers and passionate volunteers.<\/p>\n double quotation markComing from the built-up south-east, there\u2019s a beauty in the stark, untouched landscapes \u2013 a stillness, a peace, unmatched by anywhere closer to home<\/p>\n Kielder is a place of superlatives; England\u2019s biggest forest, the UK\u2019s largest human-made lake by capacity, the darkest skies \u2013 along with quite possibly the most terrifying mountain bike trails in the country. The Deadwater Double Black Downhill opens officially on 1 May, a rock-strewn, ledge-filled, vertiginous route that I wouldn\u2019t want to walk, let alone cycle. It\u2019s one of several new initiatives planned to celebrate the centenary, including a new Room on the Broom trail<\/a> for kids, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler; the Kielder celebration weekend<\/a> (4-6 Sept); and the reopening of Kielder Castle<\/a> in the summer after extensive renovations.<\/p>\n The sky at night at Kielder Observatory<\/p>\n The forest may be vast, but it\u2019s just one part of the Northumberland national park; the least populated and least visited of the UK\u2019s 15 national parks. Coming from the built-up south-east, there\u2019s an extraordinary beauty in the stark, untouched landscapes \u2013 a stillness, a peace, unmatched by anywhere closer to home. The history is pretty impressive too; we dip into the ruined Roman fortress at Vindolanda<\/a>, take a windswept walk along Hadrian\u2019s Wall and warm up with a fabulously hearty lunch of Cumberland sausage, mustard-mash and thick onion gravy at the centuries\u2019 old Twice Brewed Inn<\/a>.<\/p>\n But nothing quite matches my late afternoon judder up to the top of Deadwater Fell in Alex\u2019s Forestry Commission van. Standing at the very peak, 571 metres (1,900ft) above sea level, it feels as if I can see for ever; a 360-degree widescreen vista, from the Cheviot Hills in the north-east to the peaks of the western Lake District, the snow-capped Pentland Hills rising up towards Edinburgh, like great white meringues. It\u2019s genuinely awe-inspiring. I\u2019m just glad I don\u2019t have to mountain-bike back down.<\/p>\n This trip was supported by Visit Northumberland<\/a>, Visit Kielder<\/a> and Crabtree & Crabtree<\/a> cottages. Birks Stable Cottage<\/a> sleeps six, from \u00a3472 for a three-night break <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deep in Kielder Forest, on the northern side of the vast Kielder Water stands Silvas Capitalis, a giant,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-519347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}