CHILDREN at Witton Gilbert Primary School in County Durham have benefitted from tree carvings in their local area after seeing a recent transformation to the ecology in their village.
As part of the environmental project, which was led by local councillors, professional tree carver Richie "Barnsey" Barnes travelled to Witton Gilbert earlier this month to try his hand at turning old trees into some new fantastic wooden sculptures.
Funding for the project, which also included a new footpath running the length of the village, came from local councillors' neighbourhood budgets as well as contributions from Durham Area Action Partnership and Local Transport Plan funding.
Read more: North Yorkshire footpath used for 800 years preserved
The idea for the initiative, which is all part of making County Durham greener, came from the areas’ councillors, Bev Coult and Arnie Simpson, with the help of Durham County Council's Neighbourhoods and Climate Change portfolio holder, Mark Wilkes.
From the beginning of the project, the idea to link the village’s primary school children was high on the priority list, which saw school pupils Ella, Max and Ruby show the councillors which carvings they most liked earlier this week.
Using just a few dead trees, Richie "Barnsey" Barnes has been able to create two wizard carvings, mushrooms, an owl, an eagle and a red dragon along the trail.
Here's some pics from schoolchildren from Witton Gilbert Primary School seeing the wood carving trail for the first time:
After meeting children from Witton Gilbert Primary School, Cllr Arnie Simpson said: "We started this project to provide a safer walking route for children to get to school and as a way to get more people out during Covid, but it's actually achieved so much more.
"Residents across the village who may have driven to the shops are walking and it's a wonderful route for a stroll.”
As part of the project, a 350-metre path has been constructed alongside Dene Burn running through the centre of Witton Gilbert. Seating is also set to be installed for residents and play equipment has been repaired.
Check out some of the tree carvings on the new trail at Witton Gilbert:
Councillor Mark Wilkes said: "These kinds of local projects put similes on people's faces, promote healthy living and provide great places for people to meet and enjoy the outdoors.
"I'm really pleased with what Bev and Arnie have achieved working with the local community and I'm particularly impressed with the great ideas the primary school children put forward."
Cllr Bev Coult added: "We asked children at the Primary School to suggest the kinds of carvings we should do.
"We ended up doing far more than we initially planned because they were such great ideas."
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