As the sun shone over Talkin Tarn, Penrith and The Border MP, Dr Neil Hudson, joined local environmental stakeholders at the Festival of Nature to celebrate all the great work being done locally to protect the natural world.
Hosted by the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partership Scheme, the event brought together families, environmentalists, farmers, and communities to help support nature.
Dr Hudson showed strong support for the event which touched on some of his key priorities, such as protecting biodiversity, improving water quality, and helping nature thrive.
Following his work holding water companies to account over the amount of sewage being discharged into our rivers as an MP and member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dr Hudson met with Eden Rivers Trust in their Water Zone to discuss work being done on the ground.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, said:
“The event was incredible – a culmination of all brilliant work being done on the ground to protect our precious environment here in Penrith and The border. Thank you so much to everyone who made the festival a reality.
“With my veterinary background and representing a constituency that is overflowing with nature, these issues are not only top of my agenda but close to my heart too. In the last month alone I’ve been down in Westminster pushing for more ambitious biodiversity targets, more support for farming with nature and making sure trade deals respect our core environmental standards.
“I cannot do this alone so meeting with hardworking and passionate people during the festival and seeing all the progress being made up here in our constituency really was heartening.
“Particular thanks go to Eden Rivers Trust, and their CEO Elizabeth Radford, who I spoke to at length on water quality, flood mitigation and stopping sewage ending up in our beautiful waterways. These kinds of conversations go a long way in helping me raise issues with ministers, craft speeches in Parliament and ultimately help make real changes in our communities.
“Above all else though, I saw people of all ages learning about and celebrating nature with big smiles on their faces.”
A range of events took place over the weekend from family games and crafts to guided nature walks and species spotting tips. These were centred on the themes of water, woodland and meadow. Free shuttle buses were also provided to the Talkin Tarn site from Brampton and Carlisle.
Partners for the event included Cumbria Biodiversity Data centre, Eden Rivers Trust, Carlisle City Council, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Tullie House, Sustainable Brampton, Carlisle Youth Zone, OASES, Brampton Acting Together, University of Cumbria and the National Lottery Heritage fund.
