A Cumbrian river restoration project has won a national prize.
The scheme to transform Howgill Beck at RSPB Geltsdale, bringing back its natural twists and turns, has won the UK River Prize.
Stretching from its headwaters down to the valley floor above Tindale Tarn, the ambitious project has reintroduced lost river features, improved wetland habitats, and boosted biodiversity.
A length of the beck was straightened to create a canal sometime before the 18th century and lacked many natural features.
A stretch of 1.8km has been allowed to return to a more natural state to create a more dynamic river, not only rewiggling it but also reconnecting the watercourse to its floodplain once again, benefiting both wildlife and the landscape.
Led by RSPB Geltsdale warden, Jen Selvidge, three years of dedicated work to restore Howgill Beck has resulted in this recognition by the River Restoration Centre (RRC), which champions the benefits of restoring our river systems.
A trophy, created by Anne Lewis, a river geomorphologist and glass artist, was presented at the RRC annual conference in Brighton. Entries for the awards were judged by a panel of industry experts.
Jen Selvidge, warden at RSPB Geltsdale, said: “I am absolutely delighted with this win, and its great recognition for the whole team involved in this project.
“Howgill Beck’s restoration means the watercourse and the wildlife it supports will benefit the diversity here in this hidden corner of Cumbria. It’s wonderful to see species like the Sandpipers back here again.
“So many of our rivers have been modified and we’ve been conditioned to think they are natural, when the truth is often far from it.
“What we’ve done here is more than rewiggling, we’ve connected floodplains, created new wetlands and blocked ditches, resulting in a truly dynamic river. The project was a true team effort, and we couldn’t be prouder of this prestigious prize.”
In 2024, five pairs of Redshank were recorded breeding in the project area —up from just one pair in 2016
In the same area two pairs of oystercatchers successfully nested for the first time since 2016, and two pairs of common sandpipers nested in 2022 and 2023, a common summer visitor to most upland areas in the UK but totally absent from this stretch of river previously.
Lapwing, curlew, snipe and dipper can also be regularly seen using the shallow silty edges and flowing wetlands.
In June 2023, when other rivers in the county were running dry, the resilience of the new flowing wetland was illustrated by an incredible 31 snipe being recorded.
In January 2025, despite sub-zero temperatures when Tindale Tarn was completely frozen, the flowing wetlands (which are accessible for foraging for several species) remained active, supporting snipe, teal and mallard.
RSPB Geltsdale is within the North Pennines National Landscape.
The Howgill Back project was funded by Northumbrian Water under the South Tyne Holistic Water Management Project and Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which is administered in this area by the North Pennines National Landscape’s team.
Working with consultants Dynamic Rivers, the project has also been supported by the Fellfoot Forward National Landscape Partnership Scheme (LPS), Natural England, Cumberland Council, Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group (CARG), the University of Salford and the Tyne Rivers Trust.
The RSPB has recently acquired a final third of land at Tarnhouse farm, meaning Geltsdale is now the largest RPSB nature reserve in England.
