News and PR
All the latest news from Hadrian's Wall Country, including press releases, e-newsletters and news items.
11 April 2012
HALF MILLION POUND BOOST FOR HADRIAN'S WALL
The Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site has received a £537,185 funding boost from the SITA Trust for a project to be managed by Hadrian's Wall Heritage.
Linda Tuttiett, chief executive of Hadrian's Wall Heritage said: "This is fantastic news for Hadrian's Wall and we are very grateful to SITA Trust for recognising the importance of this project for the future of the World Heritage Site.
"The grant means parts of the central section of Hadrian's Wall, some of which are currently on English Heritage's Heritage at Risk register, can be properly conserved.
"Access to the Wall will be improved at several other locations and new signage and interpretation will be put in place to help to attract more visitors to the Roman frontier."
Marek Gordon, chair of SITA Trust said: "We are delighted to be able to provide the £537,185 required to protect sections of Hadrian's Wall that are currently on the Heritage at Risk register and to improve the visitor experience at this national treasure.
"Over the past 15 years SITA Trust has been able to step in to protect such important heritage sites thanks to governmental support for the Landfill Communities Fund - through which we have been able to provide over £87 million in easily accessible and vital capital funding.
"We hope that this significant grant will encourage other funders to come forward to support Hadrian's Wall, ultimately removing all sections from the Heritage at Risk register."
Some of the sections of Wall being conserved are on land owned by the National Trust.
Andrew Poad, National Trust said: "The conservation techniques which will be used on the Wall are interesting in themselves and we hope visitors will gain greater understanding of these as they pass the sites over the summer."
After detailed surveys in May specialist stone masons will begin the conservation work on the Wall. The full project is expected to be completed in August 2013.
Hadrian's Wall Heritage is responsible for the care, protection and management of the 150 mile Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site from the Roman coastal defences at Ravenglass north through Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport to Bowness-on-Solway, along Hadrian's Wall through Carlisle to Newcastle, Wallsend and South Shields. The Roman frontier was administered from Carlisle.
SITA Trust is an independent environmental funding body set up in 1997 to provide funding through the Landfill Communities Fund. It allocates funds contributed by SITA UK, one of the UK's largest recycling and resource management companies. To date SITA Trust has supported more than 3000 projects to a combined value of over £87 million.
This grant is one of two major awards that SITA Trust has made for conservation projects of 'Heritage at Risk' sites in the UK this year. The other grant has been made to Wilton's Music Hall in London, the oldest surviving grand music hall in the world which recently featured as a location in the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
SITA Trust
SITA Trust funding enhances communities in England, Scotland and Wales by supporting community driven projects to improve vital public recreation facilities and heritage such as village halls, community centres, sport, green spaces and play areas.
SITA Trust funding enriches nature by supporting biodiversity conservation projects in England's 9 Biodiversity Regions. Projects must focus on species or habitats identified in the UK BAP process.
SITA Trust receives its funding through HM Government's Landfill Communities Fund. Funding is contributed by SITA UK, one of the nation's largest recycling and resource management companies.
The Landfill Communities Fund
Landfill tax was introduced in 1996 to encourage more sustainable ways of managing waste.
The landfill tax legislation also brought about the Landfill Communities Fund. This scheme allows landfill operators to voluntarily donate 5.6% of their landfill tax liability to environmental improvement projects.
The Landfill Communities Fund is independently regulated on behalf of HM Government's Revenue & Customs by ENTRUST.
For information on how to apply for funding from SITA Trust call (01454) 262910 or visit www.sitatrust.org.uk
NEW SEASON SERVICE AND NEW SEASON TICKET FOR HADRIAN'S WALL COUNTRY BUS
The Hadrian's Wall Country Bus service AD122 - which allows local people and visitors alike to get out and about in Hadrian's Wall Country - begins again on Good Friday 6 April through to Sunday 28 October.
Hadrian's Wall Heritage coordinates the service on behalf of partners in the Hadrian's Wall Bus Partnership - Northumberland County Council, Cumbria County Council, Northumberland National Park Authority, English Heritage, National Trust, Carlisle City Council and the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - and will oversee the service throughout 2012.
A new season ticket for regular bus users is available for the first time this year, valid for the whole seven months. It costs £122 for unlimited travel on the route and represents excellent value for money at less than £5 per week. It is available exclusively through the Hadrian's Wall Heritage website www.hadrians-wall.org/bus
Linda Tuttiett, chief executive Hadrian's Wall Heritage said: We are providing a lifeline for local people stricken by the cost of diesel and petrol in rural areas. At a time when rural bus routes across the country face financial pressure, the AD122 is now even more affordable.
"It's valuable in helping to make the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site sustainable for visitors too, allowing them to access tourism businesses and attractions right along Hadrian's Wall.
"We're delighted to have the continuing support of our partners for this award-winning service. We conduct an annual survey of AD122 passengers to help us improve the service and we know how much local people and visitors appreciate it.
"Local people use it to get to work and to link to trains, visitors say they would not have been able to see Hadrian's Wall without it and that the drivers are friendly and helpful, and many people wish it could run all year round."
AD122 runs from Newcastle Central Station and Carlisle with connecting services to Bowness-on-Solway, shuttling between the main Roman sites in the central section of Hadrian's Wall more frequently during the day.
A full range of offers and promotions are available through the Hadrian's Wall Heritage website www.hadrians-wall.org. Rover tickets purchased also come with a copy of the Rover Scenic Guide which tells you what you can see from the bus. A collection of 18 linear and circular walks you can do around the AD122 route is available from the website.
Prices for the one day Rover tickets have been held from last year, and they offer unlimited discount travel - adult £9, child £4.50, student £6, family (up to two adults and three children up to 16 years old) £18.
Rover tickets can also be bought from the AD122 driver, at Hadrian's Wall Country Tourist Information Centres, and on Go North East's Tynedale Links and Ten services between Hexham and Newcastle. Additional services which accept Rover tickets include services to Kielder and Bellingham.
Single fare tickets and three and seven day value tickets are available too.
The low floor AD122 can take wheelchairs and bicycles. Cycle bookings should be made in advance through the Hadrian's Wall Information Line the day before travel by 3pm.
To get your bus timetable and advance tickets, where to stay guide, Hadrian's Wall Trail Map and all you need to plan your visit to Hadrian's Wall Country, visit www.hadrians-wall.org or call the Hadrian's Wall Information Line on 01434 322002.
The AD122 service is operated by Alba Travel and Classic Coaches.
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Sacred Solway
Discover Royalty, Reivers, Religion & Rural Life through a series of fantastic new circular trails around the Solway firth - for more information please click here.
For the full Hadrian's Wall Country Events Listings, please click here.
