Northumberland National Park – Now & Forever

Northumberland National Park Authority (NNPA) has invested significantly in its visitor facilities along Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site to make them more accessible and inclusive.

Duncan Wise, Visitor Development and Tourism Officer at NNPA tasked us with the voice-first translation and recording of a 2min welcome narrative which gives engaging information to empower people to connect with the National Park on their own terms: NNPA now extends a warm welcome to visitors in 16 languages, including Mandarin, Farsi, Punjabi and Ukrainian. 

The recordings are ready to be uploaded onto Blackbox-AV U-Turn sound posts. The environmentally friendly, retro-design sound posts will provide information about the geography of Northumberland National Park. The QR code on the front of the sound box will give access to recommended self-guided walking routes, and information about events and activities taking place all the year round in the National Park, e.g. at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre. The recordings also draw attention to the Countryside Code which ensures that Northumberland National Park is enjoyed by all in the future. 

Fantastic news from North East England Tourism Awards, 29th February 2024: Northumberland National Park officer Duncan Wise received gold in the ‘Unsung Hero’ category, while the Park's visitor centres, The Sill: Landscape Discovery Centre and Walltown Country Park won silver in the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism award category.     

Do visit https://www.facebook.com/TheSillNorthumberland/?locale=en_GB for the latest news. 

Come along to the current Sycamore Gap: One Year On exhibition at The Sill celebrating the iconic tree which was illegally felled one year ago. Artist Charlie Whinney of ‘Creative Communities CIC’ art collective has created four wooden panels and the lengths of them, when added together, make up the 15m height of the tree as it was. Each of the panels represents a season and the largest section of the Sycamore Gap log sits in front of the autumn panel, as that was the time of year it was cut down. The exhibition aims to engage people in hope and resilience, finding meaning and beauty.  As part of the project, visitors will be asked to make pledges about how they can help protect the environment. Charlie Whinney Studio’s work straddles fine art, architecture and design and is grounded in making and ecology. They are also leaders in steam-bending wood, a technique used for one of the panels.  

The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre was awarded silver in the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism award category in February 2024.  

Artist Charlie Whinney delivers the Sycamore Gap log to The Sill for the Sycamore Gap: One Year On exhibition.