Upper Teesdale's rare alpine plants get three years of seed funding

A local trust received £65,000 to collect seed from arctic-alpine plants and put it back on the fells with volunteers.

By Tazzora Editorial TeamVerified · Source: BBCOct 22, 2026 · 1 min read

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A hiker with a backpack walking away along a grassy mountain ridge under a blue sky — Illustrative photo of a hiker on a high grassland ridge in Thailand. This is not Upper Teesdale. Nanthana Dathong / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

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A small conservation trust in County Durham has £65,000 for three years of work on some of England's rarest mountain plants. The BBC reported that the Teesdale Special Flora Research and Conservation Trust received the grant from the North Pennines National Landscape, through the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.

Volunteers will collect seed and return it to the Upper Teesdale fells. The trust is also raising £15,000 of its own. Founder Dr Margaret Bradshaw has long studied the Teesdale Assemblage, about 20 rare arctic-alpine plants thought to have survived there since just after the last glaciation, roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Sarah Tooze, natural heritage programme manager for the landscape, said the partnership looks forward to working with local farmers. The grant starts that work. It is not a finished restoration of the fells.

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High on the fells of Upper Teesdale, in northern England, rare plants have hung on since the last ice age, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. About 20 kinds make up the Teesdale Assemblage. The Teesdale Special Flora Research and Conservation Trust, started by Dr Margaret Bradshaw, received £65,000 for three years through the North Pennines National Landscape. Volunteers will collect seed and put it back on the fells. The trust is also raising £15,000. Sarah Tooze said they look forward to working with local farmers. The grant starts the work. The plants are not restored yet.