Spetchells Conservation Interest Group (SCIG)

​We are a committed group of local volunteers dedicated to promoting the conservation of the unique habitat of the Prudhoe Spetchells chalk grasslands.

Home to a large variety of animals and plants, our aim is to manage, grow, and restore the biomes across the site to encourage natural biodiversity and create an environment for all to enjoy.​

The Spetchells are a series of artificial ridges situated in the Tyne Riverside Country Park at Low Prudhoe. Three hills about 1.5km in length were formed by waste products from a WW2 Government enterprise operated by ICI (see History section below). From unlikely beginnings these waste deposits have produced a rare chalk grassland habitat which is unique in Northumberland.

The Spetchells are now home to a range of invertebrates including 14 species of butterflies, a nationally important solitary bee population, and many chalkland plants. Due to the population of endangered Dingy Skipper butterfly (Erynnis tages) the Northumberland Wildlife Trust designated the Spetchells a Local Wildlife Site. Unfortunately the grassland habitat has become threatened by an invasion of several species but particularly shrubby Cotoneaster, mainly Cotoneaster horizontalis and False Brome grass (Brachypodium sylvaticum).

Concern about habitat and species loss by a plant ecologist from Newcastle University brought together a group of interested people. Following a meeting held in Dec 2015 the Spetchells Conservation Interest Group (SCIG) was born. From inception we have been supported and encouraged by Northumberland County Council’s Green Spaces West team, Prudhoe Town Council, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, and local businesses.

An expanding membership comprises of amazing local and not so local volunteers who, along with commercial contractors, remove large areas of invasive shrubs and grasses enabling habitat and species recovery. Native site-specific wildflower re-seeding and occasional tree planting is also carried out.

Environmental monitoring carried out by volunteers and ecologists is helping to build a comprehensive database of the flora and fauna of this special habitat.