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Helen Mark walks around the west bank of Kielder Water to the village of Kielder, which is said to be England鈥檚 remotest.


Kielder Water in the north east of England, created 21 years ago, is the largest man-made body of water in Britain. Its main function is to provide drinking water to towns and cities in the north east but it is now also an important place for recreation.

When the reservoir was created it swallowed up seven miles of existing waterways which had been used by spawning salmon. The Environment Agency's hatchery collects eggs from returning salmon, grows them on, and releases the offspring back into the North Tyne river.

Peter Gray has worked for The Environment Agency for 40 years and has been running the salmon hatchery since it first opened. As there is no fish ladder at the dam, the offspring are released down river. Each year the hatchery produces over 160,000 baby fish, some of which are now also used to re-populate rivers across Britain.

Its surrounding forest is one of the largest in Europe and has 150 million trees, mainly spruce, with a daily timber production of 1,300 tonnes.

Helen starts her journey around the reservoir and watches tree harvesting, in which 20 metre trees are mechanically uprooted, stripped bare and cut to size in a matter of seconds.

Helen walks the five miles round the reservoir to the Calvert Trust outward bound centre. The Trust was set up to provide action-based holidays for people with disabilities. Helen joins in a game of archery with a group of enthusiastic children.


Helen arrives at Kielder village, which is about 40 miles from the nearest supermarket. Now that many of the forestry jobs have gone, the village is made up mainly of elderly people. The local school only has two children and is threatened with closure.

Helen talks to mobile farrier Peter Mayland, who is busy shoeing Floorboard George. Peter has been running his business for five years after completing a four-year apprenticeship. He鈥檚 now the only farrier left in the surrounding area and is never short of work.