THE work of amateur photographers will help shape the future of Redesdale as the new year brings exciting opportunities for the valley.

Revitalising Redesdale is working to submit its second-round bid for a £1.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will be submitted in July 2017.

To help find out what mattered to people most, locals were asked to submit photos which showed what was important to them about living in Redesdale, and the best ones will be used in the documents to support the bid.

The results were announced on December 15, with the winning photos being in four categories: Redesdale Landscapes, Wild Redesdale, Old Redesdale and Redesdale Life.

Emma Kellie, who lives in Rochester, won the spot in the Wild Redesdale category for her picture of a blackboard sporting wildlife sightings in Rupert’s Wood.

While on first glance it may look like a few scribbles, it is actually the place where visiting children with volunteer group Rupert’s Wood Project write down wildlife they have spotted during their visit.

She said: “It’s an education project where we take children from disadvantaged youth groups up to the woods. They write down everything they have spotted and share it with the group at the end of the day.

“The picture was just from one of these events earlier in the year where children wrote down everything they spotted from a slug to a beautiful blue egg which must’ve fallen out of a nest."

Emma, who is originally from the North-West, first volunteered for the project when at Newcastle University, and said she fell in love with Redesdale so much that she decided to move there as soon as she could, and has now been living in the valley for around 11 years.

She said she was surprised to win the competition, adding: “I really didn’t think I would get anywhere. It wasn’t the best quality or anything but it sums up a lot of the children’s experiences.

“The wildlife is certainly part of the reason people come and visit – it is unspoiled and there is so much to see. It’s important to protect that environment for the long term then visitors to the area can learn something about it for generations to come.”

Lydia Speakman, HLF project delivery manager for Revitalising Redesdale, said: “Emma’s picture was very quirky and really showed what Redesdale means to a lot of people who visit.

“The pictures were fantastic and there was a real variety of them. There were some lovely ones showing things like landscapes, flowers and sunsets – one even showed a sheep peering into someone’s kitchen window!”

“The one taken at the Upper Redesdale Show shows people having so much fun and that really captures the heart of Redesdale.”

Mary White, of Otterburn, took the picture at the show last year, and it won the competition in the category Redesdale Life.

Having lived in Redesdale since she married 46 years ago, Mary has been a regular visitor to the show for decades, and at one time was joint treasurer of the committee.

She said: “It’s just a lovely show for the whole family and it really typifies what Redesdale is about; community spirit.

“I always take my camera out with me and capture things. To me it’s a way of collecting memories and while most things are online now there’s nothing better than looking through a photo album.”

Mary’s photography skills also gained her a highly commended spot for another of her photos – a reflection on the River Rede.

Mary, who took a photography course last year to build on her passion, added: “If this will help the valley that would be amazing. I’ve lived here for over 40 years and we need to keep the youth interested so there’s opportunities for them here and they don’t move away.

“That’s what I love so much about the show – it’s a family event and you get a lot of young ones taking part.”

The bid will be submitted in July 2017 and a decision will be made in December 2017, and if successful, work on the projects will begin from January 2018 onwards.

Lydia Speakman added: “There are just over 20 significant projects we are considering at the minute and in spring we will go out in the community and say ‘these are the ones we think we are going with’ and then get feedback.

“When we submit the documents for the bid the winning pictures will be included, as well as any other ones that stand out and highlight the projects we will be putting forward. They will help us justify to the Heritage Lottery Fund why the projects deserve funding and explain why they are important to local people.”