AS SEEN ON ROBSON GREEN'S WEEKEND ESCAPES. EPISODE 15 AVAILABLE ON BBC iPLAYER

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Wildlife

Chillingham Park is in one of the most beautiful corners of England,  less than 10 miles from the magical coastline of North Northumberland and in easy reach of Alnwick and Berwick. The warden will explain how the landscape of Chillingham was created and maintained over the centuries, as a uniquely special place for the Wild Cattle.

The oldest trees in Chillingham Park are ancient alder trees. These were hundreds of years old when they were cut down to stumps, in the 1750s. They have regrown since. Beech and oak trees date from the 1780s onwards, and in Victorian times, the magnificent firs, spruces and redwoods of the Castle grounds were planted. The pastures have a great diversity of flowers and other plants.

So Chillingham Park and Castle are wonderful habitats for roe and fallow deer and over 50 species of birds including woodpeckers, redstart, nuthatch, and other birds of ancient parkland. The badgers are very wary and not often seen, but you are quite likely to see brown hares and foxes.

And you must watch out for the native red squirrels. The Castle grounds and Chillingham Park are one of their Northumbrian strongholds.