Four-metre high goat sculpture unveiled on border between England and Scotland

It stands on the remote hillside of Whitelee Moor National Nature Reserve, close to the source of the river Rede.

This striking artwork marks the end of a five-year National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project – the Revitalising Redesdale Landscape Partnership, which has seen more than £3m invested in enhancing and conserving the natural and cultural heritage.

The sculpture, which depicts a leaping wild goat with freshwater pearl mussels festooned at his feet and on his beard, was designed by blacksmith Stephen Lunn, whose workshop is at Red Row, near Morpeth.

Lydia Speakman, chair of the Revitalising Redesdale Partnership, said: “Whitelee Moor is one of the few places in England where you can still find wild goats.

"We deliberately gave the Redesdale goat a rather mythical quality to represent the special wild character of the landscape, and the valley’s rich heritage with connections to the Bronze Age, the Roman occupation, and the times of the Border Reivers.

“A key part of the wider work of Revitalising Redesdale was to improve the water quality of the River Rede, which is an important habitat of the rare fresh water pearl mussels that are also celebrated in this new sculpture.”

“Another important part of the project has been to enable visitors to enjoy this remote and rugged landscape, whatever their abilities.”

Duncan Hutt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust director of conservation, said: “Through Revitalising Redesdale we have been able to improve public access to Whitelee Moor National Nature Reserve.

“We have created an attractive boardwalk from Carter Bar car park to the nature reserve where everyone can enjoy views across Redesdale, down to Catcleugh Reservoir and across the surrounding moors, which are important for their peat bogs.

"Through Revitalising Redesdale more than 700 hectares of peatland has been restored and 760 hectares of wildflower meadows enhanced.”

Six new walk leaflets have been published, containing 18 walks which encourage new and different audiences to discover Redesdale, showcasing everything from the bird’s eye view from Carter Pike to the battlefield site at Otterburn and the quiet riverside walks in the lower valley with their ancient churches.