Jane goes solo after losing her job

Jane Dixon moved to Northumberland in 2010 after being employed by the National Trust as a coast and community ranger for the county.

To begin with, half of her time was spent on tasks such as repairing footpaths, keeping beaches safe and clean and habitat management including improving grasslands and pond maintenance, and the other half on community activities like hosting family events at Seahouses Low Newton, Lindisfarne Castle and Druridge Bay.

She went on to manage the team at the Long Nanny seasonal shorebird site that, among other things, do all they can to help little terns breed successfully.

However, in the last few years the amount of time she was allocated to the community side dropped to just 10 hours a year.

This influenced her thinking when the Covid-19 pandemic came and she was put on furlough in April 2020.

Today, she is looking to the future after setting up an independent beach school covering Seahouses and the surrounding area.

Jane said: “When I turned 50 in June 2020, I started thinking deeply about the future and seriously considered becoming self-employed as being married gives me a bit more scope to do so and I wanted to get back to the community side of things, which I loved doing as a National Trust ranger.

“In September, I went to Liverpool to do a course with the Forest School Association and after submitting a portfolio of evidence, I became a qualified independent beach school practitioner.

“Since being made redundant from the National Trust in November, I’ve been working towards setting up my Ranger Jane Beach School that also uses my coastguard experience.

“Families will enjoy my seashore safaris, but there is an education aspect so they know what to do if they go rock pooling themselves – for example, for some creatures they need to put the rocks back in the same position.

“I’m really excited to be starting this venture and it’s great that I can share my passion with others, which I’ve had since going rock pooling on holiday as a child.”

A sea watch for a family of up to six is also available.

For more information and Jane’s contact details to make a booking, go online to www.rangerjane.co.uk