Merry Christmas

This will be our final post for this year. We look forward to a busy 2012, and will continue to share news and stories from the National Trust Rangers.
Christmas is a great time to enjoy the Lakes with family and friends, especially after eating all the fine food and turkey.

We wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Ho Ho Ho!

LDNP Young Rangers

With the support of United Utilities, the LDNPA has set up a young ranger programme to help develop the kind of skills, knowledge, confidence and passion to care for the Lake District’s special landscape.

“The roles involve giving the youngsters opportunities every month to learn and to take responsibility for their actions in a safe and supportive environment in a variety of tasks,” said national park volunteer co-ordinator Tim Duckmanton.

On Saturday the 3^rd December the Young Rangers came to Grasmere to spend a day with the National Trusts Area Ranger (Neil Winder).

The day was spent working at Burtharlyp Howe in Grasmere, cutting back Beech regen and creating habitat piles, and understanding why we carry out such work and its advantages to the wildlife and the surrounding views.

The young Rangers got an insight into the work of the National Trusts Ranger service and what it’s like working for the Trust.

The whole day was fantastic, achieving a lot of work but also time to talk and ask questions.

 Plenty of Fun

The Young Rangers learned that there is always time for fun when working in the countryside but mostly that the work we do is important for wildlife and visitors.

Tubular Fells map Raises £6000

I huge thank you goes to Peter Burgess, the designer of the Tubular Fells map for his donation of £6000 to the Fix the Fells Partnership.

 Peter, Neil Winder (Area Ranger), Mike Innerdale (Director of Operations)

Peter kindly donates £1 from every sale of his map to help our work on the Fells of the Lake District. His money will be used to help maintain footpaths suffering erosion and make improvement's to this great landscape.
Please click on the link or the Tubular fells map to read more information about Peter, his map and how he got together with the National Trust.
http://www.tubularfells.com/index.php/news/53-tubular-fells-money-presented-to-fix-the-fells

Tongue Gill Bridge

The last few days we have been transporting the materials needed to replace the damaged bridge on the Tongue gill path from Grasmere.

The damaged bridge

 We start by using the Land Rovers off road capabilities to  move the beams up the path.

 

 

     Moving slowly up the path

Once the beams are at there destination we return to the road to collect the rest of the materials, treads, uprights and hand rails.

Work will commence in the next few weeks to take down the old bridge and rebuild with new timbers.

 Seat Sandal to the left

 

 The Slopes of Fairfield

The Tongue Gill route is a popular path leading to Seat Sandal, Grisedale tarn and up on to Fairfield. As you walk and look back the views across to Helm Crag and Gibson Knott are Fantastic.

 

Grab your boots, the Walking Festival gets under way

The National Trust's october Walking Festival week starts on the 22nd of the month, with a host of guided walks lined up countrywide.
The Lake District Rangers have a fun packed time table of walks covering the whole Lakes, with something for everyone

Here's what the Central and East Lakes Rangers have in store.

Sat 22 and Fri 28Oct
A walk through Troutbeck Valley
Guided 2hr walk from Windermere RailwayStation
toTown end through the beautiful Troutbeck Valley.
Adults plus children 8+ (no unaccompanied
children under 16).
Meet:Windermere Station, 10.45am
Contact:Townend 015394 32628

Sun 23Oct, 10am- 2 pm
A Walk on the Wild Side
Join James Archer, the Lead Ranger for Great Langdale,
fo a walk up the valley of Mickleden.This is a wonderfully
accessible slice of wilderness.Thewalk will be level but
stony and will follow the valley bottom up to the bottom
of two of the ancient mountain passes at Rossett Gill
& Stake Pass. James will share an insight into the
pre-historical landscape. Free.
Meet: Old Dungeon Ghyll NT car park, Great Langdale Sat
Nav: LA22 9JU.Grid reference for The Old Dungeon Ghyll
Hotel, Great Langdale: 285 060.Contact: 015394 63814

Mon 24Oct, 10am
The Troutbeck Trail,Troutbeck
Join Ian Clemmett, Area Ranger forTroutbeck,
fora 3-4 hourwalk, to explore the beautiful
Troutbeck Valley.
Meet: Lay by near Jesus Church, Patterdale Road,
Troutbeck,Cumbria, LA23 1PE.GRNY412 028.
Contact: 015394 46402

Tues 25Oct, 10- 12 noon
Explore Glenamara Park,Ullswater
A short easy walk with our Ranger, SteveDowson,
through the ancient deer park with magnificent veteran
trees and stunning views down UllswaterLake. Free.
Meet: Patterdale Hotel, Patterdale.GRNY396 159
CA11ONL.Contact: 015394 46402

Wed 26Oct, 10am- 2 pm
The Giants of Skelghyll Wood
Do you like exploring? - if so meet John Pring the
Lead Ranger forTroutbeck fromWaterhead to Skelghyll
woodswhere you can explore ancient woodlands and
walk amongst some of the tallest trees in Cumbria. Free.
Meet:Water Head Pier,Waterhead,Ambleside
LA22 0EU.Contact: 015394 46402

Thurs 27Oct, 10am- 2 pm
A wander through Wordsworth country
Join Dave Almond, Lead Ranger for Grasmere for a
walk through the landscape that inspired Wordsworth -
a beautifulwalk through autumn woodlands with a
spectacular view over Grasmere Lake. Free.
Meet: Grasmere National Trust Information Centre,
Grasmere. SatNav: LA22 9SW.Grid reference:
NY33718 07419.Contact: 015394 63814

Fri 28Oct, 10am
The Highs and Lows of Loughrigg
Walk with Area Ranger Neil Winder around the
Victorian woodland Garden of High Close and
explore nearby Low Wood.
Meet: High Close Ranger Base, Loughrigg, Ambleside.
SatNav: LA22 9HH. Grid reference: NY33867 05289.
Contact: 015394 63814

For More Information about other National Trust walks and events please go to our web-site http://www.ntlakesoutdoors.org.uk/news/

                                                                                      

Fix The Fells Social Event

October was the time for this years Fix The Fells social party. It gives Staff from the partnership organisations a chance to say a big thank you to the volunteers who work hard maintaining the Lake District fell paths.

This years venue was Ullswater and a sail on the Ullswater Steamers followed by a 7 mile hike to Silver Bay for a feast.

We set sail from Glenridding on a beautiful hot sunny Saturday, very warm for this time of year. Our destination was Howtown to the north.

 The Boat was packed with visitors enjoying the fine warm weather. We managed to find a quiet area at the front of the boat to enjoy our sail.

Tim and Ruth enjoying the ride and pretending to be Pirates of the Caribbean.

                                         Fantastic views                                         

                

 We reached Howtown at around 11.30am and Howtown is about three and a half miles from Pooley Bridge and is best reached by water. The Ullswater steamers regularly stop there on their way from Glenridding at the southern end of Ullswater to Pooley Bridge at the northern end of the lake.

The name Howtown means "farmstead on the hill". The place name is from the Old Norse word haugr, meaning "hill" or "mound", and the Old English word tün, meaning "town".

 We started our 7 mile walk back along the Eastern shores of Ullswater heading for Silver Point and then back to GlenRidding.

                                                                                            

 A welcome break for the team

                                                                           

                    

Lakeland’s most beautiful lakeshore walk - stunning views of the Ullswater Valley and Helvellyn range.

                                                                   

A small stream flowing between banks of juniper from Silver Crag marks the change from woodland to more open fell side and Silver Point. Silver Bay is in the foreground and our destination for dinner.

Tim heating up the barbecue

                                                                             

 Dinner time Fix The Fells style

More food arrives from the volunteers rucksacks, cake, 
cake and more cake. What a feast fit for a king.

                                                                                                    

After all the great food, it was time to sit back and enjoy the views. 

A dogs life

A round up on this years achievements and our chance to say thank you.

Most of the food found a home!

With our tummy's full it was time to head back to Glenridding. A fantastic day was had by all. The weather had been kind, rather hot at times but definitely better that rain. Roll on next year.

We followed the path towards Patterdale which gradually turns into a farm track with a wall on the right, over which you can see Glenridding and the Steamer pier on the opposite side of the lake, our starting point this morning.

Wind damage on Silver How

The Lakes suffered some quite strong winds a few weeks ago causing many branches to fall over paths.
Part of our work is to keep paths clear and safe for our visitors. Many National Trust Rangers are trained in the use of Chainsaws to undertake small tree felling and cross cutting, any larger or more dangerous tasks are carried out by our own forestry teams.


This oak branch had split from its main trunk and came down over the path leading to Silver How in Grasmere.

Using the Chainsaw to clear away the small branches first, so access to the larger limbs are made easier to cross cut.

Cross cutting the final limb to open up the path.

Elterwater memorial gate

Today we have been installing a new oak gate at the start of the Elterwater path. This gate has been  made by the Trusts own Joiners using money donated to someones memory.
We start by removing the old gate system and digging the holes for the hanging posts and closing posts. These have to be deep enough to hold the weight of an oak gate.

We use the arm of the digger to gently pull out the old gate stoop (cheating) while being careful not to damage the beck wall.

The Elterwater path is one of the most popular with lots of visitors enjoying the walk from Elterwater to Slelwith Bridge everyday. A designated bridlepath, Its a beautiful walk for all ages and disabilities, talking in some fantastic views of the Langdales and Elterwater. At the Skelwith end of the path stop to look at Skelwith force and the spectacular Woodburn Bridge. Erected in 2006 and named after a Skelwith Parish Council chairman, its location is amazing. Chester's Cafe is nice sight for many.

Making sure the hole is deep enough before we put the closing post in. From there we use rocks to jam the post in the hole. This is the post that the gate strikes against and must be solid to cope with the gate opening and closing thousands of times

 We have to make the path stock proof; Herdwick sheep could easily jump over the section of beck wall by the side of the gate.

We use oak rails to match the gate to create a small post and rail fence to keep stock from getting on to the path.

 Job finished and ready to be enjoyed by many. The path is prone to flooding with damage still visible from the floods of 2009, we hope to secure funding for repairs very soon.

Green Fingers

With help from our two long term volunteers (Dave and Joyce) work has continued on restoring and maintaining the small garden behind our information centre in Grasmere (sadly no public access).

Today we installed two willow screens at the back of the garden ready for planting up honeysuckle and other climbing plants.

The willow screens are simple to install. We constructed a small post and rail fence to act as a frame and support. The hurdles are then attached and strained back using wire wrapped around the rails and posts.

Joyce has been battling the dock leafs growing out of the grass for a few weeks now, thankfully it looks like the docks are losing the fight and we can start to see the green grass again. Joyce has also spent time planting up the borders around the building so not to lose its country cottage look. Dave and Joyce have been fantastic and have put many hours in supporting National Trust Rangers in the area.

Site preparation, removing old tree stump.

Knocking in the fence posts.

 

Green Fingers.

Up a bit, down a bit.

Ready for attaching the screens.

Tying back the screens.

 

Job done!

Our new Information centre opened in April this year and is proving to be a fantastic one stop shop. Part retail part information centre it is full of ideas to help visitors decide what to do in the area, from walks to picnic sites there is something for everyone.

Pop in and speak to Vivienne or Christine who are on hand to offer knowledgeable advice and ideas and pick up a treat on the way.

The building itself is worth a picture or two, named 'Church Stile, a row of 17^th century cottages in the centre of Grasmere, was for much of its history a small inn. The first identifiable owner was Robert Harrison who died in 1662, and by the end of the 18^th century the inn, then known as Kirk Stile (or Steel), was in the hands of Robert Newton. William Wordsworth, his brother John, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed here during their tour of the Lake District in 1797. It ceased to be an inn around 1840 and around 1896 was leased to Robert Hayes, a member of the local gardening family, who had opened a market and nursery garden some years before. The building was bought by the National Trust in 1968 with bequests from several local residents.