Lake District Hotels Association announce LDF as charity partner

The Lake District Hotels Association (LDHA) are excited to announce their 2019 official charity partner will be the Lake District Foundation.

The Lake District Foundation (LDF) is a charity dedicated to care for the Lake District National Park and Cumbria. LDF’s ambition is to raise £1 from each of the 19million visitors to the Lake District.

This newly formed partnership with LDF is a perfect way to celebrate the surrounding natural environment. LDHA, with its 40 members of independent hoteliers and tourist attractions, provide economic growth and employment to the tourism and hospitality industry by inviting national and international visitors to celebrate the beauty of the North West.

Joe Cobb, Chairman of LDHA said: “We are delighted to work closely with such a fantastic charity. The Lake District and Cumbria is such a magical place for everyone to enjoy, we feel it’s incredibly important to maintain this beauty and invest back into the land and the lakes for many years to come.”

LDHA developed The Real Lake District campaign which promotes the Lake District as a holiday destination. This partnership will enable LDF to promote fundraising projects to a growing 70,000 global fan base through the LDHA’s popular social platforms, website and app called The Real Lake District.

LDF CEO Sarah Swindley commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to be announced as the official charity partner for the Lake District Hotels Association. By working together with the Association it will unlock a coordinated approach to fundraising and provide a greater platform to inspire people to care for and donate to projects that look after the spectacular wildlife, landscapes and cultural heritage of the Lake District and Cumbria”

As the official charity partner, the LDHA will recognise and promote the Lake District Foundation as their main charity, as well as supporting a variety of local initiatives and alongside their own individual charity work.

Crowdfunding campaign launched for Langdale Pikes

A new crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise money for a popular walking route in the Langdale Pikes.

The Lake District Foundation aims to raise £5,000 by the end of January to fund vital repairs to the path from Stake Pass to Pike O’Stickle via Martcrag Moor.

The cash raised will be donated to Fix the Fells, enabling its volunteers to landscape erosion scars, improve drainage, and define the line of the path to avoid a fragile bog habitat.

Volunteers will also build new sections of the ‘sheep fleece path’ – a traditional type of path that involves ‘floating’ a gravel path over peat bog by using the fleece as a barrier between the ground and the path.

This approach, which is both sustainable and environmentally friendly, results in an excellent upland path that blends in effectively with its surroundings.

James Forrest, Fix the Fells Fundraiser, said: “The jagged skyline of Langdale is one of Lakeland’s most beautiful sights – and the distinctive peaks of the Pikes are much-loved by walkers, runners, cyclists and tourists alike. But this popularity comes at a price.

“The Langdale Pikes are suffering from ongoing erosion caused by human activity. This is why the work of Fix the Fells’ dedicated teams of rangers and volunteers is of crucial importance. Please help support this vital conservation work. Every donation – no matter how big or small – makes a real difference.”

In return for donations, rewards will be sent to those people who donate specific amounts. The rewards include:

• A Fix the Fells pin badge for donations of £10 or more

• A Lake District Foundation goodie bag (containing a tote bag, Conquer the Lake District patch, badge and pen) for donations of £20 or more

• A limited edition Fix the Fells t-shirt – designed by Fix the Fells partner Geo Clothing (https://geoclothing.co.uk/) – for donations of £40 or more

• A day out with the Fix the Fells volunteers on a ‘drain run’ for donations of £100 or more

• A hike with local adventurer and author James Forrest (aka ‘Mountain Man’) for a donation of £200 or more

To donate any amount, visit the Langdales project page on the crowdfunding website at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/martcragmoor before January 29.

Managing the biodiversity of the Lake District National Park

The Lake District Foundation has awarded a grant of £4,500 to the Cumbria Local Nature Partnership, enabling them to lead the development of a clear, strategic approach for managing the biodiversity of the Lake District National Park.

Local Nature Partnerships have been established to drive positive change in the local natural environment. This funding will enable them to consider the broad picture across Cumbria, pooling knowledge and indentifying any gaps and challenges. We will then be able to ensure that future funding is invested in the best possible places and projects, with the right people involved to deliver measurable benefits for wildlife, people and the economy.

We look forward to the development of this strategy, which will help us all ensure that we care for and protect the landscapes, wildlife and cultural heritage of the English Lake District in the best possible way.

Helping to save Helvellyn’s vulnerable arctic alpine flora

The Lake District Foundation has awarded a grant of over £2,600 to the John Muir Trust, which last year took over responsibility for the management of a large part of the iconic Lake District mountain, Helvellyn. The money will fund a new project aiming to increase the populations of threatened arctic-alpine species found on the high crags of the Helvellyn range.

The project will bring together national experts, local volunteers and staff of the John Muir Trust in a project to safeguard our nationally important but extremely vulnerable populations of Arctic alpine flora. Many of these species are growing at the southern edge of their range on Helvellyn. The project hopes to see the successful re-introduction of species lost or under threat due to people and erosion pressure. The work will also help to ‘future-proof’ upland floral and shrub populations against the threat of climate change. Alpine mouse ear, Alpine cinquefoil and purple saxifrage are amongst the species that, it is hoped, will benefit from a gradual increase in their population size.

Beginning in the autumn/winter months of 2018, the project will start with the close monitoring of the arctic alpine species present and the collection of seed and cuttings. Volunteers from the local community in Patterdale will work with staff from the John Muir Trust to propagate and ‘grow-on’ a stock of young plants. Specialist advice will be available from Natural England and volunteer growers will help assess the success and failure of propagation of these rare species to help inform future work. The funding from the Lake District Foundation will cover the costs of the special growing medium, pots and tools needed, and will contribute towards the costs of seed and cuttings collection, volunteer training and transport.

Hopefully – and with the enthusiastic support of Patterdale’s volunteer horticulturalists – the first successful shrub cuttings will be ready to plant out by autumn 2019. The more adventurous and athletic volunteers may even get the opportunity to climb the high crags of Helvellyn to help planting out back onto the fells. But the whole community and visitors to this upland landscape will benefit if this ground-breaking project is successful in creating more robust populations of the endangered arctic alpine species found in this tough Lakeland habitat.

Tree planting at Mardale Common, Haweswater

The Lake District Foundation has awarded a grant of over £2,000 to the Royal Society for the protection of Birds (RSPB) for tree planting at its Haweswater Nature Reserve at Bampton, near Penrith. Commencing in November 2018, the project will see 400 trees planted on Mardale Common over the coming two winters. The new planting will enhance the resilience of the existing ancient woodland, which is vulnerable as trees become older and less able to withstand the spread of disease and the effects of climate change.

This valuable contribution will enable the RSPB to train and equip their active team of local volunteers to plant the saplings, sourced from their own Haweswater tree nursery, to create an area of new woodland on Mardale Common. The trees will be surrounded with weldmesh protection, nurturing their survival into mature trees. Planted at low density, the new trees will become the large open-grown landscape trees for future generations. Currently, these large landscape trees are being lost in Cumbria at a faster rate than they are being replaced, and the Lake District World Heritage Site nomination highlighted the vulnerability of our ageing native tree population and the need for new planting in appropriate places.

The RSPB has extensive experience of tree planting at Haweswater, having managed the area in collaboration with the landowner, United Utilities, for over 40 years. The project has been developed in consultation with the Woodland Trust, the National Trust and United Utilities to provide a co-ordinated response to the challenges.

The local community welcomes this important project, recognising the importance of woodlands in providing habitat to support a broad range of wildlife, as well as being concerned about the impact on the landscape caused by the loss of ancient trees. The RSPB already has extensive experience of tree planting at Haweswater, where previous planting work has resulted in an increase in biodiversity, with gains recorded for species including red squirrels, tree pipits and whinchats. Mardale Common is all designated public access land, and the new area of woodland can be reached using a number of public footpaths that pass nearby.

Whilst the RSPB is hugely grateful to the Lake District Foundation’s supporters whose donations have made this funding possible, they are indebted to their team of around 20 local volunteers who are committed to conserving the wildlife and landscape on their doorstep. The group is open to all ages and abilities and is always actively seeking new members to join its weekly work parties.

The Lake District Foundation funds work to improve Dash Beck at Bassenthwaite

The Lake District Foundation has approved a grant of over £2,000 towards a project led by the West Cumbria Rivers Trust, working in partnership with Bassenthwaite Rotary Club, to enhance the habitat of Dash Beck and surrounding land. The project was first conceived by local people, and they will be fundamental to the successful delivery of the works necessary to improve the habitat of Dash Beck for a range of wildlife, particularly salmon and trout. The project will also improve the safety and accessibility of the footpath from Bassenthwaite village to the lake, benefiting the local community and visitors alike.

The River Derwent, Bassenthwaite Lake’s principal river, is internationally important for its salmon and trout populations but these are currently in decline. Preliminary work shows that Dash Beck could be an excellent spawning habitat for salmon, trout and other salmonids, but is currently not reaching its potential. The project will tackle pollution inputs, reduce sediment inputs to the beck, increase in-stream habitat diversity, allow more light to reach the river bed, and will manage the riverside woodland to enhance its suitability for a wider variety of species. To achieve this, tasks will include clearing and repairing the footpath; stabilising the eroding bank with natural materials; coppicing bankside woodland to allow more light to reach the stream and increase diversity of woodland habitat; pulling Himalayan balsam; and fencing off the beck and footpath from the farmland. Other planned work includes training for landowners on the benefits of coppicing by Cumbria Woodlands.

As much work as possible will be carried out by volunteers, and activities will give them the opportunity to learn about the stream and the threats it faces. Volunteers from Bassenthwaite Rotary Club will be trained as Riverfly monitors, taking monthly surveys of invertebrates as indicators of water quality and siltation. Local volunteers will continue to walk the beck to monitor Himalyan balsam and overgrowth, and will continue to control if necessary.

Work will also be carried out to maintain the footpath alongside Dash Beck down to a quiet area of Bassenthwaite lake shore, where it joins a network of other footpaths, including the long distance ‘Allerdale ramble’ trail. The project will reduce the risk of bank erosion, making the footpath safer and improving access to the lake.

Dash Beck lies in the northern fells of the English Lake District, descending rapidly from its source on the north facing slopes of the Skiddaw massif over a series of cascades known as Whitewater Dash or Dash Falls, described by Wainwright as the finest succession of falls in the Lake District. The lower reaches of Dash Beck, which is where the work will be carried out, continue through a small valley of the same name, through the village of Bassenthwaite before flowing into Bassenthwaite Lake at its north-eastern corner.