Catching up in Cumbria

Jude Lane and Dom Spracklen report on a successful North West England Member weekend.

We held our annual North West Members Group meeting in Glenridding on 7 October 2023. We were pleased with a great turn out of Members to hear our guest speakers and it was great to see lots of familiar faces.

Rachel Oakley told us about the Wild Ennerdale project, sharing the exciting news that the site has been designated a National Nature Reserve. Lee Schofield talked about the RSPB’s work at Wild Haweswater. Rachel and Lee both talked at the first NW England Members meeting in 2015 and it was really inspiring to hear how both projects have developed over the past eight years.

Cesca Darvill, a PhD student from the University of Leeds, talked about her research at the Woodland Trust’s new Snaizeholme site in Yorkshire. Her work aims to understand how soil carbon changes in upland landscapes when new woodlands are created.

Paddy Deady and John Hincks told us about the new Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery project, an exciting collaboration of farmers and environmental organisations working to restore nature in the southern Lake District.

Finally, we heard from Pete Barron who gave an update of the work of the John Muir Trust at Glenridding Common. It was heartening to hear what has been achieved by the Pete, Isaac and the team over the past few years in partnership with the local community.

We concluded with a discussion over the future management of Glenridding Common and it was clear there was a strong hope that the Trust would continue to be involved in some way in the future.

On Sunday 8 October, Isaac Johnston (pictured above) treated us to a tour of the Trust’s new(ish) project in Thirlmere. We walked up into Wythburn and were blown away by the exciting potential for recovery of nature in this impressive landscape. The Thirlmere Resilience Project, a multi-partner project including United Utilities and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, will help restore ecosystems across the valley and will help provide clean drinking water for communities in West Cumbria.

Throughout the year, the Restoring Hardknott Forest project welcomed volunteers to the Duddon Valley. Restoring Hardknott Forest is a partnership between Forestry England and the University of Leeds to restore one of the largest conifer plantations in the Lake District National Park to native woodland. Volunteer days are open to all and sessions continue through the winter and spring and are a great opportunity to socialise and to learn about forest restoration, as well as contribute to creating more native woodland in Cumbria. Sign up here for upcoming volunteer events.

Photographs by Dom Spracklen