Thursday 24 February 2011

A brief introduction to the National Trust Fell Rangers

The National Trust has been carrying out essential upland footpath repair and maintenance in the Lake District for over 25 years. This work has been carried out by dedicated teams of Fell Rangers. The four man Central and Eastern Team operates in the valleys of Langdale, Grasmere, Windermere and Ullswater.

We are all full time National Trust staff although we are often helped out by groups of volunteers who kindly donate their free time to help us repair the footpath erosion. This erosion is caused by a number of factors but is predominantly the consequence of the 10 million plus visitors who walk the fells in the Lake District each year.

For the past ten years our work has been funded through Fix the Fells. Fix the Fells is a partnership formed between the National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority, Nurture Lakeland, Natural England, The Field Studies Council and Friends of the Lake District, and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Typically we spend spring through to autumn working high up on the Cumbrian fells and during the winter months we come down off the fells and our work focuses on low-level estate work which includes tasks such as dry stone walling, hedge laying, building footbridges and hanging gates.

....and here we are (Left to Right) Ade, Pete, Nic and Leo