I spent this morning away from the usual Friday morning work on my web sites to put the finishing touches to a submission to the Secretary of State for the Environment and send it off by email. Today is the final day to say whether you approve or disapprove of the proposed enlargement of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national Parks.

In very short summary, I disapprove.

In slightly longer summary I have three main points:

• I am not opposed to extension of the two parks per se. Over the past sixty years they have done a lot of good things and are to be encouraged. However, I have significant reservations about the present proposals.
• No extensions should take place unless and until the national park authorities are placed under far greater accountability for promoting the economic well-being of the local populace to balance up their current obligations relative to environment and conservation.
• If, however, the extensions do go ahead what remains of the integrity of the historic county of Westmorland should be maintained by ensuring that all Westmorland areas fall within the Lake District National Park and do not end up being controlled from the other side of the Pennines.

In case anyone is interested I’ve put a pdf file of my (short, only two sides) submission up for download at:
National Parks Extensions – Submission March 2012

Google just now served me a link to an LDNPA document, dated today, discussing alternatives for the Park authority’s position on the extension of national park boundaries, and in particular the proposal from Natural England that substantial parts of Westmorland should be incorporated into the Yorkshire Dales National park. I see that the Park authority meeting was to be held today, so maybe I’d be better leaving any comment until I see their decision on how to respond to this issue. On second thoughts I’ll comment briefly before discovering the outcome.

The Flag of Westmorland

Admittedly the more remote areas often feel ignored and neglected by their existing authorites (as well as by the tourist board) but if this is the reality then surely a more sensible response would be for central government to give the district and county councils a kick up the rear rather than imposing another layer of unelected bureaucracy on the local populace.

Protect Westmorland From Further Dismemberment

Having said that, if expansion has to go ahead I find it almost beyond belief that extensive areas of Westmorland should be placed under the control of an authority based on the other side of the Pennine watershed in Yorkshire. Westmorland is an ancient historic entity. It lost much of its identity by its administrative county being merged into Cumbria but its further dismemberment surely must be resisted.

If the Orton Fells, with areas stretching almost to Kirkby Stephen and Appleby-in-Westmorland, are to be in any national park they should be kept with the western parts of the old county in the Lake District. Historic identity matters.

This past weekend I was sifting through some old (pre-digital) photographs – prints and 35mm slides – when I came across a picture of Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales taken somewhere around 1991. A few weeks back I blogged about this very special part of Wharfedale but didn’t at that time have anything like a panoramic scene to show, so I’m putting this one up here to give people who’ve never been there some idea of the general appearance of the area.

Bolton Abbey - General View - c1991

It’s a pity the picture isn’t sharper (it was scanned from a print) but it shows the open spaces leading down to the River Wharfe, with part of the ruined priory in the distance. On this particular day there were considerable crowds, but the area open for walking and picnicking is so large that popularity doesn’t spoil it. With 80 miles of footpaths on a 30,000 acre estate there’s plenty of opportunity to get away from it all.

Just behind the point from which the photograph was taken is a cafe and shops in the old cottages, with a car park just a couple of hundred yards away. Further along the road is another entrance with a long driveway down to the other end of main site a mile or so beyond the old church buildings.

This is wonderful Yorkshire Dales countryside. If you’re in the area, don’t miss it.

Congratulations to the Yorkshire Dales National Park for their new award for the Far Moor bridge. This innovative design and timber construction was developed with the help of the Forestry Commission and provides an important river crossing on the 200-mile Pennine Bridleway national trail currently being developed, and opening next year.

Far Moor bridge in the Yorkshire Dales picked up a special award at a British Construction Industry event. Officers from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority thought they had missed out on a win after another project gained the award in the bridge’s category, but the structure, over the River Ribble, was given a judges’ special award in the London ceremony.
>> Read the Full Article at grough >>

Far Moor Bridge last winter (photo by YDNPA)

Yesterday I was in Lancashire attending the funeral of an old friend, and driving from the church to the cemetery passed the studio of landscape artist Keith Melling.

Keith Melling book - "An Artist in the Dales"

Click here or on the image to order from Amazon.

The River Wharfe, with bridge and stepping stones, at Bolton Abbey

Growing up in the Lancashire-Yorkshire borderlands I quite often found myself crossing the Pennine watershed from the red rose into the white rose county. One of our frequent outings was to Bolton Abbey. As a child, following in the footsteps of former generations, I did exactly what the children are doing in the photograph above – take on the challenge of the stepping stones over the River Wharfe, sometimes getting very wet!

This beautiful spot on the Duke of Devonshire’s estate (now managed by the Cavendish family’s Chatsworth trust) is a favourite destination for thousands from the large cities of the North and much further afield. The 30,000 acre estate has 80 miles of footpaths. You can walk along the river bank, wander through woodland, admire the power of the Wharfe forcing its way through the rocks of the Strid, or climb higher onto Barden Moor and Barden Fell. Alternatively, for those less energetic, there are tea rooms and an area allocated for barbecues.

The “Bolton Abbey” itself, although its has been known as such for centuries, is not strictly an abbey but a priory. It was founded in the 12th century the land having been given by Lady Alice de Romille, mistress of Skipton Castle, to the Augustinian order of monks who had earlier set up a small monastery at nearby Embsay. It developed over the next four hundred years in spite of occasional setbacks due to destructive visitations by Scottish raiders. At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s the main priory buiding was still work in progress. The shell of the east end still stands proudly over the river whilst the west end continues to serve as the local parish church.

Bolton Abbey, by the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales

Bolton Abbey should not be missed by any visitor to the Yorkshire Dales. To my mind it is probably the most beautiful spot in the whole of Yorkshire. Check the Bolton Abbey web site for more details.

Last night, while scanning my shelves, I came across a book that I must have bought around twenty years ago, Roads and Trackways of The Yorkshire Dales, by Geoffrey N. Wright. I couldn’t recall reading it before so spent an hour or so, with everything except eyes under the duvet, reading the first few chapters.

This book of over 200 pages (initially published in hardback in 1985, and reprinted as a paperback in 1990) provides an captivating  description of the way lanes and roads in the Dales evolved over many centuries.  Starting with ancient hunter-gatherers and the transportation across the region (even to continental Europe) of axeheads produced in the Lake District, through the needs of the Roman military machine , into the Middle Ages with the massive impact of agricultural development, especially under the Cistercian monks in their abbeys of Rievaulx, Fountains and elsewhere.

I found it especially interesting to see how the author explored the writings of travellers in the Tudor and Stuart periods, who seemed especially keen to record the bridges they crossed, and so gave hints as to the routes they followed from place to place.  Then of course, there were the almost regal journeys of Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, that doughty mistress of Skipton Castle and owner of castles, houses and vast estates from Skipton to Penrith and beyond.

This is a fascinating book.  Be warned, though, that unless you have a detailed map of the region firmly planted in your brain you will probably need one in front of you as you read. The book does rather assume that its readers know the territory quite well.  However, that’s a minor difficulty.

It’s a pity that Roads and Trackways of The Yorkshire Dales is not currently in print. I’ve checked, though, and paperback copies are available secondhand from Amazon here. (Buy a copy labelled “Very Good”; remember that “Good” in secondhand parlance all too often means “just about holding together” or “creased and stained but reasonably legible”).  There are also hardcover copies available.

Image by freefotouk via Flickr

Today I have a Yorkshire Dales miscellany gathered from around the blogosphere, items that have caught my attention and that I hope will interest you. They cover quite a wide range of topics, from archaeology and photography to the re-establishment of an ancient job. It would be nice also if they added to the visitor numbers of the sites I’ve found and enjoyed. (By the way, this is quite altruistic; I have no commercial connection with any of these sites or their owners).

Yorkshire Dales News: Cash help for Dales parishes

One of the ancient trades of the Yorkshire Dales, the parish lengthsman, is to be partially resurrected long after the job disappeared, thanks to grants from the LEADER programme organised by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. …

This next item, about the current consultation on the proposed extension of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks is a few weeks old now, but is still highly relevant.

Yorkshire Dales News: National park extension: CLA urges locals to …

The CLA is urging people who live and work in the area covered by the proposed extension to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park Boundaries, to be sure of how the changes could affect them before responding to the …

Next are two “-ologies” – archaeology and ornithology. The first of these I’ll be watching over coming months to see if anything anything especially interesting emerges as I’m currently preparing to launch a new blog on archaeology for the non-specialist and it would be nice to have a linkage between the two sites.

Yorkshire Post: Power work in Dales turns up Iron Age site

ENGINEERS burying power lines in the Yorkshire Dales have unearthed a piece of ancient history which has baffled experts. Along-buried strip of ash and burnt material …

National Park Authority: Farmers help wading birds to survive

Wading birds are being given a helping hand by farmers in the Yorkshire Dales. Arkengarthdale and Swaledale are hotspots for wading birds like curlew, redshank, lapwing and snipe, and the farmers are working with …

And finally, a photogallery:

Landscape Photography blog by Tristan Campbell, Harrogate based …

Yorkshire Dales · Nidderdale · Pateley Bridge · Harrogate · Wharfedale · Outer Hebrides. Landscape Types. Moorland · Seascapes and coastline · Trees and woodland · Skies and clouds. Seasons. Winter · Spring · Summer · Autumn …

That’s it for this time. More again soon.