high wray basecamp 2015 yearbook
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High Wray
Basecamp
Shardale, Troutbeck valley
November 2015
Yearbook 2015
The Lakes
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/get-involved/
Welcome to High Wray Basecamp’s 2015 yearbook
Some of the groups who come to High Wray gain recognition of their experiences and their contribution towards the conser-vation of wild places through the John Muir award. The award can help those who par-ticipate to gain a better understanding and appreciation of how their time with us is more than just working and how their contribution fits into the bigger picture. A famous quote from John Muir sums it up: ‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe’.
www.johnmuiraward.org
Nestled in its own private wooded grounds, High Wray is the National Trust’s full time volunteer centre in the
Lake District. We’re proud to be an integral part of the South Lakes property, a gloriously diverse area that
covers everything from lakeshore to high fell. Our area includes famous beauty spots like Tarn Hows and
Windermere lake, Beatrix Potter’s house Hill Top, an art gallery of her work and even a castle. With 15 working
farms and a wonderful network of paths linking all this together that’s a lot of land to look after!
That’s where we come in. We work closely with the rest of the ranger team to ensure that volunteers at High
Wray play an important part in helping to keep our marvellous countryside in tip top condition. More than
this, since opening in 1969 the High Wray ethos has been that volunteers should get as much out of working
with us as we do from them, something that still holds true today. We aim to help people feel that they’ve
contributed something towards a beautiful place, learnt some new skills and had some fun doing it!
We believe that there’s no such thing as a ‘typical volunteer’ and this yearbook aims to show the variety of
people it’s been our privilege to work with over the last year, as well as to say a very big thank you to each
Search under ‘High Wray Basecamp and
Bunkhouse NT’ and ‘like’ our site!
There’s not enough room to fit everything into this
yearbook so why not keep up with what’s happen-
ing at High Wray on our Facebook page? We post
regular stories and pictures about the different
groups we work with, places we’ve been and wild-
life we’ve seen as well as those odd little events
that just can’t be categorised!
and every one of them. We’d have a much harder job looking
after our fantastic area without your help - we look forward
to seeing many of you again in 2016!
Hill Top Tarn Hows
With such a diverse and interesting area there’s always
something happening in the South Lakes. Why not try
visiting:
http://beatrixpotterspatch.blogspot.co.uk/; for the
latest from Hill Top.
http://www.countryside-catchup.blogspot.co.uk/ for
weekly reports from our ranger team.
https://www.facebook.com/NTWrayCastle for Wray
Castle’s own Facebook page
Wray Castle
Want to get involved? To find out
more about Fix the Fells go to:
http://www.fixthefells.co.uk
An essential part of the Fix the Fells project, the
lengthsmen are a dedicated group of volunteers who
help look after our upland paths, spending a total of
1736 days volunteering on the fells in 2015! The
Basecamp team worked with them on three separate
projects—the path from Wrynose Pass to Red Tarn,
the Old Man of Coniston and the path along the
evocatively named St Raven’s Edge, above Kirkstone
pass. With Basecamp being a bunkhouse we’re also
the perfect place to hold more social affairs so we
were proud to once more host both the summer
‘blitz’ (inviting volunteers from Scotland to join us as
well) and their Xmas party. We’re looking forward to
contining to work on these and other projects with
this amazing group of volunteers in 2016!
The lengthsmen
Working holidays down low ….
National Trust working holidays are always
popular. With locations like this it’s easy to see
why, but add learning fascinating traditional skills
like hedgelaying and drystone walling, along with
meeting new people and playing your part in
helping look after the Lake District’s stunning
landscapes and they become weeks to remember!
‘Thank you all for a fantastic week. It was a real ‘blast’
and I still can’t believe what we achieved and how good
it looked’ Drystone walling holiday participant
Our ’Walk in’ upland working holiday enjoyed even better
weather and made the most of it by working on two different
sites, joining the upland path team on the Old Man of Coniston
for the second half of their week.
To find out more about working holidays go to
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/working-holidays
…. And working holidays up high!
In 2015 we ran two of our now legendary upland adventure camping working holidays. It was mostly dry for
both of them, giving everyone a chance to properly enjoy having the fells to themselves in the evenings — a
fantastic reward after a hard day’s work helping to look after them.
‘Best experience I’ve had after doing these for
15 years—great rangers and great company’
Upland camping holiday participant
We decided to get involved with the South Lakes volunteer group because we feel very privileged to live in such a beautiful part
of the country and felt this was our chance to give a little something back and help preserve our National Park for future
generations.
We soon realised that the role came with the added benefits of acquiring new skills, learning about the environment and
meeting many interesting new people along the way. Day 1 came along and we apprehensively turned up at The National Trust’s
“Basecamp”, near Hawkshead, looking a bit too clean and not quite sure what to expect and what we were letting ourselves in
for. We were met by our Ranger and started the day in the best possible way, with a brew.
We were briefed about the day’s activity and soon realised that our safety was of the upmost importance as well as our
enjoyment. Our first task was to repair a deer fence, protecting sensitive woodland, near Wray Castle. We were shown how to
knock in fence posts, attach pig nuts to the existing fence and cut away bushes and trees. We chatted as we worked and with
breaks for snacks and a lunch stop in the sun before we knew it the day was almost finished with one last, quite exciting job, to
chase out any possible deer before closing the woods up. We’re sure we spotted at least one! Well, we like to think we did!
Since then we’ve enjoyed many superb days out in many varied and stunning locations. We’re now proud to say we can
construct a lakeside path, re-build a dry stone wall (well, we understand how it should be done!) and know how to lay a
hawthorn hedge. We’ve also helped to build the children’s adventure play area at Wray Castle and especially loved being
involved with the Claife Viewing Station re-generation Project.
The Rangers are so enthusiastic about the work they do, always explain why we are carrying out the tasks and are keen to make
sure we enjoy the day and have a laugh along the way. Although the work can be quite demanding and strenuous they always
make sure we work within our limits and capabilities and the
days are never too long.It’s always a massive reward
knowing that your work has made a difference to such an
amazingly beautiful landscape.
All these projects have been so worthwhile and we even get
to annoy our family by proudly showing off our handy work
when out on walks in the area.
It would be great to see more people joining us on the
volunteer days so if you fancy giving it a go remember
there’s never any pressure to attend, if you're free, just add
your name to the list on the website!
See you in the hills!
Local volunteering The ‘South Lakes conservation group’ is a fantastic way for people from the local community to get involved
with our work. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what two relatively new members Neil and Lesley
have to say about it!
If you’d like to get involved with the South Lakes
group go to h p://bit.ly/1ZR3bLZ to find out more.
The ‘Pilgrim’s way’
What can I say. Your help on renovating this path has exceeded what we could have possibly hoped for. I re-call I was going round in circles trying to establish ownership and get someone to do something about this abandoned path, to avoid pedestrians having to take their lives in their hands and walk on the main A592. We are grateful you broke this impasse and simply just got on with it. I know I have the full backing of the Village Association committee in expressing our thanks, both to you and those volunteers involved. I would be grateful if you could pass on our appreciation. Thankyou from Troutbeck village society
No one could decide who had responsibility to look after
this dramatically named roadside footpath in the
Troutbeck valley and it had become overgrown and
virtually impassable. So we decided to work with the
Eastern valleys National Trust team to bring it back to life
as a gesture of goodwill to the local community, despite it
technically not being on National Trust land. A local
councillor agreed to purchase the stone to resurface it and
with two days hard work by one of our regular
rehabilitation groups, Shardale, we transformed the path
— a great example of partnership working!
‘The experience has been
fabulous. I have learnt how a
path is built but also just how
much time, effort, energy and
resources go into preserving the
Lake District and also what is
available for you to enjoy, learn
and be a part of’
Shardale volunteer
Fisherty Howe Our second year of working on
Windermere lakeshore between Low
Wray campsite and Wray Castle saw
many more groups ‘lining up’to help
create a sustainable surface for this
popular path. Now walkers will be
able to get through without muddy
feet, the surrounding vegetation will
be protected and there will be less
soil run off through erosion into the
lake. Everyone wins!
Mind, Barrow branch
The Princes Trust, Fairbridge project -Tyneside, Bury and Salford
Glenburn Sports College Littledale Hall Therapeutic Community
Kendal College
‘I never thought I’d enjoy any of this but it was mint and
I had so much fun’ Fairbridge volunteer
The garden started to come
to life in spring and we had a
good harvest of beans and
courgettes this year. We’re
looking forward to seeing it
develop over the years!
Built to make better use of the space between our
two accommodation blocks, there’s lots to see in
the new Basecamp garden. We’ve got big wooden
compost bins, raised beds for fruit and veg, an
apple tree, wildflower meadows for bees and
butterflies, a herb garden and a boggy corner. With
a colourful information board all about food miles
and growing your own (and inviting Basecamp
guests to pick some of ours when in season),
composting and the plight of invertebrates we
hope the Basecamp garden will be a great source
of information and inspiration for years to come.
The Basecamp
garden
We had plenty of help building the garden, with Mind
from Barrow getting stuck in to removing the original to
make room for the fresh start and Littledale Hall lending
their skills to construct the new compost bins.
‘I’ve learnt that my determination that once only
served to get me what was bad in my life was today
positive determination to give something valuable
back for people to enjoy and appreciate and to give
me self worth and pride.’ Littledale Hall volunteer
West Runton helped us and the
South Lakes path team to
re-establish the original path
line through the historic mine
workings on the Old Man of
Coniston, while Kendal college
(left) and Chester National
Trust volunteers helped us
keep the woodland boundary
walls behind Basecamp stock
proof. Chester also got very
muddy unearthing an old field
drain on the Fisherty How path!
As well as our drystone walling and upland
footpath working holidays we had plenty
of other help with walls and paths in 2015. More help with stone
‘I loved learning the technical aspects of how to build a drain and will appreciate them a lot more when I see them on the
hills, because I know all the work that’s gone into them. There’s no such thing as ’path Fairies’!’ West Runton volunteer
Slashers ready! Glenburn Sports college bashed the bracken back from newly planted trees near Windermere
lakeshore, ensuring they’ll get enough light to grow and flourish in the coming years.
Bits and bobs TTP helped us maintain our access track
when it was damaged by storm water
and improve the woodland at Wray
Castle by removing Rhododendron
roots.
‘A jam packed week, experienced the
feeling of gratitude for where I was, the
beautiful scenery, the animals, National
Trust staff + the buildings. Giving back to
conserve our gorgeous outdoors I’ve learnt
I’m not scared of hard work, I work well in
a team’ TTP volunteer
Northumbria National Trust volunteers cleared out invasive species in the nature reserve at Ash Landing and
finished off the hedges at Hoathwaite.
With thanks to Mrs Lumley, the Garratts, the Pendle Forest Association and Di Lang for all of your continued
support. It means a lot to us!
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Registered charity no 205846
Basecamp staff team 2015
Rob Clarke Philippa Barber Matt Tweed
High Wray Basecamp is also
available for private hire.
Contact us to find out more.
National Trust
High Wray Basecamp
High Wray
Ambleside
Cumbria
LA22 0JE
015394 34633
Longland block
Acland block
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