Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme ran from March 2019 to February 2024. Its vision was to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape.

Download the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme Summary Report for an overview of the Scheme's successes.

Welcome …

… to the Westmorland Dales website.

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme aimed to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape. Specifically, its objectives were to:

Reveal the area’s hidden heritage.
Conserve what makes the area special.
Engage people in enjoying and benefitting from their heritage.
Sustain the benefits of the scheme in the long-term.

This was achieved through a programme of projects developed and delivered through the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, led by Friends of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and mainly funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It ran over a five-year period from March 2019 to February 2024.

Here you can discover what makes the area so special, find out about the scheme’s projects, and view and download resources produced.

The Westmorland Dales

The Westmorland Dales is a beautiful area of Cumbria lying north of the Howgill Fells and within the north-west corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It stretches from Tebay in the south-west to Kirkby Stephen in the east and to Maulds Meaburn in the north-west. At its heart are the limestone fells above Orton and Asby, rich in natural and cultural heritage, and with magnificent views to the Pennines, the Howgills and the Lakeland fells. It drains into the Lune river catchment to the south and the Eden river catchment to the north. Relatively overlooked compared with its better-known neighbours, our projects have aimed to reveal its heritage for more to enjoy without detracting from its unique qualities. (Click on map for larger image)

Contact information

Friends of the Lake District

Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7SS

Main Telephone: 01539 720788

Email: [email protected]

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL

Main Telephone: 01969 652300

Email: [email protected]

3.2 Skills for the Future – Apprentices

Eight countryside worker apprentices were employed by YDNPA, and one cultural heritage trainee, who developed their skills and experience in undertaking various projects with a wide range of partners, acting as great ambassadors for the Scheme and the organisation. Most have gone on to work in the conservation sector.

Project lead: Steve Hastie, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Two groups of Countryside Worker apprentices were employed by YDNPA for an 18-month period each, the first group from August 2019 to February 2021 and the second group from August 2021 to February 2023. They worked under the direction of an apprentice supervisor, also employed by YDNPA. Both groups worked towards and successfully achieved their Countryside Worker apprentice qualification in association with Askham Bryan College. They also completed several certificated courses including chainsaw and brush-cutter qualifications. The apprentices were based at the premises at Tebay and worked throughout the Scheme area and beyond.

Much of the value of the apprenticeships was gained by working on a wide variety of projects with an equally wide variety of partners, all in support of projects being delivered by the Scheme. These included working with the Crosby Ravensworth Parish Tree Group, tree planting in Crosby Ravensworth, working with the YDNPA ranger team to build a new footpath at the foot of Tebay Fell, and assisting the team’s cultural heritage officer with archaeological surveys on Great Asby Scar and archaeological excavations at Little Asby Common. They acted as great ambassadors for the Scheme. Most have gone on to employment in the conservation and
environmental sector.

In addition to the 8 apprentices, the project involved the employment of a cultural heritage trainee, from September 2021 to March 2023, with the emphasis being on work experience rather than an apprentice qualification. The trainee worked as part of YDNPA’s historic environment team based at Bainbridge and with the core Westmorland Dales team based at Tebay. She gained valuable experience in various aspects of the work of both teams and led the delivery of the Small-scale Heritage Features project under the direction of the cultural heritage officer.

A film focusing on the experience of the first group of apprentices can be found here:

Skills for a brighter future film.

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3.1 Love Your Landscape

Grants were distributed to a wide range of local groups in the area to implement their own projects which met our objectives including tree planting, the restoration of heritage features, interpretation and engagement projects.
3.3 Discovering the Westmorland Dales

The project saw extensive work on the rights of way network, bringing it up to a similar standard to the rest of the national park, as well as linking it to the Pennine Bridleway and with an extension of the Yorkshire Dales Cycleway. The improved network has been promoted through a series of walking, cycling and horse-riding leaflets.
3.4 Distinctly Westmorland Dales

This project worked with local tourism businesses to promote the area’s heritage and to use that heritage to maximise the benefits to their businesses, mindful of the area’s distinct qualities, its Sense of Place, and sensitivities about attracting too many visitors.
3.5 Interpreting the Westmorland Dales

Interpretation was a key theme underpinning all our projects with new welcome panels and interpretive boards sensitively installed, leaflets and booklets produced, sounds recorded and stories retold, many of them engaging local people in the process and helping them and visitors enjoy and understand the area’s rich heritage.
3.6 Celebrating and Engaging

Engaging people was at the heart of the Scheme and most of its projects to celebrate the area’s heritage. A programme of general public engagement events was held from online webinars to annual landscape forums; volunteers were recruited, trained and engaged; projects delivered with local primary and secondary schools, and other training events held; art, including sound sculptures, land art, theatre and music was imaginatively used to engage a board cross-section of people.

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We are an independent charity and the only membership organisation dedicated to protecting and enhancing Cumbria's landscapes for future generations
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