It was apt that during National Tree Week, the volunteers were out in force at Gillside and Tongue Gill Woods at Grasmere, the woods we manage for Friends of the Lake District members Bev and Jo Dennison. Read more
This week the volunteers were at Dam Mire Wood at Threlkeld. It was a wet, cold and very muddy day and a new task for us… planting wetland plants... which may have appreciated the conditions more than we did! Read more
When locals moan about the rain we get in the Lake District, you sometimes hear visitors say “Well you wouldn’t have the lakes without the rain would you!” Read more
It is a bumper year for berries on not only the hawthorn trees, but also the alder at Dam Mire Wood. Apparently it's the biggest crop of hawthorn berries or haws as they are called in the last 20 years since records began Read more
We've expanded our volunteering opportunities on our property workparties in 2023 as there is much to do and we have big ambitions for how we manage, develop and enhance the land that Friends of the Lake District owns and manages.
The work is coordinated by our Land Manager, Jan Darrall, who oversees the management of all of our properties. Jan will be updating this diary to highlight the amazing work carried out by our volunteers, provide reports on site visits and discuss plans and ideas for future projects and plans for our land.
Friends of the Lake District's goals are to:
We strive to achieve these goals in a number of ways, not least through the ownership and management of land in Cumbria and the Lake District. We work to improve public access, improve flood resilience, create new woodland and develop rich habitat in our ongoing work to care for and celebrate Cumbria's rich natural and cultural heritage.
If you'd like to volunteer with us and join us on any of our wonderful workparties in 2023, visit the workparty section of our website for a full schedule of dates and booking facilities for upcoming dates.
We were back down at High Borrowdale with the volunteers on wed after an absence of a couple of months. We were delighted to be joined by the top team at Rohan who had come to join us as part of a three day team event away from the head office in Milton Keynes. Read more
This was the day we finally linked the wall we have been rebuilding for the last few years with the old wall. What an achievement! We thank each and every one of our volunteers who has helped with this massive task. Read more
Webinar held on Thursday 12th October 2023. Presented by Michael Hill, Friends of the Lake District and Lois Mansfield, Environmentors Ltd. Read more
Talking about the reasons why and what the RSPB and ourselves have learnt from our various tree planting endeavours, it seems the key really is the right tree in the right place Read more
We were joined by volunteers on our land at Middle Bleansley, quiet and unspoilt; a mixture of inbye grazing fields, amazing veteran trees and a developing native woodland on the valley sides. Read more
We were up in Sweden Wood above Ambleside with the volunteers this week and deemed it too wet even to take our best friend the electric strimmer! But...we did take two new brilliant volunteers with us. Read more
We were on our land at the Helm near Kendal early in the week, preparing for the addition of fruit and berry trees in a couple of months, learning about Herdwicks and witnessing the first signs of autumn's colourful arrival Read more
We were out in Friends of the Lake District’s Greenbank Wood in the heart of Ambleside this week, and were joined by a group from the firm Zurich. It is always fantastic to welcome people and learn all about their interesting jobs. Read more
We were joined by a group of Trans Pennine staff this week, back to help this time at High Borrowdale for more tree tube removal... but only after evicting some canny sheep who are total experts at breaking through the deer proof fences and walls! Read more
Using plastic tree tubes is rapidly becoming unacceptable, not only the litter they cause but also their disposal. Work trialling new materials is underway but in the meantime, the focus is on recycling. Read more
We're delighted to hand over this week's Land Manager's Diary entry to the wonderful Pete Martin, who shares our love of lichens and brings his extensive knowledge to bear on these marvellous miniature marvels! Read more
We managed to get a bit of our planned volunteer training in butterfly and moth identification in between downpours at the Helm this week. Did you know that Cumbria is home to 41 of the 58 species of UK butterflies? Read more
We reach a milestone and complete the rebuild of 350 metres of wall at Mazonwath and attend the annual meeting of the Little Asby Commoners Association. Read more
We were at the Helm this week working on the best methods of protecting our young trees and at High Borrowdale for some volunteer training on how to identify upland hay meadow plants Read more
Hay meadows are amazing habitats for pollinators and wildlife. A hay meadow can have over 150 different species of flower and grass and support a myriad of insects, small mammals and birds. Read more
The hay meadows surprised us by being out early this year. There also seemed to be more ox eye daisy than in more recent years, giving us a wonderful blend of white and yellows. Not much purple as yet but that will follow on! Read more
This week at Dam Mire Wood certainly took the record for the hottest workparty of the year so far on a day when we were delighted to welcome the Threlkeld Voluntary Action volunteers to help us on the day. Read more
We welcomed a really great mix of people from those starting new careers to those recently retired, and people who worked for the NHS, a freelance outdoor instructor and leader, and those who now have more time to enjoy themselves by helping us out! Read more
Another week, another beautiful bluebell and stitchwort wood. This time we have been down in Resp Haw and Bull Coppice woods in Rusland, kindly gifted to us by member and local resident David Archibald Read more
It is 18 months since we planted our new 420m hedge, helping create new habitats, provide connectivity between habitats, enhance the landscape and slow the flow of any surface water. Like all things, it needs a bit of TLC. Read more
Spring splendour, testing tree tubes, clever GPS cow collars and a crash course in bird identification make for a colourful entry in our Land Manager's Diary this week Read more
Just as the birds and plants are charging around like crazy and appearing all over the place, it feels like we are doing the same in the last week as we carry out wall repairs and learn about lichens. Read more
Drystone walling duties at Mazonwath this week dealing with the biggest stones yet on our walling rebuild. We were also appraising a sculptural semi circular dry stone wall creation that has mysteriously appeared on our adjacent Common Land at Little Asby. Read more
Friends of the Lake District have been the proud owners of Little Asby Common near Orton for the last twenty years. For the last 80 plus years we have championed common land as it delivers so many benefits for the public Read more
This week we thought we would update you on the work we have been doing to value some of our land holdings in terms of what they give us as society. Read more
It has been a pretty wet, grey and miserable March in the Lake District with little sunshine or warmth. But, Monday was a momentous day for several reasons. We awoke to clear blue skies and sunshine that remained with us late into the evening Read more
It was a damp and misty Monday in Mike’s Wood but we had a big turnout for our woodland workparty, thanks to everyone who joined us. Read more
Extreme weather in the north Lakes ranging from a foot of snow on Friday, through to treacherous ice and flooding with only the call of the curlews to hint at spring Read more
This week volunteers finished making a human and wildlife route through Mike's Wood, and as a trial, we planted 50 young juniper plants from RSPB Haweswater on higher ground at the Helm, away from the cows and fellponies. Read more
Lake District charity Friends of the Lake District was delighted to receive a cheque last week for £7,000 from north-west restaurant chain, Olive Tree Brasserie. Read more
This week we took our new Trustees on a tour of our land, met the Olive Tree Brasserie team at High Borrowdale and installed a 'des-res' for one lucky tawny owl - we hope - at Dam Mire Wood, Threlkeld. Read more
We were delighted to receive a cheque for £7,000 today at our High Borrowdale property from the Olive Tree Brasserie, donated by their generous customers to fund tree and plug planting here. Read more
Walling at Mazonwath is feast or famine – either huge stones that we can hardly get on the wall, or what our experienced volunteer Jean calls ‘cornflakes’ – stones so small they are hardly worth bothering with. We seem to have nothing in between right now but that just adds to the challenge of the wall rebuild. Read more
It's been nearly a year since we held our grand opening of Dam Mire Wood, kindly gifted by resident Mike Hambrey and time we gave you an update on what we have been up to. Read more
We've added extra accommodation for our feathered friends with the help of the talented Alf Baines who has made us 30 bird boxes with a choice of entrances to satisfy the more discerning visitor Read more
Recently, we've been learning all about the hidden and fascinating world of lichens in our woodlands thanks to our guest blogger this week, Pete Martin, the fount of knowledge of all things relating to lichens. An introduction to lichens and his discoveries in two of our woodlands. Read more
Many people think creating a wood is all about planting trees - but that's the easy bit. Ongoing care and maintenance in the early years is crucial - 41% of UK woodlands have no active management at all, which means none of their commercial or environmental benefits will be maximised! Read more
We're inviting volunteers of all skill levels to take part in our regular volunteering events scheduled throughout 2023. You can get involved in all kinds of activities including tree planting, dry stone walling, gorse control, woodland work, hedge planting and tree maintenance. Read more
We now know a lot more about how being outside helps us with our mental health and feelings of wellbeing. Yesterday on our workparty at High Borrowdale this was obvious as, we all lapped up the sunshine Read more
Monday saw the start of our 2023 workparty season and a glimpse of that elusive sun over Sunbiggin Tarn on our land at Little Asby Common. This year we have planned a whopping 36 events with a location and a volunteering activity to cater for young and old, individuals and groups, those with existing skills and those with none! Read more
Little Asby Common, near Orton, is rich in terms of its nature and archaeology, but what about the other things that make it special? The views, the skills of the dry stone wallers, the stockmanship of the commoners, and the sense of community in the area? Read more
The Lake District was looking incredibly beautiful in late December sunshine; trees white with frost, mountains sparkling and lakes glittering with ice. So what do you do when it's -6c at lunchtime? Well a bit of hay timing of course! Read more
On a cold but crisp sunny day, we were joined by our regular volunteers, and staff from the Olive Tree Brasserie group. Through their restaurant customers, they are raising money for our work at High Borrowdale. Read more
An atmospheric day with volunteers on our land at Mike’s Wood near Staveley on Tuesday. Early sunshine turned to thick fog as a record number of volunteers join us for a day of walling, coppicing, mince pie eating and tawny owl spotting! Read more
On Tuesday the volunteers were back at Mazonwath doing our monthly dry stone walling day. It was lovely to welcome three volunteers new to walling and for them to learn tips and tricks working alongside our experienced volunteers. Read more
It was a lovely change to be out with the volunteers in sunshine at Dam Mire Wood on Monday. We worked hard all morning trimming the tops of a hawthorn hedge and were very excited to be joined by Class 3 from Threlkeld School in the afternoon to plant a new 60m hedge. Read more