Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme aims to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape. Thanks to National Lottery players it has been supported by a grant from the Heritage Fund.

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Dark Skies Winter Celebration

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme, funded by Heritage Lottery, invited schools in the Westmorland region of Cumbria to join its ‘Dark Skies Winter Celebration’.

This project coincides with the Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival and provided an opportunity for children to visit a planetarium. Children from Orton, Tebay, Crosby Ravensworth, Great Asby, Shap, Kirkby Stephen Primary, Brough and Kirkby Stephen Grammar School got the opportunity to learn about the night sky with the aid of specialised visual and audio equipment designed to provide an immersive 360-degree experience.

The schools also took part in a follow up art project with local artists Rob and Harriet Fraser. You can see the results of the art project in these short videos from the schools that took part; creating their own works of art telling the story of the unique landscapes of the Westmorland Dales.

We've embedded the videos on this page but if you have trouble viewing them we've also provided the link to our Vimeo video channel where the videos are hosted.

Tebay Primary School

Follow this link to view on our Vimeo video channel (external website)
https://vimeo.com/268776659

Orton C of E Primary School - Year 5 and 6 children

Follow this link to view on our Vimeo video channel (external website)
https://vimeo.com/268772472

Orton C of E Primary School - Year 3 and 4 children

Follow this link to view on our Vimeo video channel (external website)
https://vimeo.com/268768200

Crosby Ravensworth CE School and Asby Endowed School

Follow this link to view on our Vimeo video channel (external website)
https://vimeo.com/268762411

Latest

The Hidden Heritage of the Westmorland Dales

Our ambition to reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales runs deep. To discover more about the history of the area we've created a number of projects designed to help us interpret the area's rich archaeological heritage, much of which has remained undiscovered, unrecorded and under threat
Visit Little Asby Common

Friends of the Lake District is working with the commoners to enhance the character of this limestone landscape. The area is Open Access Land, so you are free to explore the site. Why not come and see some of the work we are doing?
10th August 2022: Mazonwath Meadows and Memories

We were delighted to see the progress of our upland hay meadow restoration carried out as part of our Westmorland Dales project and in reminiscent mood as we near the end of several years of work rebuilding Mazonwath's drystone walls
Summer Travel Hints and Tips

Some handy hints and tips from 'Zero Carbon Cumbria' to help you reduce carbon and save money when you travel over the summer months

The Hidden Heritage of the Westmorland Dales

Our ambition to reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales runs deep. To discover more about the history of the area we've created a number of projects designed to help us interpret the area's rich archaeological heritage, much of which has remained undiscovered, unrecorded and under threat
Little Asby Through the Keyhole Season One Results

The results are in for the first season of excavations on Little Asby Common held in 2021, consisted of 16 keyhole trenches. These evaluation trenches enabled us to investigate the heritage of a wide area of the common and unearth a fascinating history
Small-Scale Heritage Features

Our cultural heritage trainee, Rebekah Booth, has been leading small-scale heritage feature surveys across several villages in the Westmorland Dales area. So far, volunteers and our apprentice team have surveyed Newbiggin-on-Lune, Ravenstonedale, Tebay, Maulds Meaburn, Crosby Ravensworth and Crosby Garrett.
Dry Stone Wall Survey in Asby Parish

Over 7 days in May and June volunteers, led by Dr David Johnson, carried out a dry stone wall survey in Asby parish. In advance we held a taster and training day, to give an introduction to walls, the landscape and how to survey them.
Test Pitting in Ravenstonedale

Digging the Past is a test pitting project in Ravenstonedale which is being delivered by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Eden Heritage. At the time of writing, 23 test pits have been excavated, but we expect to have completed at least 25.
A Sound Tour of the Westmorland Dales

Sit back, close your eyes, slow down and experience a sound tour of the Westmorland Dales through a mosaic of sounds recorded at various locations by sound artist, Dan Fox. A mysterious and evocative medley of traditional music, local voices and sounds of the countryside.
Celebrating Hay Meadows in the Westmorland Dales

To celebrate Hay Meadows Day we ran an exhibition with Cumbria Wildlife Trust in Ravenstonedale. On display were historic hay time photographs, wildflower photos, films and memorabilia from the last 100 years. Guided walks, arts events and bee walks took place through the glorious hay meadows.
A Sound Tour of the Westmorland Dales

Sit back, close your eyes, slow down and experience a sound tour of the Westmorland Dales through this mosaic of sounds recorded at various locations by sound artist, Dan Fox. A mysterious and evocative medley of traditional music, local voices and sounds of the countryside.
Westmorland Dales Summer Newsletter 2022

Welcome to the summer newsletter of the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme, in what promises to be a defining year for us. Despite some ongoing challenges with Covid and the weather, there really is an enormous amount happening at the moment as we catch up on things that have been delayed.
Westmorland Dales School of Rock

Shap CE Primary School have been working on the rocks element of the national curriculum and how they shape the landscape of the Westmorland Dales. What an adventure it was!