Expecting a day of heavy rain and strong winds which had been forecast all week, volunteers, task leaders, and staff braced themselves for a tricky day at Friends of the Lake District’s Thirlmere Fell Care Day on Sunday 23^rd September.

But in fact the sun shone and shone and a gentle breeze helped the volunteers with the variety of conservation tasks and learning opportunities, with tremendous results!

• 83 volunteers, task leaders and Friends of the Lake District staff took part.
• 6m of dry stone wall were rebuilt at Thirlspot.
• 5 bags of rubbish removed from the eastern shore of Thirlmere, including a sleeping bag, jacket, base-ball cap and glasses case! (These were collected by the Plogging team - Plogging: the Scandinavian activity of combining a gentle jog/walk with litter picking.)
• 14 km of upland footpath maintained from Swirls and Wythburn to Helvellyn.
• I km of path squirrel-surveyed and 2 red squirrels spotted!
• 10 pieces of Thirlmere-inspired art produced.
• 12 people trained in introductory woodland management at Great How Wood.
• Spruce clearance completed at Low Bridge End Farm.
• 365.5 hours = 52 days of work and learning completed.
• 160 pieces of cake eaten!

Ruth Kirk, Landscape Engagement Officer for Friends of the Lake District said: “We want to thank everyone who came along to conserve, protect, learn and be inspired. Thirlmere has taken a bit of a bruising this year from the threat of major commercial development to serious storm damage which has affected the western shore and is still preventing access. We are so grateful to the people who came along to show just how much they care about this special place.”

See more photos of the day on our facebook page.

Friends of the Lake District’s next Fell Care Day takes place in the Duddon valley on Thursday November 8^th with a wide variety of conservation activities. See more information here or contact [email protected]