Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership


The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme finished in early 2024 with projects successfully delivered by a wide range of project partners, community groups and individuals. 
Over the coming months, we’ll be updating this site to highlight what’s been achieved, so please keep checking back.

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
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL
Main Telephone:  01969 652300

We wrote our winter newsletter with the rain pouring down and water running off the fells. It’s a reminder that, with climate change a reality, tree planting is a key measure to mitigate its impacts. So over the last few months (winter is the time for tree planting) we and our partners have been out planting as part of the scheme, with apprentices, local groups, school children and volunteers.

Volunteers are vital to the scheme and a number of our projects are just getting going and looking for further input. We currently need help collecting oral histories of our Westmorland Dales commoners and with our Great Asby Scar Archaeological Survey.

With spring just around the corner we'll also be launching our new small grants scheme in February, running a litter pick in March and hosting our annual forum in April.

Pictured: Kirkby Stephen Primary’s year 5 & 6 tree planting at Scandal Beck

In this issue:

  • 'Love Your Landscape' Grant Scheme
  • Our Common Heritage VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  • Date For Your Diary: Landscape Forum 2020
  • Tree Planting At Scandal Beck
  • 'A Way Through' Project Gets Underway
  • Planting Trees For The Future
  • Great Asby Scar Archaeological Survey – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  • Surveying the Traditional Farm Buildings of the Westmorland Dales
  • The Great Cumbria Litter Pick
  • Nature's Calendar
  • Keeping Up To Date
  • Our 21 Scheme Projects

Read it here>