Westmorland Dales Website Update April 2021 

The last few months have tested us all with lockdown and short winter days. But there has been plenty to enjoy and celebrate too. Our four apprentices Abbi, Billy, Rebekah and Sarah successfully completed their time with us at the end of February and all are moving on to the next stages in their careers. Their achievements, as well as our stunning winter landscape, have been beautifully captured in our Skills for the Future film. Much has been undertaken on the ground too including tree planting work carried out by the Crosby Ravensworth Parish Tree Group and Eden Rivers Trust at sites along the Lyvennet and Scandal Beck. And we have launched ourselves in the virtual world, holding a series of Zoom webinars and an online landscape conference. We’ve had positive feedback from a huge range of people, including those unable to get out and inspiring others to explore our wonderful area with new eyes when they can. All the events have been recorded and are available to view.

Now with lockdown easing, vaccinations being rolled out and spring in the air we’re looking forward to the year ahead. We are hoping that we can make a gradual return to working from Tebay as guidelines allow and we’re certainly anticipating a bit more face-to-face contact where it is safe to do so. Our webinars and films, which will continue, have clearly whetted your appetites so we’re intending to start hosting regular heritage walks from May onwards. Schools have been back for a while so we’ve developed a range of options for them too, including new online geology resources. And there will be projects where we will be looking for volunteer input. Clearly we will have to take things step by step, and there will be a few bumps ahead, but getting out and about again is important to our mental and physical health and well-being. Things will change so sign up to our newsletter and keep an eye on this website.