Britain’s National Parks are a treasure that we need to protect and preserve
NATURE COLUMN: Bill Cawley
THIS year commemorates the 70th anniversary of the passing of the act that set up the National Parks in the UK.
The first one was the Peak National established in 1951. Roughly 25 per cent of the park lies within the Staffordshire Moorlands.
The establishment of the national parks is as much a magnificent an achievement of the Attlee Government as is the foundation of the NHS in my opinion.
The fight to open up the upland areas for walkers and climbers was a long one and saw its most totemic moment with the mass trespass on Kinder Scout in 1932 when walkers from Manchester confronted the gamekeepers of the Duke of Devonshire on the moors in their desire to have open access to remote areas for relaxation and enjoyment.
In 2002 as a member of the Peak National Park Authority I attended an event held at Hayfield to mark the 70th anniversary of the mass trespass where Andrew, 11th Duke of Devonshire, spoke. He apologised for the actions of his grandfather who was keen to prosecute the trespassers, a number of whom received prison sentences. All was forgiven.
The Peak District is a very special place for me. The first time I visited it was in the early 1960s when I was taken to Dovedale and crossed the Dove by the stepping stones.
In 1970 I spent a week at Hartington Youth Hostel as part of a geography school trip and I still recall picking up lumps of copper ore at Ecton and climbing up to Thors Cave with its wonderful view of the Manifold Valley.
Perhaps the best day in the Peak occurred in late January 1985 when I did a 16-mile walk around Kinder.
For some of the day we were walking in a blizzard and the driving snow made the side of my face seem like I’d had a jab of novocaine. I wasn’t “burned to a cinder on Kinder” that day. We took the family dog up there with us who never tired except on this occasion.
The long trudge through the ice and snow drifts was too much even for Corky who was exhausted for a few days afterwards.
The climb up the hill was an ordeal, but the way in which the wind and the snow had fashioned fantastic shapes on the plateau was memorable.
Needless to say the mug of tea and cake in the railway carriage cafe in Edale was most welcome.
So here we have the Peak District on the doorstep of the people of the Staffs Moorlands with the delights of both the White and Dark Peak to be had.
It is important to note that this revered lady needs to be treated correctly and we know the effect unguarded barbeques can have on moorland areas in a heat wave.
The National Parks are truly a national treasure we should all be grateful for and protective of.