‘I LOVE EVERY DAY I SPEND ON THE MOORS’
RETIRED DAVID Bream has carried out some 300 days of volunteering in the North York Moors National Park in the last five years – and he says there is not a single one he has not enjoyed.
The former operations manager at British Sugar acts as a volunteer task day leader, taking volunteers or interested groups out into moors, dales and woods which make up the 550 square mile park.
A recent excursion to Forge Valley, a nature reserve on the banks of the River Derwent teeming with wildlife including otters and crayfish, epitomises his efforts to educate the public about the park’s value.
He took out 24 students from Bishop Burton College in Beverley to help maintain a mileand-a-half stretch of boardwalk through the reserve, sweeping away leaf debris to stop the timber boards rotting. This work, combined with the replacement of individual boards, will keep the walkway accessible to the public.
“The more you put in, the more you get out”, the father-oftwo tells The Yorkshire Post.
“It is really good that you can see people on a path when you are out walking and they thank you because the path is accessible due to what you and your team have done.”
The 64-year-old, who lives in Easingwold, had previously organised the town’s annual fun run but was encouraged to become a park ranger by a fellow volunteer, attracted by the idea of a role he could do week-in, weekour rather than just for a few days a year.
“I do get a lot out of it. If you asked me why I volunteer I would say I don’t know. I think it’s in my DNA,” he says. “Other people spot that and think ‘he won’t say no’ – you know who is going to help.”
The jobs are varied, from brushing and sweeping to building boardwalks or stiles, helping with vegetation clearance as part of flood prevention efforts or monitoring river quality in the River Esk by checking on the local invertebrate population.
On each task he supervises and encourages volunteers to give of their best and see the value in the work they are doing. “I absolutely love it,” he says. “It has got me fitter. I am in awe at the work some of the people here can do. It has got me a lot of contacts.
“I haven’t had a day that I haven’t enjoyed. The day I don’t enjoy it is the day I consider not doing it. I am also very proud to work for a National Park. They are a worldwide organisation and it is very much a brotherhood. I enjoy talking to people about the park and educating people about how special it is.”