Steve Hastie: 'Support is fantastic'

Steve Hastie: 'Support is fantastic'

Walkers took to the hills to celebrate the first anniversary of an organisation set up to support work on three of the Yorkshire Dales’ most popular mountains.

The Friends of the Three Peaks organised walks up Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough to mark the anniversary and also the fact membership has topped 200.

An amble round the Ribblehead area, in the shadow of the three mountains, was an option for less energetic hikers. The event culminated with a meeting at the Station Inn at Ribblehead, whose landlord Allan Shutt is a corporate Friend.

The Friends group was launched by Women’s Institute Calendar Girl Angela Baker last year, along with the Three Peaks Project, to help maintain the footpaths and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s other work on the three hills.

Three Peaks Project manager Steve Hastie said: “The group has seen steady growth in membership and, if you add in all the corporate and charity supporters, the number exceeds 250.

“The support coming in for the work of the national park Authority in the Three Peaks is fantastic to see but we still have many challenges in the current economic climate if we want to see the progress we’ve made looking after the paths continue.”

Station Inn owner Mr Shutt said: “We very much enjoyed welcoming the Friends to the Station Inn and being part of the celebrations. We are lucky enough to be right in the middle of the mountain range and regularly meet lots of visitors who travel here to enjoy the hills. The work of the Three Peaks Project is very important to the area.”

National park authority member and Friend Dr Malcolm Petyt joined the Ingleborough walk. “We are delighted that membership is continuing to grow,” he said. “It was good to meet a number of Friends to celebrate our first birthday. I was in a group that enjoyed an exhilarating walk in ideal conditions, and we saw some of the work that the Three Peaks Project has done over the past year.”

Membership of the Friends of the Three Peaks costs a minimum £10 annual donation. Details are on the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority website. Supporters can also complete an online application form and pay at a national park centre in the Dales.

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