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Cash on offer for Dales website winner
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Bid for footpath through country estate
The owners of a £42m country house should be forced to provide a footpath through the grounds as a payback for allowing a massive development, campaigners say.The Ramblers’ Association and the Open Spaces Society are urging planners to insist on the path as part of consent for the building and conversion of new dwellings on the exclusive estate at Park Place, Remenham, in Berkshire.
New rescue team planned for remote islands
Scotland could have a new mountain rescue team if plans come to fruition.HarrisPhoto: Jan Schouten/LewisStudioThe new team would cover the Outer Hebrides, an area presently without mountain rescue cover.
Man dies after collapse on Ben Nevis
A man died after collapsing on Ben Nevis at the weekend.Ben NevisThe unnamed 35-year-old was descending the mountain just after 2pm on Saturday when he became unwell.
Snowdon cafe will be known as Hafod
You’ve been told officially now: don’t call it a cafe: it’s a hafod. Snowdonia National Park Authority members voted to name the new...
Four national parks are taking part in a £1 million project to encourage members of ethnic minorities to take an interest in the running of the organisations.A group from West Yorkshire spent a weekend in the Yorkshire Dales finding out about its attractions.
Latest weather view: it's over to you
There's an update on our recent story about getting walkers' views of mountain weather forecasts.Wintry weather at the Aonach Mòr weather stationgrough readers can use the survey form produced by the Public Weather Service Customer Group – an arm of the Met Office which oversees the weather forecasters’ free services – to shape the future forecasts for walkers and mountaineers.Sadly, it is not possible to order nice, snowy winters, as one of our commenters wanted, nor good sunny days for the mountain tops, but your input will tell the meteorologists how you use the service and how you would like to see it in future.Alyson Bedford, head of the PWSCG secretariat, told grough: “We’d like to hear from anyone in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or England.
Dales' hidden treasures available for a tenner
A world normally hidden to walkers is opened up this weekend in the Yorkshire Dales.Gaping Gill's main chamberCraven Pothole Club will set up its winch at Gaping Gill, a 105m (345ft) deep vertical shaft leading into a main chamber big enough, reputedly, to hold York Minster.
Footpath workers vie for awards
Rights-of-way workers will have the chance to earn a gong in the first awards ceremony for those working to protect footpaths and access.Rights of Way: a 'brickbrat' professionThe Institute of Public Rights of Way Management (IPROW) says examples could be improving access by linking two previously isolated routes; good practice in resolving access disputes; innovative designs for new access routes or making a significant contribution to definitive maps.A shortlist will be announced later this month before the presentations at the institute’s conference in Llandrindod Wells, on 23 and 24 September.
Stop speeding on commons, say campaigners
Motorists should be forced to slow down on commons, campaigners have told the Welsh Government.Many people are afraid of exercising their rights on common land because of traffic speeding by.
Fall ends mountain 75th birthday celebrations
A man’s birthday celebrations on England’s third highest mountain were brought to a premature end when he fell and injured himself.Helvellyn's summit and Striding EdgeThe 75-year-old Nottingham man was atop Helvellyn today when he slipped and injured his hip.
Alladale boss to face mountaineering gathering
Mountaineering Council of Scotland members will have a chance to quiz one of the Highlands’ most controversial land managers at the group’s annual gathering.Glenmore Lodge, venue for the gatheringHugh Fullerton-Smith, general manager of the Allerdale Wilderness Reserve, will address the gathering next month.
Alladale returns to TV in BBC series
Controversial Highlands heir Paul Lister makes a return to the television screens tonight with the first of a series of looks behind the scenes at his Alladale estate.Alladale's pair of elk, imported from SwedenBBC/Mike BirkheadMr Lister wants to fence off 20,200ha (50,000 acres) of wild Scottish countryside to establish a massive wildlife park in which wolves, lynx and brown bears roam free, but visitors have to pay.The scheme has attracted opposition from many outdoors organisations, including the Ramblers’ Association in Scotland, which says the plan contravenes Scottish outdoor access legislation.Mr Lister also has his supporters, not least numerous commenters on this website who, grough suspects, are not regular readers of the site.Tonight’s programme sees staff on the Sutherland estate, near Croich, preparing for a visit by Scottish Natural Heritage officials.The first programme in a series of six is aired at 7pm this evening, Friday 15 August, on BBC2.
Kinfauns: Ann Gloag 'put up fence in defiance of law'
Stagecoach millionaires Ann Gloag erected a fence on access land at her Perthshire castle despite knowing about Scotland’s right-to-roam law, a court heard. Perth and Kinross Council access officer David Stubbs told Perth Sheriff Michael Fletcher that a member of the public raised concerns at the erection of the fence in 2005.
Scots eagle poisoning: reward raised to
Anonymous donors have raised the stakes in the hunt for the killers of two golden eagles in separate incidents this year.Both were found poisoned within the Cairngorms National Park.
Hair rollers among rubbish netted in Knoydart clean-up
Volunteers cleaning up one of Scotland's most remote areas were astonished to find two boats' hulls among several hundred items of rubbish that filled 300 bags.The Knoydart rubbish collectionThe clean-up of a stretch of Knoydart’s beaches also turned up a message in a bottle, a carburettor, a chemical toilet and the remains of a catamaran.
Walkers' weather views needed
What do you think of the weather?Forecasters want your views – not on the dreadful summer or the fact that it hasn’t stopped raining for the past forty days or so – more, how you use the official weather reports.
Footpath rights must not be lost, says campaign group
The character of footpaths in England and Wales must be preserved, an access pressure group urged.Not all authorities take their duty to mark footpaths seriouslyThe Open Spaces Society used the anniversary of the introduction of a landmark law to press for authorities to protect and mark rights of way.