Helvellyn clear up a huge success

Last week saw 120 volunteers and 50 school children descend on the Helvellyn area to help with a major clear up of the slopes. 10.5km of footpath were cleaned, 25 metres of dry stone wall was rebuilt and school children from Patterdale and Yanwath helped build a red squirrel hide and learned about water and conservation, so fingers crossed the Lake District will be in safe hands in the coming years!



The Event 'Fell Care Day' was organised by the Friend's of the Lake District's 'Flora of the Fells' project and was used to highlight the massive role that volunteers play in helping to conserve and manage the fells. Over 20 other organisations took part and cakes were donated by local cafes and shops to keep the volunteers energies up.

The entire clean up produced 14 full bags of rubbish from the area, pointing to the fact that unfortunately there are still walkers that choose to deposit their rubbish in an untoward fashion. It comes down to laziness a lot of the time, with walkers (only a small percentage though I hope) choosing to simply discard what is not needed on the floor rather than take a little bit more time to find a bin or just as easily stick it in their pack and throw away or recycle it at home. But thanks to all the volunteers who took part, the slopes and surrounding area of Helvellyn are clean and gleaming once more!


Days like this are invaluble for conserving some of the most beautiful hills and mountains in the country and without them we just simply wouldn't be able to enjoy places like the Lake District and Peaks like we do.