Celebrating 15 years of dedicated fix the fells volunteers with prestigious award and work party

This weekend marked 15 years since the first fix the fells volunteers began to help look after paths on the high fells and what better way to celebrate than with the project’s prestigious win at the Park Protector  Awards in London and a celebratory work party on Sail near Keswick.

The Park Protector Award is a fitting tribute to the achievements of all those involved in this fantastic project.

The Fix the Fells project has been running for 20 years with a core team of specialist rangers, and then 15 years ago recruited the first hardy volunteer.

Now 22 highly skilled Rangers are employed to work on 210 upland paths, ably assisted by 130 dedicated Volunteers, who maintain and monitor erosion on a total of 735 fell paths.

The Fix the Fells project has been repairing, maintaining and monitoring 666km of upland paths in the Lake District for over 20 years. The invaluable work monitors and repairs erosion, through a range of techniques including stone pitching, soft landscaping and subtle management of people. The objective is to protect and restore the World Heritage Site with its internationally designated landscape, habitats, species, history and culture.

Annie Duckworth, Fix the Fells Ranger for the Lake District National Park Authority said: “In addition to the 25 paths that the Fix the Fells Rangers are working on this year , we held a special mass participation work party on Sail near Keswick this weekend to mark 15 years of our wonderful volunteers. We’re very grateful for their hard work and dedication in often challenging locations and conditions. The workparty on Sail focussed on landscaping eroded areas to encourage users back onto the path and prevent the erosion from worsening .

No two days are the same, its hard physical work  and the weather conditions are not always kind so I am very grateful to each and every one of our committed volunteers for giving up their time to help.

“My message to anyone visiting the Lake District this summer is to venture out and enjoy the Fells as much as possible but please tread lightly and consider your own individual impact on the fragile ecology of the uplands. By sticking to the path rather than shortcutting along side routes you can play a small part in protecting the area for the  future “