A CLASSIC playground game for children has been resurrected to help save wildlife in Cumbria. Top Trumps – the card game where you ‘trump’ your opponent by having the highest value of a subject – has a new British Wildlife series, designed and chosen by National Trust conservation experts. The card game features 30 British [...]

HISTORY enthusiasts are fighting to stop one of Cumbria’s last steamers being forced off the water. Shamrock is the last of Windermere’s steamboats, with a Grade I listed status, but plans to turn its home into hotel rooms have left owners worried it could be evicted from the lake. Owner Roger Mallinson, of Windermere, rescued [...]

A HI-TECH car parking revolution could transform the Lake District experience for millions of visitors. Drivers will be able to book and pay for parking in advance of trips to the national park, saving themselves money and hassle, if a scheme being considered by car park managers goes ahead. A feasibility study undertaken by the [...]

VISITORS to National Trust properties in South Lakeland are to get a more interactive experience. A new ‘relaxed’ approach means the public will be able to read copies of the books at Townend in Troutbeck, pick produce from Beatrix Potter’s garden at Far Sawrey, watch and taste cooking at Wordsworth’s house in Cockermouth and hear [...]

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in the Duddon Valley have uncovered over 3,000 previously unrecorded historic sites after a four-year survey of the area. The Duddon Valley Local History Group, in partnership with the Lake District National Park Authority, found ring-cairns that could date back to the Bronze Age. Two of the most exciting finds uncovered in the 90-square [...]

A VICTORIAN castle once used by Beatrix Potter as a holiday home could be given a new lease of life. The Lake District National Park Authority has received an application from a developer to transform the castle on the banks of Windermere into a 27-bedroom hotel and spa. It is believed up to 20 jobs [...]

TWO of the Lake District’s larger bodies of water have frozen over. Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake have a layer of ice almost entirely covering their surfaces. “It is absolutely spectacular,” said Penny Webb, National Trust countryside officer for Borrowdale. “There is also snow over a lot of the ice so it is very white. [...]

LAKE District conservation charity has been experimenting with an ancient technique to build footpaths – using native sheep wool. Stone and gravel alone was not enough for the large, deep peat bog at Mart Crag Moor between Langdale and Borrowdale as it would have sunk into the bog and disappeared. But the Fix the Fells [...]

LAKE District conservation charity is set to star in a popular television programme. Members of Fix the Fells, which aims to prevent further erosion of upland paths, were filmed working alongside volunteers from the West Runton Christian Youth Group repairing a footpath near the Wrynose Pass for BBC 2’s Escape to the Country. The programme, [...]

ASPIRING archaeologists and historical experts gathered on the shores of Windermere today for fresh attempts to conserve an ancient Roman Fort. Professionals from English Heritage and National Trust volunteers have been working at Borrans Park in Ambleside with the shared goal of restoring the fort, which was built in the area during the reign of [...]