GUIDED MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDES

LED BY NATIONAL PARK RANGERS

SATURDAY 16^TH & 23^RD JUNE

STARTING FROM FAIRHOLMES CYCLE HIRE AT 10.30 FOR APPROXIMATELY FOUR HOURS

HAVE YOU GOT A MOUNTAIN BIKE BUT UNSURE WHERE TO RIDE? 

NEW TO MOUNTAIN BIKING? WANT TO LEARN SOME BASIC TECHNIQUES?

THEN JOIN US FOR A RIDE AROUND THE DAMS

BRING YOUR OWN BIKE OR HIRE ONE 

MORE DETAILS ON THE NATIONAL PARK WEB SITE 

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/guidedwalks

Calver Weir footpath

I have been out yesterday and today with one of our new but particularly hard-working groups.  In the last two days the Princes Trust group fromSheffieldhave laid 138 ton of stones along the riverbank at Carver Weir.  So thanks to all the volunteers from the Princes Trust group for all their work laying the path, and to a little group of Park staff who sat on a dumper bringing all the stone down from the roadside. The Princes Trust group are off toDerwentValleyfor the next two days to remove some invasive rhododendron, and heaven only knows how much of that they’re going to shift!!

Have you got a great photo from one of our projects?

For the third year running PPCV has coordinated over 3000 volunteers!  I’d like to thank all those who gave up their time, especially the volunteer supervisors who help to manage the projects.  

Our conservation volunteering takes place in stunning landscapes throughout the Peak District National Park, and I’m  sure that our volunteers have taken some superb photos whilst on our projects.  

The Association of national Park Authorities (ANPA) is running a photo competition that you may be interested in entering.  Here are some more details:

‘The UK’s family of 15 National Parks are home to some of the most stunning views in the country – if our views could compete in the Olympics they’d be up there on the podium! Next time you see a jaw-dropping view, why not grab your camera and capture an image to enter our Winning Landscapes photo competition.

We can’t promise the winner a gold medal but there is some prize-winning outdoor gear from our partner Merrell on offer.

The competition will be judged by TV adventurer Ben Fogle, of the Campaign for National Parks, Kathryn Cook from the UK Association of National Park Authorities and Emily Carr from Merrell.

The competition will run from Tuesday 10 April to 12 midday on Thursday 10 May and you’ll need to use our form below. The winning entry will be announced on Tuesday 15 May. Your Merrell prize can be chosen from the spring/summer collection’

For more information and entry form: www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/winninglandscapes.htm

If you enter the competition, please let me know.  Good luck!

Free opportunities for teachers, in the Peak

District National Park:

Wednesday 13th June 2012, 16.30-18.30

Using a National Park to deliver the

secondary and tertiary curriculum: science and geography

Take this fully funded opportunity to visit thePeakDistrictNational Parkand find out more about what this unrivalled local resource can offer your students. This training event is suitable for secondary school and further education college staff interested in using the Park Authority’s South West Peak Estate as a base for Geography and Science fieldwork. In particular we will

focus on the moorland environment and the flower rich hay meadows which both lie within easy reach of our residential centre, Marsh Farm near Tittesworth. This workshop will

concentrate on upland hydrology, ecology, geology and pressures facing one of the most visited National Parks in the world.

Wednesday 20th June 2012, 16.30-18.30

Using a National Park to deliver the

secondary and tertiary curriculum:

citizenship and art

The Stepping Stones to Nature Project Team are offering this fully funded opportunity that will provide both secondary school and

college staff, with the chance to use the National Park as a base for team building exercises

including development of students communication skills and problem solving. The workshop will also showcase the potential of thePeakParkenvironment as a base for art and design projects– using natural materials and capturing the essence of the landscapes, whether that be through sculpture, drawing and painting, or photography.

Both workshops are being held at Marsh Farm Cottage, near Tittesworth. We will be offering a minibus pick up service from a central location in Stoke on Trent and Leek, please state when booking if you would like to take up this offer.

For further information and/or to book places, please contact:

Jenna Holford on 01782 454192 / 07805 398634

j.holford@staffs-wildlife.org.uk

Special mention award!

I think it’s time for a special mention award.  This weekend’s project was repairing drainage channels on Long Causeway on Stanage Edge.  So for working in grim weather; big thanks to Martyn Sharp for his advice, to Dean and Xina for supervising and to the group from TRF and PDVUG for all their hard work over the weekend.  And after all that both the groups asked about setting up another project for the summer on condition that we promise that the weather will be nice! 

Still, I suppose with all the rain and snow they could at least see that the repairs to the drainage culverts were working as the water ran out of them!!

HRH The Prince of Wales Thanks the Peak Park Volunteers

PPCV supervisors chat with HRH The Prince of Wales

As part of an afternoon dedicated to celebrating the Peak District National Park volunteers, the PPCV supervisors were gathered together at Haddon Hall to meet Prince Charles. 

After touring the gardens, Prince Charles spoke at length to the PPCV supervisors.  He personally thanked them for volunteering and for the opportunities they have provided to others, who have participated in practical conservation work for the Peak District National Park.

 The PPCV supervisors chatted freely with Prince Charles, discussing conservation practices.  He discribed his experiences and knowledge of hedge laying and dry stone walling, where he said he could never quite find the right stone ( I now have something in common with royalty, as I can never find the right stone, either!!). 

For everyone involved it was a most memorable day and the supervisors appreciated the acknowledgement of all their hard work in running the conservation projects.

The Chairman Meets the Volunteers

If you want to know how something works it’s always best to ask the ‘horse’s mouth’.  So that is exactly what Tony Favell, Chairman of the Peak District National Park Authority, did. The weather really was a little against him, but with boots and coat on, and armed with a trusty walking stick, he strolled out across a wet and windy work site to chat to the volunteers first-hand about the project they were working on and why they volunteered for the Park.

Conservation volunteers meet Chair of the Park Tony Favell

Tony met two groups of volunteers who were working with the PPCV, a walking group from Nottingham and a conservation community group from Manchester. Both groups were involved in clearing scrub hawthorn off rich grassland areas, at a site behind Hartington station car park and at a farm in Monk Dale. Tony then visited one of the volunteering  centres, Brunt’s Barn at Grindleford for a cup of tea and to see the facilities the Park offers volunteers, and to discuss how the projects are set up and run. Tony commented afterwards, saying:

‘I was very impressed with all that I saw, including the enthusiasm of the volunteers and the PPCV supervisors in near freezing conditions! It was valuable to see the work of PPCV first-hand. It helped me appreciate its importance’

The volunteers who met Tony really appreciated the positive feedback and thanks that they received from him, and let him in on the fact that we run volunteer projects all year round, so if he came to visit us again it would be nicer for him to choose a spring or summer month!