Once again government agencies and the national media have blundered into a situation and added to local problems. Bad as the situation is in and around the flooded region of Cockermouth and Workington where bridges have collapsed and businesses and homes have been wrecked, the north west corner of England is NOT a no-go area. This last week or so has reminded me so much of the foot and mouth period when over-the-top reporting and ill-advised political reaction destroyed businesses, farms and the livelihood of thousands of people. Of course there were huge problems then, as now with the terrible flooding, but it must be remembered that the whole area relies heavily on visitors. Hotels well outside the badly-affected regions have reported cancellations; visitor attractions have seen a dip in numbers and other local businesses are suffering as a result of people thinking they’re doing right by staying clear. Not so… if you want to help, get yourself up to the beautiful Lake District and spend some money.
If you would like to donate to flood victims visit our sister magazine site www.cumbriamagazine.co.uk

Win a New Year holiday break in a Lake District cottage – see details in December’s Countryman, on sale now.

Rain continues to pour down as I write; no let up for those in the neighbouring county of Cumbria. Hereabouts there has been some flooding, the rivers have been powerful and the waterfalls spectacular but nothing on the scale of the problems further north west. As well as the tragic death of a policeman, homes and businesses have been ruined and livestock lost. Power and communications have been down, roads made impassable and bridges wrecked.
John Darlington of the National Trust tells me that staff at one of their properties, Wordsworth House at Cockermouth, have been trying their best to protect the house and valuable contents. But with a foot of rain falling in twenty-four hours and steady downpour ever since the whole countryside has changed. He says:
”Drystone walls are down, livestock lost, tracks and roads blasted by the sheer volume of water, meaning months of hard work ahead for Lake District farmers and our own National Trust teams. There are corners of the countryside that we have not got to yet – and many areas where we simply cannot assess the damage because they remain covered in water. The teams are now working every daylight hour, along with the farming communities and others who work in the countryside, putting walls up, repairing paths – connecting this beautiful landscape back to the rest of the world.”
As our climate continues to change let’s hope this is not a sign of things to come for this part of the country which relies so much on attracting much-needed visitors for its economy.

While some conservationists were this week celebrating the assent of the Marine Bill which will help safeguard the coastal environment, another group were being pessimistic about Natural England’s plans for our uplands. Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT), who along with other organisations, has been campaigning for decades for better regulation of the marine environment, welcomed the granting of Royal Assent for the Marine Bill. DWT’s Richard White told Countryman: “This is wonderful news. With measures to improve nature conservation in our seas, the Marine Bill will provide a significant and much needed change in how we manage the waters around our island. It will place new conservation duties on inshore fisheries management, introduce joined-up decision making through marine spatial planning and streamline marine licensing.”
Meanwhile, the Moorlands Association said that Natural England’s new policy document, Vital Uplands, ‘threatens open heather moorland as we know it’. The association is alarmed that Natural England wants to stop the traditional land management techniques of heather burning and grazing, and instead encourage the encroachment of trees and scrub, on some of our most iconic and treasured landscapes.
Said Martin Gillibrand, secretary of The Moorland Association: “The integrated management of rotation heather burning and carefully balanced sheep grazing, has protected our heather moorland from disappearing for at least the last century. As a result, much of this rare habitat has more recently become protected by law for its unique vegetation and birdlife. To make policy changes that will destroy what is protected now, is not legal and will not lead to the benefits claimed by Natural England.”
But Natural England’s acting chairman, Poul Christensen said the document was only the starting point for dialogue with upland stakeholders about how they can all work together to shape the future of the uplands. “The uplands provide society with a huge range of services – they are vital for food production, carbon storage and climate regulation, flood management, and water supply, as well as providing inspirational landscapes for recreation and homes to many rare and important species. We want to explore ways in which hill farmers and other upland land managers can deliver a wider range of environmental services that will put them and upland communities onto a more sustainable and economically successful footing.”
As anyone who has been involved with the Marine Bill will testify, patience, compromise and perseverance are qualities needed now by all parties involved with upland management.

This month it is expected that the Government will support the building of 12 new lines of overhead power lines across 170 miles of countryside. The National Grid is considering erecting hundreds of pylons across the Snowdonia National Park and three areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to carry the lines.
In today’s technological age you’d think we could come up with a better method of transmitting power than via wires hanging across ugly rows of metal giants. Not only are they at the mercy of bad weather and a danger to humans and animals, they are extremely unsightly. A rural alliance, including the CPRE, is already calling for 1,750 pylons to be dismantled and power lines buried by the National Grid. Around 550 of those pylons stretch across national parks, including the Peak District, Snowdonia, New Forest and South Downs.
Bill Bryson, CPRE’s president says: “Tens of thousands of pylons already march across our countryside. We don’t need to add still more – we can and should start to put a number of existing lines underground or under the sea. Today we challenge the Government, Ofgem and National Grid to start removing pylons from our most beautiful landscapes. If the work takes a decade or two then so be it. Future generations should be able to experience National Parks that are free of the largest pylons.”

A major conservation project by the Forestry Commission in the New Forest is using an ingenious light railway to help restore areas of wetland that have been missing since Victorian times. The 800-metre long rail line has been built to transport large quantities of local gravel and clay to infill unwanted drainage dykes. The water from these is then being re-directed along the courses of bygone meandering streams, in a scheme designed to bring about the return of ‘lost’ wildlife to the forest. The railway prevents damage and is about 75% more fuel efficient than using diggers. Back in the 1850s, straight channels were dug to drain the forest, to replace the meandering streams that spilled water across wide sections of the floodplains.  Ecologists found these channels to be damaging to the habitats that make the area so special, and needed to return to the forgotten meandering streams and mires. An extensive programme is now underway, starting with this one at Warwickslade, which leads in to the Lymington River. This stream stretches almost two miles and in places is up to four feet deep. The original course of the stream was established through research of old maps and photos and the use of aerial photography as well as ground surveys.