Friends of the Lake District's 75th anniversary edition of its members' magazine ‘Conserving Lakeland' is published this week.
In it leaders and friends from organisations the charity works most closely with give their thoughts about the work of the landscape conservation charity over the last 75 years. Views come from the chief executives and directors of the Lake District National Park Authority, Cumbria Tourism, the National Trust, the Campaign for National Parks and the National Farmers' Union.

Set up in 1934 to protect the Lake District's landscape for future generations to enjoy, Friends of the Lake District's early campaigning eventually led to the creation of the Lake District National Park. It has also campaigned against new road building the area that became the national park as early as the 1940s and still campaigns against large, inappropriate development across Cumbria's countryside today.

Friends of the Lake District also began campaigning to get power lines put underground in the valleys of the Lake District as early as 1949. More recently its work has led to OFGEM (the electricity regulator) agreeing to allow all electricity companies to fund work to put powerlines underground in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty all over England.

The charity champions traditional countryside skills and good land management, from owning several hill farms in the 1930s to maintain the culture and traditions of hill farming (these were eventually given to the National Trust) to establishing hedging and dry stone walling competitions which have been running annually since 1978. The charity owns six areas of land today and regularly runs conservation days with volunteers teaching them skills such as dry stone walling, tree planting and aftercare. The magazine also features a 150-year-old stone sheepfold beautifully restored by Friends of the Lake District and Lake District National Park volunteers recently at Rydal.

The organisation gave its first grant in 1936 for the purchase of Rayrigg Meadow in Windermere, so that local people who lived in the town could enjoy views and access to the lakeshore. Since then the charity has given £800,000 in grants to improve the environment in Cumbria, including one to help install a renewable hydro power scheme at Heron Corn Mill in Beetham which is now under construction.

The anniversary issue also covers articles about projects the charity is involved in now including the Our Green Space project, which seeks to protect and improve village greens, common land and community green spaces throughout Cumbria and the Flora of the Fells festivals, a Friends of the Lake District's partnership project to increase people's understanding about the wildlife and habitats of Cumbria's uplands.