High Borrowdale : Long term management aims
High Borrowdale and the Borrowdale Valley is a very special place, and has been described in the following terms :-
"This is a lovely dale, variously wooded in its lower reaches and stark and bare and grand in its upper length. In the six miles to the Shap road (A6) we are never far from the clear tumbling water of the beck, with its deep pools which on summer days provide quiet bathing places".
Ex-FLD Secretary Geoffrey Berry, 1975
"There is only one occupied farm in the valley; another nearby is in ruins. Loneliness and loveliness go hand in hand here."
Wainwright, the Eastern Fells
"High Borrowdale : once a farmhouse of distinction in a beautiful situation... now a derelict ruin in a beautiful situation".
Wainwright, the Eastern Fells
"the finest valley in the former County of Westmorland lying outside the Lake District National Park. The landscape is of an equivalent, if not higher, quality to that of many areas within the National Parks or AONBs of northern England."
Land Use Consultants, 1978
"The other Borrowdale - the one that cuts across the Shap Fells road - is always deserted, even at weekends. No doubt it looked exactly the same a hundred years ago except that High Borrowdale, now a sad cluster of derelict buildings sheltered by trees, was then being farmed. Today there's only one farm in the dale, the lonely farm track, fine woodlands at one end, the meandering Borrow Beck with its splendid pools, two bridges, and the steep fellsides soaring up on either side. Even five hundred years ago it must have looked much the same - except for the bridges. Nearly two thousand years ago the Romans had a fort near Low Borrow Bridge, but neither this occupation nor the passage of the railway and then the motorway across the skirts of the dale seem to have had any impact on this loneliest of valleys"
Harry Griffin, 1975
The challenge for FLD is not only to protect and enhance the special qualities these writers have identified, but also to reverse the feeling of dereliction and sadness.
FLD's long term vision and management aims for High Borrowdale
To maintain, enhance and diversify the special qualities of the landscape at High Borrowdale, increase opportunities for the public to enjoy this property, and demonstrate FLD are making a direct contribution to the Cumbrian landscape. Such special qualities include :-
- The sense of wildness.
- Tranquillity, freedom from busyness and noise.
- The mix of valley bottom, river and intake landscape.
- Traditional stone walls, features and buildings making up the cultural landscape.
- The meandering, tumbling Borrow Beck.
- Opportunities for quiet enjoyment and discovery.
This will be done through :-
- The submission of the land into agri-environment and woodland schemes for more sustainable and environmentally friendly management.
- The rebuilding and restoration of the traditional features, e.g. the cow shed, the field barn, and stabilisation of the house; rebuilding nearly 5km of stone wall.
- Increasing the range and diversity of habitats, e.g. the creation of new native woodland along the river side and in the allotment, wet flushes, and the re-creation of an upland hay meadow.
- Achieving more sustainable grazing levels, both in terms of numbers and type of animals.
- Increased public access for quiet enjoyment and understanding, e.g. through the voluntary dedication of the land as open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; through work with young people and other interested groups or organisations.
- Potential inclusion of the area within a possible extension of the Lake District National Park and a potential World Heritage Site.
- Support for the local economy and skills base through the use of local labour and skills to repair the buildings, walls and hedges, and plant the trees; and the practical involvement of our volunteers to help with various tasks on the property.
- We will use our experience of managing High Borrowdale, and the practical, policy and financial challenges and issues to feed back into debates and consultations about new agri environment schemes, funding, land management debates and issues for the uplands, to try and ensure a supportive framework for upland land managers. We will use our property as a training resource to show people or groups the issues on the ground and promote what we are trying to achieve.
FLD have developed a Management Plan covering 2003 - 2018, and a five year Action Plan covering 2003 - 2008 which lists more specifically the work in the short term. Most of the work at High Borrowdale will be undertaken during this first five year period, and we hope that we will be able to show significant change, but change that builds on what is magical about the property and change that people support and welcome.
