The recent battering Cumbria has received from the weather didn’t stop representatives from almost all the National Park societies across the country attending the annual National Park Societies conference hosted by Friends of the Lake District at the weekend (27-29 November).

Fifty delegates from Dartmoor to the Broads stayed at the Castle Head Field Centre near Grange and made site visits to Grizedale, Hampsfell and Lake Windermere to see at first hand how the Lake District landscape is being managed to face up to many demanding pressures, including climate change, the condition of wildlife habitats and lake water quality and visitor traffic.

Speaking on the value of National Parks to the nation David Vose from Natural England, the main conference sponsor, reflected on the past, present and future plans for the parks and broke the news that the public process for assessing the potential extension areas to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks has just been approved by Natural England’s board (on 25 November). The public will be asked to comment on the suggested areas and boundaries of the park extensions in a 12 week consultation period which begins in December.

Lord Inglewood was the guest speaker at the Conference dinner on Saturday evening, which was also attended by the Bishop of Carlisle and other guests. Locally produced food was served at the dinner, and Hawkshead Brewery also helped promote locally produced ale, donating bottles for delegates to take home.

Windermere Lake Cruises provided a steamer free for the Lake Windermere field visit, to look at the impacts of land uses surrounding Windermere on the water quality in the lake.

Another site visit included a trip to Hampsfell to see the area where a major Friends of the Lake District environmental grant has enabled the Forestry Commission to remove a vast area of non-native conifers just north of Grange Over Sands. The conifers would not have produced a commercial crop and were suppressing native limestone based woodland and grassland of national importance to wildlife.

The closing speaker Lord Clark of Windermere who is chairman of the Forestry Commission and the Lake District National Park Partnership stressed the growing importance of Friends of the Lake District in challenging organisations to put landscape at the heart of their decision making.

Jim McQueen Friends of the Lake District Trustee and Conference organiser said: “The Lake District landscape has taken a real battering from the heavy rains so we were very fortunate to go ahead. We were pleased to be able to show off our partnership working with public bodies like the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the National Park Authority.”

Ruth Chambers from the Campaign for National Parks said: ‘We congratulate Friends of the Lake District for hosting this annual gathering of all local park societies.  As well as exploring the history and evolution of the National Parks, we looked ahead to the next sixty years.  While there are many uncertainties for the future, one thing is clear – National Parks need passionate people to campaign on their behalf as much as ever.’