Last updated at 15:48, Wednesday, 16 December 2009

IF you are struggling to decide what to buy friends and family for Christmas, the Lake District’s eroded footpaths might have the answer.

Fix the Fells, the project that repairs and maintains upland paths throughout the National Park, is offering a range of unique gifts that are perfect for the person who loves the outdoors.

Gift options vary from £10 to landscape a metre of path or £50 to buy a bag of grass seed right up to £600 to pay for an hour’s helicopter journey to carry stones needed to build paths.

More than 10 million people walk the Lake District’s high fell paths each year, adding to erosion and general wear and tear.

Fix the Fells consists of a partnership of the National Trust, the Lake District National Park, Friends of the Lake District, Natural England and the Tourism and Conservation Partnership.

The project started in 2001 and, since then, 150 paths have been repaired. There are another 70 pathways still to be ‘fixed’.

Fix the Fells is funded mostly by donations. The Heritage Lottery fund adds an extra £2 for every £1 members of the public donate – tripling the value of any gift. For more details of the gifts available and how to purchase them, visit www.fixthefells.co.uk.

n WASDALE Mountain Rescue Team has given long-service awards to five of its retired members.

The recipients were Joe Moody (40 years); Dave Barras (26 years); former team leader Alan Dunn (35 years); former team leader and president Bill Pattison (26 years); and former chairman and secretary, now vice-president Maurice Pringle (25 years).

WALKING is the main reason people visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park, according to the results of a new survey.

More than 500 people were interviewed for the survey, which also found that most visitors use private transport to get around the National Park.

Wilf Fenten, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority member champion for promoting understanding, said: “Whilst the National Park Authority has been doing excellent work, we are still not achieving a high enough number of people who leave their car behind.

“In view of the damage cars do to the environment and our efforts to reduce all carbon footprints, we must find ways of persuading people to switch from car to train or bus.”

First published at 15:38, Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk