John Barwise

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Latest articles from John Barwise

Miles without Stiles: Woods and wildlife...

Miles without Stiles is a series of walks on easy surfaces, chosen for people with pushchairs, accompanied wheelchair users and walkers who prefer to take it easy. All of the walks incorporate flat, easy sections, and many have optional sections with rocky ground or increased gradient that may be navigated by walkers and those with off-road pushchairs. Wherever possible, the walks begin and/or end where there are facilities for refreshments...

Miles Without Stiles: Branch out at Grizedale Forest

Grizedale Forest has a fascinating history. The name Grizedale' is derived from the Norse and means valley where young pigs are kept', which says a lot about the early farming practices in this part of the Lake District. From the 11th century, Cistercian monks from Furness Abbey managed most of the estate. They cleared some of the natural broadleaf woodland to make way for sheep pastures; they also coppiced or managed other parts of the woodland for timber and firewood.

Miles Without Stiles: Ulverston Canal

Ulverston Canal was opened at the turn of the 19th century and helped to establish this market town as an important trading centre. For more than half-a-century the Canal Basin was a hive of activity with ships loading up local resources such as copper, slate, charcoal and gunpowder for export to Africa and the Caribbean. The returning ships brought raw cotton to larger ports destined for Ulverston's newly established spinning mills. Very little remains of the docks, warehouses, iron foundries and smithy, sail makers and timber yards that once occupied most of the land around the basin but, with the help of a few illustrative posters along the towpath, it's easy to imagine what it must have been like.

Miles Without Stiles: Bird's eye view

The RSPB Leighton Moss nature reserve is a wild and wonderful place. Situated in the shallow marshes that separate land from sea, this vast open landscape of reed beds, mudflats and lagoons is special. You would expect to see waders and wildfowl and you won't be disappointed.