MORE than 160 volunteers descended on Coniston to take part in practical conservation tasks and learning activities during Friends of the Lake District’s Fell Care Day.

Volunteers collected 46 bags of rubbish, cleared 16 kilometres of paths on the high fells, repaired 10 metres of path, bashed around 30 square metres of rhododendron, planted 30 oak trees, protected another 30 and got 15 metres of dry stone wall under repair.

Participants ranged from five year old tots from Coniston Primary School, through teenagers from John Ruskin School and Lakes College right the way through to active older retirees.

Tasks included tree planting, rhododendron clearance and burning, path building, dry-stone walling, a guided walk up Coppermines Valley and a Sky Ride guided cycle around Coniston Water looking at landscape and water management issues.

Three separate litter picks took place around the head of the lake, on the shores of Coniston reached by canoe and high up in the Coppermines valley.

And three path maintenance drain runs and a path repair work party took place on the high fells above Coniston led by Fix the Fells staff and volunteers.

Ruth Kirk, Friends of the Lake District Fell Care Day Organiser, said: “It was incredibly exciting to see so many volunteers arriving with so much enthusiasm for getting stuck into some hard graft to help care for the fells and surrounding landscape of the Coniston area.

“Our uplands are facing increasing pressures from climate change and the needs of tourism balanced with the needs to protect these surprisingly fragile landscapes.

“It’s heartening to realise that so many people really do care and are willing to give up their time to make a real difference to a place that gives us all so much, including the water we drink, fuel, food, storage for carbon as well as somewhere for physical recreation and spiritual well-being.”

Glenn Bailey, Assistant Ranger, National Trust, Coniston, said: “I was really impressed by the number of volunteers who came along and the huge amount of organisation that went into running the day.”

See also more information at http://www.fld.org.uk/fell-care-days.html.