Digital Talk – Birds of the Yorkshire Dales
Wednesday 20 April 2022
In this digital talk Ian Court, Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, showcased the bird species – both native and migratory − that make the Yorkshire Dales their home. Ian also highlighted the various threats to a range of species along with positive conservation measures the national park has put in place.
Walk – Exploring Crummackdale
Saturday 19 March 2022
Commencing in Austwick, Trustee, Ken Humphris took a group on a guided walk around Crummackdale taking in its geology, natural beauty and some of its social and cultural history.
Digital Talk – Biodiverse Living Verges
Wednesday 16 March 2022
The Yorkshire Dales has hundreds of miles of roadside verges. In spring and summer they form an integral part of the verdant Dales landscape. These verges have a rich diversity of different plants growing in them that support lots of different insects, which in turn support all manner of other wildlife. Dr Anne Readshaw, leader of Friends of the Dales campaign to protect and enhance roadside verges for biodiversity, gave an update on our campaign, explaining how local authorities and local communities can help to make road verges an important, safe and healthy sanctuary for plant and insect species.
Digital Talk – Working with crayfish in the Yorkshire Dales
Wednesday 16 February 2022
This talk, presented by Paul Bradley, Director of PBA Applied Ecology and Dr Dan Chadwick offered an insight into the challenges of conserving our native crayfish in the Yorkshire Dales. Based in Settle, PBA are uniquely involved in delivering management of crayfish across the Dales, drawing on experiences from academia and industry.
Digital Talk – Climate Breakdown – what does it mean for the Yorkshire Dales?
Wednesday 19 January 2022
In the face of inevitable change due to the breakdown of our climatic system, what do we want the Dales to be like by 2050? In this talk, Richard Boothman an environmental Associate Lecturer with The Open University and founder of Ideostone Ltd, an online environmental learning provider, explored the impact of climate breakdown and its associated environmental changes on the Yorkshire Dales.
Digital Talk – Christmas behind the Barbed Wire, 1918
Wednesday 8 December 2021
This talk presented by Anne Buckley, a lecturer in German and Translation Studies at the University of Leeds, provided a fascinating insight into the lives of the German POWs who resided in Skipton during the First World War. It also shed some light on how the POWs managed to celebrate Christmas within the camp. Anne’s talk drew from a diary the POWs secretly wrote during their time in Skipton which was subsequently smuggled back to Germany and published under the title Kriegsgefangen in Skipton.
Digital Talk – Leave Only Hoofprints – Farming for a Sustainable Future
Wednesday 17 November 2021
In this talk Jamie Roberts, the third generation custodian of Kilnsey Park Estate uncovered how he and his family have diversified the farm “to create an ambitious and sustainable eco model, which aims to protect the land whilst being a viable commercial entity fit for the 21st century and beyond.”
Friends of the Dales 40th Anniversary Walk
Wednesday 10 November 2021
This full day’s winter walking, started and ended in Grassington, visiting several memorable locations from the early days of the Yorkshire Dales Society, now known as Friends of the Dales. Hosted by Colin Speakman, founder member and a Vice President of our charity, and creator of the Dales Way, it was an enjoyable and information rich ramble, incorporating – amongst many other things – insight into the former Grassington Hospital and Linton Camp School.
Digital Talk – Exploring Crummackdale
Wednesday 20 October 2021
Through personal photos our Trustee, Ken Humphris shared some of the history of the area from geological time through to the recent past, and why walking in this lovely valley is so rewarding.
Plastic Tree Guard Collection Event
Thursday 7 October 2021
In line with our Plastic Free Dales campaign we are keen to work with local landowners and partners to help rid the Dales of redundant tree guards, which if left uncollected once a tree is thriving, breakdown into micro plastics polluting the land and ultimately the waterways. Organised collections like this one enable the guards to be either reused or recycled. Tree guard collection days are rewarding events to take part in, however please be aware they are also reasonably strenuous.
Digital Talk – The Impact of the 2019 Floods on the Historic Environment of the Northern Dales
Weds 14 July 2021
Miles Johnson, Head of Historic Environment at The North Yorks Moors National Park, spoke about the impact of the 2019 floods on the historic and archaeological environment of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, with particular reference to its impact on the area’s lead mining heritage.
Digital Talk – Managing the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserves
Weds 16 June 2021
In this illustrated talk, Graham Standring, the YWT’s Living Landscapes Officer, showcased the charity’s work in managing its nature reserves across the Dales.
Digital Talk – Strengthening the North’s Green Heart
Weds 19 May 2021
In this illustrated talk, our Vice Chair and Trustee, Wilf Fenten, presented a visionary but practical way to greater sustainability for protected areas across the north of England.
Digital Talk – Give Peat a Chance
Weds 21 April 2021
In ‘Give Peat a Chance’, Jenny Sharman of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Peat Partnership gave a fascinating talk about peatlands in the Yorkshire Dales, why they need our help, and what the Partnership is doing to restore them.
Tea Time Talk – Living and Roaming in the Orton Fells
Weds 17 March 2021
Trustee, Kyle Blue gave an engaging talk about ‘Living and Roaming in the Orton Fells’.