October is Free Wills Month

hill and cotton grass

October is Free Wills Month, which means that members of the public aged 55 and over have the opportunity to have their simple Wills written or updated free of charge, using participating solicitors in locations across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. If you, like us, love the Yorkshire Dales then we ask you to please … Read more

Barn Conversion Proposals Threaten National Parks

Dilapidated barn in a field.

We strongly oppose the proposals to relax planning rules for the conversion of existing agricultural buildings, especially barns, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. With its hundreds of field barns making a unique contribution to the special and historic landscapes of the national park, these proposals would inevitably negatively impact sustainability objectives and have an adverse impact on … Read more

Creative Campaigning in the Dales

young people stood in a field

We recently launched Creative Campaigners, a new volunteer network for people aged 20-30 who live locally and are interested in actively and creatively contributing to our environmental campaigns. The launch day was held at the end of July in Malham, focussed around a bespoke guided tour of Hill Top Farm with indoor sessions at Malham … Read more

Team Building with a Conscience

Friends of the Dales staff, trustees and volunteers recently came together for a day to remove some 2000 redundant plastic tree shelters from a private woodland near Long Preston in the Yorkshire Dales. A worthy (and wet!) endeavour, since without radical changes to the way we plant trees, the two billion plastic shelters that are … Read more

An invitation to organisations to become Community Supporters

People walking in a nature reserve

It is important to us that our Business / Group Membership is as useful as possible to your organisation, to us − and to the Yorkshire Dales, so we have made some exciting changes to it. From 1 April organisations can become Community Supporters, a scheme open to all environmentally minded businesses and ‘not for profits’ to … Read more

Become our new Chair of Trustees

Do you want to help build a sustainable future for the Yorkshire Dales? If so, we are looking for a new Chair of Trustees. This is a high profile, voluntary role that would be ideal for an energetic, environmentally minded individual with strong leadership skills. Our outgoing Chair, Bruce McLeod who is stepping down after … Read more

Sustainable Farming in the Yorkshire Dales

two people in the distance and a film camera

A brand new short documentary by filmmaker, Ruth Garrett of Kittiwake Productions uncovers how farming can support the environment as well as food production. “All we’re doing is turning solar power into summat to eat…” In the film Yorkshire Dales farmer and former Trustee of Friends of the Dales, Anthony Bradley shares a candid and … Read more

Now is the time to leave a lasting legacy for nature

Friends of the Dales and 47 other environmental and recreation organisations have signed a letter prepared by our colleagues at Campaign for National Parks, calling on the Government to accept amendments to the Levelling Up Bill for greater nature protection in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England. This latest call comes … Read more