New Ranger at Work



Matt brushing up on his dry stone walling near Wray Church



With several new staff taking to the great outdoors in 'Ranger Red' here in the South Lakes over the last few weeks, it's fallen to Matt to be the first of the new Rangers to get 'blogging'.


Hello all! Welcome to my first post as a National Trust Ranger here in Coniston. It’s great to be here in Coniston too. My grandparents were born in Coniston on a small farm called Far End Farm, part of which is now owned by the Trust, so I feel like I’m following in their footsteps, even working on some of the same buildings and land. 



The first few weeks have been a whirlwind of meeting new people, getting to know my area, working with some of the dedicated volunteer groups and brushing up on some skills I’ve not used for some time! Some of our larger projects underway in the area link to the footpath improvements along Windermere's western shore. 

The path through Wray Castle's grounds

We have big plans to make the path running from the ferry landing to the recently opened Wray Castle much easier for people to use, and to make the cakes at Wray Castle Café much easier to access!

I’ve also had chance to work with our other rangers such as Paul Farrington, and the Volunteer group The Lengthsmen, as I say, brushing up on my dry stone walling. They are all great people to have on your side when it comes to keeping the network of walls in shape.

I’m now looking forward to getting cracking with the wide range of projects going on. My next step is to plan some improvements to the dam at Moss Eccles Tarn, making sure our dragon flies are not disturbed in the process!

Moss Eccles dam

 Well I’m sure I'll have plenty to keep you up to date with as Spring hits the Lake District so watch this space.

post & Ranger photos Matt
Moss Eccles photo Paul F