Working
holidays are a great way to get involved with the National Trust’s work and
some people return many times to take part in them. Some go that extra mile
though and Di Lang is a great example of this. A long standing working holiday
leader (the leader is not staff but takes charge or housekeeping, shopping,
menus etc), Di led her first holiday here at High Wray back in 2004 and recently returned here to lead her 100th!
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| Di (left) on the 100th holiday |
Di
has led holidays as diverse as Drystone walling and hedgelaying, woodland
management and running events. We’re particularly thankful for her formidable
organisational skills and boundless enthusiasm in leading our upland adventure
holidays, where participants camp out on the high fells for three nights and
work to reduce path erosion in the day.
‘I’m from a farming
background’ Di
says ‘I always used to be out with my
Father when I was growing up. My career took me on a different path, running my
own flooring business, but one day I noticed a hedge by the side of the road.
‘That’s a well laid hedge’ I thought, then thought ‘that’s my father talking’.
So I went to agricultural college and did a few short courses, then looked into
conservation holidays and found the National Trust’s Working Holidays and I’ve
stuck with them ever since.’
So
what is it about Working Holidays that keeps Di coming back for more? ‘The variety, the places you go to and the
people you meet. I love the extra knowledge you learn as I think your brain is
still a muscle that needs working. It keeps your body moving as well! I enjoy
the social elements too, meeting new people and some of their experiences and
backgrounds are amazing. No working holiday is exactly the same either, you may
come back to the same Basecamp but the dynamics of the group are completely
different.’
‘The High camp ones
are really special to me and I love footpath laying too. I’m off to do scything
this year, because we’ve got a grassland area close to where we live and we
want to turn it into a wildflower meadow. It’s new skills again. I’ve
discovered I’m not really a gardener though – it’s too tidy!’
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| On the fells on a camping holiday |
To cap it all, to mark the 100th holiday Di stayed on a week at the end of it and with the help of ever supportive husband Max brought her flooring skills to bear by replacing our tatty old vinyl floors with a new hard wearing surface. This looks great and should last for years to come
‘I sort of think of
High Wray as a second home now and when I was here another time I was looking
at the floors and thinking I could put a new floor down to make it more attractive
for people to come here. You get a pride in your work when you’re doing
something like this and it’s nice to think that other working holidays and
volunteer groups will get the benefit of this in the future.’
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| Di reclines on the newly fitted and very smart floor in the 'Acland' block, with 100th working Holiday presentation picture |
We’re
looking forward to many more years of working alongside Di, with another
camping holiday scheduled for this May. It’s thanks to the dedication and hard work
of leaders like Di (and there are plenty of others too) that the National Trust
is able to offer such a varied and interesting working holiday programme,
enabling many people to get involved with our work and help us look after our
special places for everyone.
We’ll
leave the last word to Di:
‘I’ll be carrying on
with working holidays as long as I can, I’ve no intention of giving up. I still
get excited every year when the new brochure comes out and I’m straight in
there looking at where working holidays can take me this year.’
Rob
Clarke, Basecamp Community Ranger
Find out more
about National Trust working holidays here:
https://twesla-in-riyadh.blogspot.com.eg/
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