Park Life

NATALYA WILSON and MATT CLARK report on 60 years of the North York Moors.

AUSTERE beauty, genuine wilderness and some of our county’s most beautiful landscapes – the North York Moors is all of that and more.

This year the area celebrates 60 years as a national park. Since the park’s inception, visitors have strode out across mile upon mile of open heather moorland, roamed the stunning escarpment of Sutton Bank and plunged into the pantiled haven of Robin Hood’s Bay.

Then there is the genteel market town of Helmsley and for the more hardy, a chance to conquer the rugged little terrier hill of Roseberry Topping, The national park dazzles with variety, and its contrasting landscapes were given park status in 1952 to preserve their beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage.

Human activity has shaped the landscape here: the moors are rich in prehistoric remains as well as vibrant villages and breathtaking abbeys. Ancient trees, towering coastal cliffs and, of course, that heather moorland, are home to a wide range of wildlife, and the park’s wide-open spaces and breathtaking vistas bring a sense of peace and tranquillity.

The park’s chief executive, Andy Wilson, has been at the helm for 12 years. He says national parks are even more important these days.

“People need beauty and nature in their lives and always have done,” says Andy. “Research has proved that people get sick if they don’t have that. People need inspiration and the national parks are stunningly beautiful.”

As early as the 19th century, romantic poets such as Byron and Coleridge wrote about the inspirational beauty of the ‘untamed’ countryside.

Wordsworth famously claimed the Lake District as “a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and an interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy”.

The first national parks were set up in the United States in the 1860s, when the Government saw a need to protect wilderness areas from exploitation and make them available for all to enjoy.

Britain at that time had no such wild areas – its moors and mountains were nearly all farmed or managed in some way – but there were influential individuals who recognised that increased industrialisation posed a threat to the beauty of more remote countryside.

Some of them founded conservation organisations such as the National Trust which began to lobby for more formal protection from the Government.

Social reformers also felt that it should be the right of all to access clean air and enjoy the spiritual refreshment offered by walking in open countryside.

By the 1930s, more and more people sought an escape from cities and thanks to pre-war campaigns, there was an emphasis on making countryside available for recreation for all, not just nature conservation.

In 1949, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was passed creating ten national parks over the following decade, including 554 square miles of the North Yorks Moors, which became the sixth national park in November 1952.

Although ‘national’ in the sense that they are of special value, because of their beauty and the recreational opportunities they offer, the land is not nationally owned. Most remains in farmers’ hands.

To protect these areas, help visitors enjoy them and look after the needs of local communities, the national parks manage public rights of way, advise farmers on grants and work with woodland owners on good management.

The parks authority also encourages the conservation of historic buildings; provides and education centres where knowledgeable members of staff help people to make the most of their visits, run events and more.

More than ten per cent of staff are apprentices from local families and, in addition, Andy says that the several hundred volunteers who work in the NYMNP make a huge contribution by doing so much of the work and by bringing their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm to the job.

These days, national parks face many challenges, from changes in upland farming, tourism and the need for affordable housing, to the impact of climate change on the environment. So what does the future hold?

“I think that we will see more pressure on the developments already happening. After all, we are a crowded island looking for economic growth and need more space,” says Andy.

For now though he is firmly focused on this year’s milestone.

“We are looking forward to making the most of the anniversary and I would like to thank the communities and people who own and manage the national park for all they’ve done to keep it beautiful.”

• The North York Moors National Park’s official ‘birthday’ is on November 28, but celebrations are taking place throughout 2012.

Events start with an exhibition by five artists who all live in and are inspired by the North York Moors. Peter Hicks, Len Tabner and William Tillyer will be joined by photographer Joe Cornish and Gillies Jones Glass for Inspired Landscape, an exhibition of new work at the Inspired by… Gallery, Danby, from May 13 to July 17. Entry is free.

An exhibition entitled Your Place will also offer 60 spaces at the Inspired by… Gallery to up-and-coming artists whose work captures the landscape, wildlife and atmosphere of the North York Moors. The exhibition will be open from July 21 to August 19.

Other events include a moorland festival at Sutton Bank National Park Centre on July 29, performances by Yorkshire Dance around the National Park in July and August and an exhibition of photographs charting the physical and cultural changes the area has seen in its first 60 years.

More information at northyorkmoors.org.uk/60thanniversary

Anyone interested in exhibiting as part of Your Place should contact Sally Ann Smith on 01439 770657 or s.smith@northyorkmoors-npa.gov.uk