Walkers on the path from Brackenbottom to Pen-y-ghent summit
A Calendar Girl who persuaded her Women’s Institute friends to pose naked in front of the camera will be the first member of the newly formed Friends of the Three Peaks.
The group will be launched later this month, with the aim of supporting conservation and protection work in the area of the Yorkshire Dales visited by 250,000 people each year. Groups of walkers will make the ascent of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside on the day of the launch.
Angela Baker’s husband John was an assistant national park officer in the Yorkshire Dales when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 54. He died from the disease in 1998, and his plight prompted the production of the world-famous nude calendar featuring members of the Rylstone WI, which was subsequently made into a Hollywood film. The calendar and further fundraising efforts have raised more than £1.3m for Leukaemia Research.
John Baker initiated the original Friends of the Three Peaks in the 1980s. His widow will meet the walkers later in the day at the Station Inn, Ribblesdale, which stands in the shadow of Ingleborough and Whernside.
Local businesses and charities such as Heart Research UK and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which both use the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge to raise funds, will also take part in the walks on 21 August. grough has agreed to create a photographic record of one of the peaks for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
Thousands of feet pound the three hills every year, either individually or as part of the 38km (24-mile) challenge, which is attempted by both charity walkers and those seeking a personal test of their endurance. The area also hosts an annual Three Peaks fell race and a cyclo-cross race.
Steve Hastie, with Ingleborough in the distance. Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
In 1986, a study by the Institute for Terrestrial Ecology concluded that the area had the most severely eroded network of footpaths in the UK.
In the following years, a team of staff worked to provide sustainable routes and to allow damaged surrounding land to recover, and a number of externally funded projects were also completed.
But, from 2004, the management and maintenance of the Three Peaks network reverted back to the YDNPA Rangers – a team of just two officers covering the whole of the wider Ribblesdale area.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has since appointed Ian Middleton as the Three Peaks Ranger with the responsibility of maintaining Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent and the surrounding areas.
Steve Hastie, the YDNPA Three Peaks manager, said: “The launch of the Friends group is a very important step in the development of the project because it will provide a mechanism for long-term support by people who feel a real affinity for the area.
”The group is in its very early stages but we hope next year we will have an events programme they can take part in with activities like area ranger-guided walks and chances to do practical things like path maintenance.
“We will also keep members up to date with developments in the project through a newsletter.”
Anyone wanting to join the Friends of the Three Peaks will be asked to make a suggested minimum annual donation of £10. Details can be obtained from Steve Hastie on 01729 825242 or on 07818 048767 or by emailing him.
