Rob, right, hands over to Sam
There are changes afoot at the top of a Lakeland organisation.
Rob Clarke is handing over responsibility as Man at the Top of the National Trust’s upland footpath team to university graduate Sam Stalker.
Rob is leaving after four years in the job to take up a full-time job at the trust’s residential volunteering centre at High Wray hostel.
Sam has just finished studying conservation management at Edinburgh University and has experience in upland path work, having spent the last four summers on seasonal contracts working with the trust’s footpath teams across the region.
He said: “I love the satisfaction which upland footpath repair work brings. The work we do has such a positive impact on the environment and on peoples’ enjoyment of the fells. I am looking forward to taking on the role of Man at the Top and continuing to spread the word about the brilliant work carried out by the Fix the Fells project. It will also be quite nice to have a break from exams for a bit.”
The post is funded by donations from Heart of the Lakes Cottages and their customers, and involves providing updates on the team’s progress, keeping track of photographic records and publicising the trust and the Fix the Fells project. This is in addition to the core work of erosion repair on the fells.
The cottages company has so far raised over £163,000 for the Fix the Fells project, through the Our Man at the Top role, a fundraising scheme developed with the National Trust and Nurture Lakeland.
Company owner Sue Jackson said “It has been a pleasure supporting and working with Rob and we wish him all the best for the future. The work carried out by the Fix the Fells team is so vital in keeping our Lakeland fells beautiful and accessible for visitors. It’s a pleasure to support Our Man at the Top and we look forward to working with our new man, Sam.”
He will take up the post at the end of this month, working on the Stake Pass, between Langstrath and Angle Tarn. Nurture Lakeland was formerly known as the Tourism & Conservation Partnership.
