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Dog blog to guide Peak walkers
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Girl dies in swollen Dartmoor river
A teenage girl lost her life after falling into a river on Dartmoor during training for an Army-run challenge.The girl, from Edgehill College in Bideford, Devon, was swept away in the Walla Brook near Watern Tor yesterday.
Cairngorm enlargement bid defeated
Scottish politicians have rejected an attempt to enlarge the Cairngorms National Park.MSPs narrowly defeated the proposal by North Tayside Scottish National Party MSP John Swinney, to have the park area extended to include an extra 300 sq miles.The Bill, before the Scottish Parliament’s environmental and rural development committee was defeated by five votes to four.
Park bosses say keep dogs on lead
A national park authority is reminding walkers that they must keep their dogs on a short lead on access land.Exmoor National Park Authority (NPA) says ground-nesting birds are at risk if dogs are allowed to run free.
Inquest hears student loved the mountains
A winter climber who died of hypothermia in the Scottish Highlands was less than a mile from safety, an inquest heard.Richard Hardy’s body temperature was only 14°C when he was found by rescuers; normal temperature is 37°C.
Police name Snowdon death-fall walker
Police have named a 60-year-old man who fell to his death from a Snowdonia ridge on Thursday.John Richard Norcross tumbled 100m from Crib Goch, the arête on the Snowdon horseshoe.
Outdoors show underway in Brum
The annual Gore-Tex fest that is the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show kicked off today at Birmingham’s NEC.Visitors to the three-day show can see previews of what they will be spending their pennies on in the coming months.
New battle looms at Bannockburn
Scots are up in arms at a threat by quarrying companies to desecrate the site of a historic battle.Gillies Hill, which overlooks Bannockburn, where the famous victory of Robert the Bruce’s army over English forces took place, faces destruction by renewed quarrying.The hill was instrumental in the battle: it sheltered servants and followers of the armed forces – gillies – who were mistaken for reinforcements when they emerged from cover, and the English army was routed in its confusion.Now two companies say they will resume extracting stone from the mound and Stirling Council says it is powerless to stop them.
Kilnsey climbers' path improved
The British Mountaineering Council has helped restore a climbers’ path under the imposing limestone Kilnsey Crag in the Yorkshire Dales.
Landslip leads to Exmoor path closure
Authorities say an Exmoor wood is likely to be closed for months.Access to Culbone Woods was restricted following landslips last weekend.
Investigation follows girl's Dartmoor death
Police will interview members of the team accompanying the girl who died at the weekend during training for a Dartmoor challenge.Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police will be trying to ascertain what happened during the incident which led to the death of 14-year-old Charlotte Shaw when she fell into Walla Brook.Det Ch Insp Steve Carey said: “There is absolutely no suggestion at all of wrongdoing.“The police are here to fully investigate the circumstances and report them to the coroner.”Reports have suggested that Charlotte, from Torrington in Devon, who was a student at the private Edgehill College in Bideford, Devon, may have hit her head in the fall.
Campaigners object to Lancashire windfarm
Campaigners have objected to plans to site a windfarm on the west Pennine moors.The site is on common land on Haslingden Moor, Rossendale, and needs the consent of the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn before it can go ahead.Energiekontor has applied to Defra to build ten wind turbines on the land.
Any takers for cheap Alpine courses?
Subsidised Alpine mountaineering courses are on offer, thanks to a charitable trust.The three-day courses will be run in Chamonix by professional guides and will give an introduction to Alpine mountaineering.
Inquest hears student loved the mountains
A winter climber who died of hypothermia in the Scottish Highlands was less than a mile from safety, an inquest heard.Richard Hardy’s body temperature was only 14°C when he was found by rescuers; normal temperature is 37°C.
Honister via ferrata stirs emotions
There are cries of ‘It’s not the British way’ resonating around the crags of Borrowdale and Buttermere in response to the news that the country’s first via ferrata will be established.Left: Buttermere with Fleetwith Pike at its head, site of the country's first via ferrataNews that the Honister Slate Mine company is to set up the first via ferrata in Britain has brought howls of horror as well as squeals of anticipation among different sections of the outdoor community.The company is aiming to have the route set up to coincide with the Keswick Mountain Festival in May.
Canavan will head Scottish Ramblers
The Ramblers’ Association in Scotland has elected a retiring MSP as its president.Dennis Canavan, an independent member of the Holyrood parliament, will give up his seat at the next election.
Billionaire in line to snap up Mountain Warehouse
Secretive billionaire Mike Ashley could be in line to take over bargain outdoor retailer Mountain Warehouse.According to financial pundits the chain, currently owned by private-equity investors, is sniffing around for potential buyers and the reclusive former boss of Sports Direct International is at the front of the queue.Mr Ashley currently owns outdoor clothing brand Karrimor and has a 29% share in troubled retail group Blacks, which runs the Millets, Blacks and O’Neill outfits.
See Julia's final TV Wainwright tomorrow
BBC4’s celebration of some of the Grumpy Old Fellwalker’s most famous routes ends on a high tomorrow night.Pictured: Scafell Pike, right, and ScafellJulia Bradbury tackles England’s highest fell Scafell Pike in the last of a series of four in which she has followed Alfred Wainwright’s celebrated Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.En route, she encounters celebrated Wasdale sheep farmer and fellrunner Jos Naylor, whose most famous feat was the completion in 1972 of 63 peaks and 92 miles of running to set a world record, helped by former Olympic runner Chris Brasher.We doubt that Julia will be going at Jos’s pace, even though he is now in his 70s.