The National Trust organise week-long holidays in the Lake District for individuals to help construct footpaths and control erosion. Experienced and inexperienced volunteers come together to gain new skills, explore new places, make new friends and have fun!
During the week staff instruct on techniques but also give some context for how traditional rural skills help combat erosion. Most holidays are open to volunteers over 18, and there are Youth Discovery holidays for 16 - 18 year olds which includes the John Muir Award.
Lingering on Lingmell
by Helen Reynolds, volunteer on a National Trust Working Holiday
"Despite having done many walks on Lake District footpaths, I'd never paid much attention to what was under my feet. However a day on Lingmell in Wasdale changed that forever!
Along with another volunteer, I'd been assigned to dig a culvert. This is a nifty mini-drain that runs across a path to take excess water away. Never had I given so much attention to such a small area of ground.
Stones lying on the fellside formed the vertical sides and the bottom of the culvert. It took a good two hours just to make a hole by pick-axing and clawing away the soil by hand. Then there were painstaking adjustments so that the stones sat true and didn't wobble. Oh, and they had to be flush with the path level too.
The National Trust professionals were incredibly patient, suggesting and helping, until it came up to standard. After six hours' work there was a drain to be proud of.
Despite the frustrations, it was a fantastic day. As a walker you never get to spend a whole day in just one spot. Watching the ever-changing sunlight on the landscape and hearing the wind for hours on end whilst giving something back to the amazing scenery was magical."
Interested in a working holiday?
Check out the National Trust working holidays (opens in new window).
