Case study area 3an upland glaciated area the Lake District'

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Case study area 3-an upland glaciated area- the
Lake District.
Scene setting The Lake District lies some 30-40
kms south of the Scottish-English border, near
the west coast. To the north of the Park lies
the town of Carlisle, and to the south is
Lancaster and further still, Blackpool. To the
west lie the stormy waters of the Irish Sea and
to the east running N/S is a narrow, low strip of
land separating the Lake District from the
Yorkshire Dales. This strip carries the main
motorway link that feeds visitors into the Lake
District- the M6.
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Booklet p23 on
Location of the Lake District study.
M6 motorway corridor
Yorkshire Dales
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Glacial erosion features are the main scenery
type here, and these attract huge numbers of
visitors to enjoy both active and passive
pursuits. The many ribbon lakes that fill the
sweeping U-shaped valleys are a particular pull.
The area is a very mountainous one,
especially in the north and centre it is more
gentle to the south with rolling, low hills.
The mountains are the Cumbrian mountains and
are just over 3000m at their highest point-
Skafell Pike.
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Again, look at the road network and think about
access.
Each entry on the map is a tourist attraction.
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The climate is very wet, fairly mild and often
windy. The steep slopes, bare rock and high
altitudes pose particular restrictions on the
development of the area, and create conflicts of
interest between different land user groups.
The creation of the National Park has helped
both to create and also to solve some of these
conflicts.
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Our three areas of focus are-
1. Footpath erosion around Buttermere. 2.Traffic
congestion in Ambleside. 3.Around the busiest of
the Lakes- Windermere- where pressure is created
by many and varied water-users.
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You will be using a powerpoint show and a video
programme to answer the questions on the prompt
sheet. This exercise will highlight the
limitations of the landscape, the opportunities
available, some main conflicts, their solutions
and how effective the solutions are. The
powerpoint is available on a memory stick but
there are no copies of the programme.
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The conflicts you will study here are-
Lake Windermere water management
Footpath management in upland areas
Traffic problems and possible solutions.
There are several handouts for these topics
included in the course booklet
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Lake Windermere Water Management Problems
prompt- sheets
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What do I need to know about this?

• Where- in detail- is the conflict taking place?
• What is the conflict based on?
• What is the solution proposing?
• For each group who are in FAVOUR of the solution
  proposed, write about a good outcome they see
  from it.
• For each group who are AGAINST the solution
  proposed, write about a bad outcome they see from
  it.

Try to get different things to say about each.
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Location
The lake is 17 kms long and at its widest, 2kms
wide. Its deepest point is 64m. It is the most
developed lake in the park. Bowness is the main
tourist focus.
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Location
Bowness-on-Windermere (a.k.a.Bowness)
is the only lakeshore settlement of any
significance. Situated on the eastern shore it
contains by far the greatest concentration of
businesses and other establishments devoted to
supporting activities on the lake. It is
inherently a small resort town. The settlement
spreads up the hill to join with Windermere town
with its railway station and the A591. Ambleside
to the north of the lake extends towards its
shores at Waterhead. This small settlement is
heavily geared to lakeside activities.
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Access to the area is by rail- Bowness is only 2
kms from the railway station- and by road, it can
be reached within ten minutes from the A591- off
the main access road to the National Park (M6)
A wide variety of both water and non-water based
attractions bring in thousands of tourists to
Bowness and Windermere.
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As with most National Parks, there are multiple
economic and recreational opportunities in and
around Lake Windermere.
See next slide
Lake Windermere from the south.
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Tourism perhaps the widest range of leisure
activities on offer anywhere in the UK.
Farming- hill sheep and cattle on the higher,
steeper ground, primarily mixed farming on the
lower slopes and valley floors.
Water supply- the Lake District supplies most of
the domestic water for the whole of the English
north west. There is no HEP.


What are the opportunities of this landscape?
Forestry- on the steeper and north-facing slopes.
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Passenger boat
Jet ski
Water skiers
Windermere is by far the busiest lake, the summer
months being the focus of the activities it is
transformed by a wide range of powered and
non-powered craft.
Speed boat
dinghy
Motor cruiser
Open motor boat
Sailing cruiser
canoe
Sail board
kayak
Steam boat
Row boat
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Provision for Lake Activities
There are a number of hotels in both Bowness and
Waterhead and scattered along the eastern shore.
In Bowness in particular there are marinas,
catering predominantly for powered craft, as well
as extensive boat yards and boat maintenance
facilities and various ancillary activities.
There are also public and private
jetties and swinging moorings off
shore.
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Background to the conflict

• Fast power boating and water skiing may have
  peaked in the 1990s but the conditions created
  have led to concerns over
• Safety issues
• Wash and turbulence
• Noise
• Fumes
• Visual concerns have arisen as speed boats and
  water skiing have taken over Windermere.

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What, in particular, had brought the
present issue to a head on Windermere? The
major physical change was a steady
intensification of use of the lake by fast
powerboats, with consequent noise, danger and
levels of disturbance. The lake was becoming
increasingly crowded. The expansion of
water-skiing was particularly important as each
boat and skier requires a substantial area of
water for their own use.
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Evidence
The 1977 Windermere Recreation Survey recorded a
range of craft on four summer Sundays from 184 to
517 (an average of 417 craft). Water-ski boats
and speedboats averaged 115 on these
Sundays. The 1991 boat use survey recorded the
average number of craft on five summer Sundays
as 872. Speed/motorboats averaged 368. For the
same period the average number of slower craft
increased from 246 in 1977 to 355 in 1991.
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Whilst there were only a few people observed
swimming and wind surfing there was much evidence
of rowing boat usage round Bowness and Waterhead
and canoes near outdoor centres. Steam and
electrically driven craft were seen regularly but
not in great numbers.
It was observed that Windermere was far busier
than any other lake in the Lake District, in
terms of water-borne activities in 1994 although
at some times there was relatively little
activity compared with warm weekends when the
lake became transformed.
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One of the key issues was the extent to which the
activities and enjoyment of others on and around
the lake were interfered with by the use of fast
moving powered craft, with or without
water-skiers. No direct observation of this was
made.
The evidence of noise was noted, as was the fact
that boats making a loud and intrusive noise were
not always going fast. However, it was agreed
that when here was a large amount of noise coming
off the lake it was generally associated with a
number of high-powered craft performing at high
speed. This was only observed occasionally.
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National Parks are large tracts of open land,
which were designed for the twin purposes of
preserving and enhancing their natural beauty,
and promoting the enjoyment of them by the public.
The aim of National Parks is to provide an
environment where people can get away from towns
and cities to enjoy peace and tranquillity and to
savour the sights, sounds and smells of the
countryside. The fact that man-made boat noise
can dominate the environment of large areas of
land surrounding Windermere is wholly
inconsistent with this aim.
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The proposal
The plan proposes that the lake could be used by
those qualified at speeds above 10mph from 7 a.m.
to sunset on any day of the year. The proposed
scheme requires that anyone wishing to drive
over 10mph must have passed a test, and that
the boat concerned must be specially
registered. Other than that, the number of boat
drivers is not subject to any limitation. The
only limitation will be the test passing process.
No limit is proposed to the number who can
qualify.
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The groups in conflict
There are several groups who have initiated a
public Inquiry to debate the proposal to have a
boat ban. They include-
Countryside Commission Friends of
Windermere National Trust National Sports
Council National Park Authority Cumbria Tourist
Board YMCA
Windermere Commercial Lake Users Group- consists
of Windermere Marina Village, Windermere Lake
Cruises, Holidays Afloat, Shepherds Boatyard,
Waterhead Marina Ltd, and White Cross Bay
Caravan Park.
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Only some of these will be discussed in this
case study.
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It is accepted that some areas of the National
Park are noisier than others. While it may be
that powerboat noise does not impact that greatly
on the noisier areas like Bowness, it certainly
does on the quieter areas.
Digital Audio equipment recorded sound levels in
May 1994 at Red Nab on Windermere and at
Esthwaite Water. Noise levels at Red Nab were
about 60dB with powerboats in operation on
Windermere compared with 40dB at Esthwaite Water
where there are no powerboats.
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All parties on both sides of the debate recognise
that there are serious problems the only dispute
is how to deal with them. In effect, the
position reached on Windermere is that a selfish
use of the lake needs to be prohibited in the
interests of the majority.
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The ban was made law on February 29th 2000. It
was implemented from March 29th 2005.
This is the end of this case study.
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FOOTPATH MANAGEMENT in UPLAND AREAS.
prompt- sheets
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Introduction- Footpath erosion can be defined as
where the vegetation and soil structure has
been lost or substantially altered due to
concentrated people pressures.
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Erosion is not just a modern day phenomenon. In
1819 a Lakeland traveller arriving at the Old
Dungeon Ghyll hostelry in Langdale, via Snake
pass in Borrowdale, complained that the route he
had just travelled was seriously eroded and was
in a worse condition than when he travelled it 10
years earlier.
However it was not until the 1960s when certain
popular paths quadrulpled in width, that Upland
Management teams and the National Trust became
concerned about the problem.
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A survey in 1994 showed that 87 of visitors use
footpaths. The large numbers of tourists puts
the environment under great pressure. One of the
main problems is footpath erosion which can
create huge scars on the landscape which are now
so large that they can be seen by satellite.
The Lake District attracts over 12 million
visitors a year.
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The use that we make of hills is more than just
recreation. It represents the chance of
recharging batteries in lives that are becoming
more pressurised and technology based. Reducing
the numbers of people going into the hills must
never be seen as a solution. Our need for them
is too great. The challenge, therefore, is to
find ways of enabling people to venture into the
hills without spoiling them.
Chris Bonington.
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Factors affecting footpath erosion-
These can be split into human and physical
factors.
Human- 1.Visitor pressure 2.Type of
activity 3.Closeness to car parks
and facilities. 4.Popularity of
route. 5.Winter-time use.

• Physical-
• angle of slope
• soil depth
• soil type
• drainage
• compaction
• climate
• vegetation type
• length of growing season
• altitude and aspect of slope.

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Looking for solutions. National Parks were
established to conserve and enhance our most
magnificent landscapes and to ensure public
enjoyment of them. A seriously eroded footpath
is evidence of conflict between these two
purposes. The response of landscape managers to
such pressures is not to restrict access but to
maintain paths which enable access without damage
to the landscape or wildlife.
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A cooperative approach.
In 1993, three key organisations came together to
work jointly on the repair and maintenance of
upland footpaths in the Lake District. The
National Trust, English Nature and the LDNPA
formed the Upland Access Management Group
( UAMG).
By June 1999 the group had completed a survey of
the most seriously eroded paths. The detailed
information for 180 paths within the Park
estimates that there are some 41,690 man-days of
work required at an estimated cost of 4,656,512
to repair the routes involved.
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Prevention is better than cure!
Major erosion problems can be prevented in
the future by a combination of good design,
regular maintenance and managing the impact of
humans. Measures which can be taken include-
Constructing hard-wearing, user-friendly paths
Ensuring effective water drainage
Resting routes Carrying on regular maintenance
tasks Fencing Reducing grazing pressures
Fertilising and re-seeding Directing people
Educating mountain users Managing visitor
numbers
More details in booklet
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Methods of path construction.
Path construction uses different
materials and methods depending on
the location. Footpath repair is
essentially about achieving a hard wearing
path that fits into the landscape. The
UAMG believe it is essential to maintain the
special character and qualities of the area.
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• Aggregate paths should be the first means of
  creating a sustainable route.
• They are quick and easier to create
  and provide a durable surface in uplands
  where vegetation and some topsoil has been
  lost, leaving sub-soil.
• Useful on slopes less than 15 degrees and where
  damage requires hard surfacing.
• It is often used to link sections of steeper
  ground.

Sketch on next slide
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Aggregate path
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Sketch on next slide
Stone pitching is currently the main method
used for path construction in most rocky upland
areas, especially where it is steep and eroded.
It should, however, by used as a last resort. The
term stone pitching describes an ancient and
international method of laying a hard wearing,
stone-faced surface which can be used on level or
steep ground, and provides a good walking
surface. Pitched paths are used on an angle
above 15 Degrees, are acceptable in hard
geological areas where outcrops are the dominant
feature of the landscape. They use local
materials that blend in with the landscape and
are geologically compatible.
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Stone pitching
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Case study-

• Gamlin End Project, High Crag, Buttermere and
  Ennerdale.
• The problem The ascent or descent of the hill is
  the only safe route off the popular Buttermere
  Ridge. The project tackled 450m of track and took
  3 years to complete. It won a British Upland
  Footpath Trust Award.
• The serious erosion scar presented three major
  problems-
• lack of suitable pitching stone
• the huge amount of rehabilitation needed
• continued pressure from walking and grazing.

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Summary of the project- This can be read in
detail in the booklet
Materials 1,700
Costings
Labour 25,800
airlift 15,000
Total 43,000
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This is the end of the footpath case study.
You should now be able to answer the
questions at the start.
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TRAFFIC PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.
Be prepared to NAME places and DESCRIBE actual
problems that arise.
You may be asked about this as a separate
sub-topic in the conflicts part of the
question.
You can be asked to give details of traffic-
related conflicts in a tourist area, either a
glaciated upland area like the Lake District, a
karst area like the Yorkshire Dales or a coastal
area like the Dorset coast.
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What causes the problem? You will be expected to
know details of one or two specific places.
Not all will be totally tourist- related- some
might be as a consequence.. of industry- like
quarrying eg. Swindon quarry- or commerce- like
a retail company eg. Hayes garden centre in
Ambleside.
What solutions have been suggested/tried?
Again, details about what has been put forward
must be given.
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How effective have these solutions been? The
answer to this is not very effective or
something similarly vague. This question is
looking for the good and bad aspects of the
solution the bits of the problem that have been
solved, and the bits that have not, or additional
problems created by the solution.
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What are the conflicts?
10
prompt- sheets
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Transport
The life-blood of the tourist industry- but how
much is it costing us? The car and coach can
cause many conflicts.
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ON-STREET PARKING
PARKING ON VERGES
SLOW TRAFFIC HOLDS UP LOCALS
NOSE-TO-TAIL QUEUES
COACHES TOO WIDE FOR ROADS
CAR PARKS AN EYESORE
ENGINE NOISE
EXHAUST FUMES
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What are the solutions?
Traffic problems can be tackled by
traffic restricted
minibus system
Building by-passes
Park-and-Ride
one-way system
new car parks
public transport
Look in the booklet for details of these
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Their effectiveness described-

By-passes cost money and
extra land is required. They do greatly reduce
congestion, pollution and the risk of
accidents. Park-and-Ride schemes are costly and
rely on there being a piece of suitable land to
use. They reduce the numbers of individual cars.
Restricted road use is tricky to police and is
unreliable. It would obviously reduce the volume
of traffic. Minibus systems could improve the
congestion and employ locals but are inconvenient
and cumbersome to use.
Example Keswick by-pass
Example Grasmere Park-and-Ride
Example shores of Lake Bassenthwaite
Look in the booklet for details of these
END