Cows top at How Top
We’ve welcomed a decision to preserve part of White Moss common, Grasmere as common land. The proprietor of How Top, a former farmhouse near Town End, Grasmere, in the Lake District National Park, applied to Cumbria County Council in October 2020 to deregister around 80 square metres of roadside land north of How Top. The…
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Our featured images: the Cumbria collection
You can find our unique collection of lantern slides on the Open Spaces Society Website. The lantern transparencies show British landscapes from 1900-40, and were digitised and added to our website. This month, we’re focusing on our slides from Cumbria. The eight images show stunning scenes from the Lake District, including local workers and walkers…
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NEW Giving Green gift book bundles
We have partnered with Saraband, the Salford based award-winning independent publisher, as part of a Christmas fundraising initiative. The company represents authors who write about UK landscapes, wildlife, culture and folk traditions. Their titles cover fiction and non-fiction and have included a Booker Prize shortlist entry, the Wainright Prize for nature writing and the Robert…
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Winter Hill trespass a milestone, but still a long way to go
The Winter Hill mass demo in 1896 was a milestone in the history of public access—but we still have a long way to go.’ So declares our general secretary Kate Ashbrook, who will speak on 5 September at the 125th anniversary event of the Winter Hill mass trespass. Kate also spoke at the centenary event…
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Patricia’s heroic hike
Schoolgirl Patricia Wittbom chose to raise money for the society by a challenge walk. She tells her story. My name is Patricia Wittbom, I’m 11 years old and I am in year 7 at Tytherington School, Macclesfield, Cheshire. During the last year of covid lockdown I was lucky to be able to go out each…
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Our last-minute bid to rescue lost commons
We have made 78 applications to rescue lost commons in England’s seven pioneer areas[1] before the deadline of 31 December 2020. The applications are to register these precious spaces as common land. If successful, they will give the public the right to walk, and in some cases to ride, on the land and will protect…
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Registration of land at Goose Holme
We have welcomed the decision of Cumbria County Council to register land at Goose Holme, Kendal, as common land. The decision was made at the council’s development control and regulation committee on Friday 9 October, and will add about 0.45 hectares of land, much of it comprised in the bed of the River Kent, to…
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Local correspondent authors new edition of Melbourne path history title
Our local correspondent for south Derbysire and north west Leicestershire since 2010, Barry Thomas, has updated his book ‘The old ways of Melbourne – the history of public rights of way in a Derbyshire village’. Barry describes the nature of public rights of way and the history of the path network in the parish of…
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Blackburn group win support of borough council for new Asset of Community Value
A much loved open space at Whitehall Road in Blackburn, has been awarded Asset of Community Value (ACV) status by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council following a campaign by the Whitehall Road Neighbourhood Group. The benefit of achieving ACV listing is that this becomes a material planning consideration, a matter that should be taken into…
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