The National Park...
Looking after the national park...
Rangers and local people
Rangers and visitors
A day in the life of the peak national park ranger

"The best job in the world" is the way many Rangers in the Peak District National Park would describe their work. It is certainly a varied job. A Ranger can never be certain what the next day will bring, from a meeting with the local WATCH group to tackling a summer moorland fire.

The National Park...

Centuries of human history have moulded a remarkable mosaic of heather moors, limestone pastures and weather-beaten villages out of the craggy landscape of the Peak District. Much of the land in the plateaux and dales of the White Peak is farmed, mainly for sheep and cattle. The gritstone uplands forming the Dark Peak provide grazing for sheep, with the heather moors also managed for grouse shooting. Reservoirs in the deep gritstone valleys supply water to neighbouring towns and cities and the slopes around these valleys provide a supply of timber.

In 1951 the Peak District became Britain's first National Park but this does not mean that it is owned by the nation. The majority of the land is still privately owned - much of it by farmers - but the National Trust and the water companies also own large areas of the Park

Access to the land

Access agreements were made with the landowners to allow the public the right to pursue quiet activities such as walking and climbing without having to keep to public rights of way. As most of the access land was managed for grouse shooting, the agreements allowed for the moors to be closed for a few days each year during the grouse shooting season (12 August to 10 December). There are now 152 square kilometres of access land. More footpaths and public rights of way were also established, to create the current 6,400 kilometres of footpaths.

The Warden Service

In 1954 the Peak National Park scored another first with the establishment of the National Park Warden Service formed to deal with issues arising from public use. At that time only the access land was covered by the service, and the service itself consisted of only one full-time warden assisted by a few enthusiastic volunteers.

Ranger Service Established

The Warden Service gradually expanded and began to look after land purchased by the Park, especially in the limestone region where trails had been made on redundant railway tracks. In 1974 the Warden Service was reorganised, became the Ranger Service and was expanded to cover the whole of the National Park. Today the Ranger Service is divided into thirteen areas, each managed by an Area Ranger.

There are a further six full-time Rangers, with another 200 part-time and volunteer staff providing back-up. Every weekend around a hundred volunteer and part-time patrol Rangers will be helping the full-time staff in advising and assisting visitors, especially on the access moors and honeypot sites in the Park. A large group of conservation volunteers, an environmental awareness team, two countryside maintenance teams and a Pennine Way footpath team, work alongside the Rangers.

The whole Service is managed by a Chief Ranger with the support of three senior Rangers, a Rights of Way Officer, Conservation Volunteers Organiser, Pennine Way Manager, Education and Awareness Ranger and other staff based at the National Park Offices in Bakewell. Although the scope of the job has expanded since the early days, the essence of the work remains the same: to provide a key point of contact between the National Park Authority, the residents and the visitors.

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Looking after the National Park .....

Footpaths and bridleways

Many visitors explore the Park via the network of footpaths, bridleways and byways. Rangers help to look after these routes and to make sure that they are used properly. When a stile or footbridge needs to be built, or rebuilt, Rangers discuss the details with landowners and the highway authorities, providing a link between the local farmer and the more remote authority.

Countryside Maintenance Team

No matter how good walkers may be with a map and compass, they will always be helped by the waymarks and signs sited by the Rangers - although the practical work of putting up the signs may often be done by volunteers or by a specialist group such as the Countryside Maintenance Team. Heavy use of the thousands of kilometres of footpaths leads to big problems with erosion. The most seriously affected area is the start of the hugely popular Pennine Way which runs for 400 kilometres from the valley of Edale up into Scotland. Rangers, working with the Pennine Way Maintenance Team, are involved in monitoring the use of the path as well as trying various methods of combating the erosion.

Conservation projects

Practical conservation work such as pond construction, tree planting and the clearance of rubbish is usually done by teams of volunteers. These volunteers are managed by the Ranger Service, through the Peak Park Conservation Volunteers. Teams of people who care about conservation converge on centres in the Park every weekend, where they gain practical experience of countryside skills and develop a deeper understanding and awareness of the environment. These Conservation Volunteers also help to look after Nature Reserves.

Protecting and managing the land

Rangers co-operate closely with other organisations connected with the Park. The National Trust and English Nature have their own wardens or field staff but also call on the experience and co-operation of the Rangers.

Several of the National Park Rangers are funded or part-funded by Forest Enterprise or by Severn Trent Water, North West Water or Yorkshire Water. The Rangers work in partnership with these agencies in the interests of conservation and recreation.

Rangers assist other departments of the National Park Authority, including monitoring sites on behalf of ecologists and archaeologists, or contributing their local knowledge to management and interpretation plans.

Education and environmental awareness

An important role of the Ranger is to ensure that information about the National Park's purpose and its policies reaches all parts of the National Park and all of the communities within the Park. This is done through educational provision.

• Rangers have been instrumental in organising environmental awareness activities for the local people, such as environmental summer playdays for primary school children
  
  
• Rangers present talks and lead a number of walks for people of all abilities.
  
  
• Rangers liaise with 50 local primary schools to set up educational schemes which aim to build closer links between the Park Authority and the local community, whilst developing pupils' awareness of the rich environment in which they live.
  

All of the educational provision within the Ranger Service is co-ordinated by the Education and Environmental Awareness Ranger.


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Rangers and local people

Around 38,000 people live in the Peak District National Park. Many of these people work in the Park in jobs connected with mining and quarrying, with small-scale industry and in the tourism and service sectors. A large number of people live in the Park but travel outside the Park to work in towns and cities such as Sheffield, Manchester, Chesterfield, Matlock, Leek or Macclesfield. As well as the many full-time farmers, there are a number of part-time farmers who may have a job outside the Park and run a small farm as well. The Rangers need to know all these local people and understand their needs and problems so that they can keep their support in looking after the land.

Misunderstandings .....

There can be problems and misunderstandings between residents and visitors to the National Park. Visitors do not always understand that 'empty' fields of grass are part of a farm and must only be crossed by the public footpaths. Farmers may not always maintain footpaths and stiles for visitors to use. Visitors with dogs can be a major problem to farmers with grazing sheep. Even the quietest pet can quickly become a killer when faced with a field of sheep.

Good relations

The Ranger Services has always worked closely with the local people in areas where there is a high number of visitors. In fact the Ranger Service is often the first point of contact in attempting to settle any differences between residents and visitors. The work of building good relations with residents continues through day to day contact or more formal meetings with community groups. Rangers also provide practical help to local people at times of emergency, such as moorland fires, floods and heavy snowfalls.

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Rangers and visitors

There are now over 22 million visits each year to the Peak District National Park. Many people make regular visits into the Park from Sheffield, Manchester and the nearby towns. Others come from further afield to stay for a few days or longer and to walk, climb or just enjoy the countryside. The Ranger Service cannot make contact with all these millions of visitors, but it tried to provide advice and assistance whenever and wherever it might be needed.

Informal contact

All Rangers have extensive knowledge of their area. This means that they can offer suggestions and information on where to go for a short stroll, a lengthy hike, to practice rock climbing, to go fishing, ride a bike, have a picnic or just to buy a cup of tea and a bun! They can also extend the services of the Information Centres by helping visitors to find accommodation in bed and breakfast, or guest houses (many farmers offer bed and breakfast to help the income from the farm). Rangers also have a wide knowledge of the history of the Peak District as a whole, and can tell visitors about the geology of the different areas of the Park as well as about the flora and fauna - the wildlife growing and living on the land. Rangers try to convey a conservation message in all their contacts with visitors.

Formal Contact

More formal contact is made with visitors through programmes of guided walks or talks to ramblers and similar groups. Contact is also made when Rangers need to enforce bye-laws on access moors and on land owned by the National Park. The initial approach to misbehaviour, such as letting dogs run free across grazing land or walking on moors that have been closed for shooting, is always one of friendly advice and education.

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A day in the life of the Peak National Park Ranger

The Ranger's job is one that many people might envy - out and about in the wonderful Peak Park landscape, meeting different people, getting involved in exciting rescues. Here we follow Neil through a typical working day and find out just how much a Ranger manages to fit into his busy life.

• It's 8.30 in the morning and Neil is planning his work for the day over breakfast. He will be visiting a school that morning so he jots down some notes on important points to put over to the children.
  
  
• 9 o'clock and Neil arrives at the Rangers' office to check any messages that might have been left for him. He starts to plan out the project for a group of conservation volunteers who will be working on the reconstruction of a badly worn footpath.
  
  
• 9.30 and off to Peakland Primary School where the upper junior class is making plans for a wildlife garden and pond in part of the field behind the school. Neil talks to the children about the different plans that are 'natural' in the Peak District National Park and they discuss the origins of some other plants found in their gardens at home. Neil is shown the site for the new pond and makes some suggestions about planting to encourage both pond life and garden wildlife.
  
  
• 11.45 and back in the office Neil updates his school file with details about Peakland Primary's project and checks on progress in other school projects. He answers a letter from a potential volunteer who is interested in doing some conservation work.
  
  
• By 12.30 Neil is ready for some lunch. He eats his sandwiches while he reads through a report by the Pennine Way Maintenance Team.
  
  
• At 1.00 pm Neil is outside finishing preparation of a sign to replace a badly worn sign at a path junction. The sign must be clear to read and strong enough to withstand some pretty rough weather.
  
  
• By 1.15 Neil is off again on his travels. He calls first of all on Mr Lomas at Top Farm. Mr Lomas wants to know the best way of making sure that walkers follow the exact footpath through is fields and do not tray through the hayfield just before it is due to be cut. Neil suggests making such that a strip is kept cut close to the wall where the stile can be seen.
  
  Just by Top Farm is the work signs at the path junction which is replaced with the new sign Neil has brought. Neil surveys the other footpaths, stiles and signs in this area a makes a note of any repairs needed.
  
  
• By 3.00 in the afternoon Neil is back in the office logging the information on the footpaths he has just surveyed. Now he plans out the work programme for the conservation team who will be working on resurfacing the worn footpath. Neil needs to record details of its exact position, the ease of access to the path, the time needed to complete this project and to make notes concerning the safety of the team.
  
  
• At 4.00 pm an urgent phone call is put through to Neil. Susan has come off the moors at the wrong place. She has managed to find a remote phone box but has no idea where she is. Neil asks her to describe what she can see from the phone box she is in, so that he can give her directions for the easiest way back to her car. A very grateful Susan says goodbye and sets off for home. Without Neil's knowledge of the area, her plight might have resulted in a call for the Mountain Rescue Team.
  
  
• 4.30 pm and Neil gets back to the paperwork, preparing 'briefing notes' for the part-time Rangers who will be on duty this weekend. The Patrol Rangers need to be aware of anything that has happened during the week and of any events that might require their presence.
  
  
• At 5 o'clock the Smith family calls at the Rangers' office and Neil gives them some advice about things to do in the area. They are camping and are anxious to find some 'indoor activities' as it looks as if the weather might be changeable. "By the way" they ask "what is the weather forecast for the weekend?" Rangers are expected to know everything!
  
  
• By 5.30 pm Neil is on his way home but work isn't over yet. In the early spring the Rangers have put up 'Lambing Time' signs to warn visitors to take care when young lambs are around. Now it is summer and the lambs have grown, so Neil takes down some of the signs on his route home.
  
  Back home Neil can put his feet of for a little while, but if there is an emergency in his area, he may be out again as part of the Mountain Rescue Team.

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