Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust: Charity spotlight
Being our nominated charity for the quarter just ended, here's a bit about this fantastic local conservation charity and the work they're doing around the Yorkshire Dales. We spoke with Mike Appleton, Woodlands Officer at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (and an avid caver himself!) to hear some of the recent cave-related work the charity has undertaken:
Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is a small charity doing big things for the people, landscape and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas.
Founded in 1997, it has supported the planting of 1.6 million trees, restored 805 hectares of meadows and helped more than 15,000 people to access, enjoy and understand the Yorkshire Dales.
The Trust’s projects cover areas as diverse as countryside apprenticeships, supporting local communities, education and outreach, restoring woodlands and wildlife habitats, and improving access and understanding of this special place.
Based in Clapham, karst and caving is unavoidable … it’s on the doorstep!
YDMT has provided signage along the fantastic nature trail to Ingleborough Cave and helped buy a tramper for those less abled to enjoy the track. It has also supported Cave Rescue and UWFRA as they deliver their vital services to those in need above and below ground.
Over a number of years, the Trust has also delivered several cave-based projects to improve the environment above and below ground.
These include graffiti cleaning at Katnot Cave, scrap removal from Alum Pot, track repairs at Gaping Gill, and capping and entrance work at Great Douk and Pen-y-Ghent Pot.
The work was carried out as part of Stories in Stone, a scheme of conservation and community projects concentrated on the Ingleborough area. The scheme was developed by the Ingleborough Dales Landscape Partnership, led by YDMT, and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The cave conservation project was managed by Andrew Hinde at Natural England in partnership with the Council for the Northern Caving Community.
Skirwith Cave, Slab Cave and Blood Cave were also involved in the project and a staggering 2.4 tonnes of historical waste was removed Gunnerfleet Cave too. 450 trees were planted at the enclosure to Wilson Cave in Ribblesdale to support the cave dwelling Tissue Moth and the entrance to Pen-y-Ghent Pot was repaired, involving almost 270 hours of volunteer time.
Other sites that saw work were Foul Pot, Runscar Cave, Squid Pot and Bloat Pot, Roaring Hole at Southerscales, Smeagol’s Pot, P5, Christmas Cracker Pot shaft, Pay Sank, Time Pot, Sell Gill Hole and Pot Noodle.
Inside Gaping Gill, in the Old East Passage, degraded conservation tape was removed and replaced with stainless steel conservation pins and orange nylon tape, ensuring important features are protected for generations.
In total an impressive 2,212 hours, or 306 days, was donated to the project, with 119 volunteers contributing overall. There was a core team of around 16 volunteers too – cavers helping cavers!
YDMT is proud to support the caving community – several of its staff are active cavers – and thank ActionStash and its customers for its kind contribution.
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