Photo thanks to Don Gamble 

A major new partnership scheme, Three Counties, One River, is now in development to support nature recovery in the Lune Valley, while conserving and celebrating it’s distinctive identity, heritage, culture and communities.

The Lune Valley has the North West's finest countryside, rich in history and culture, supporting diverse and rare wildlife and habitat, and is home to vibrant communities. The project is focussed on the middle and lower sections of the Lune River catchment, which crosses the boundaries of Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire.

Building capacity and resilience for this partnership scheme is made possible with a grant of £100,202 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, YDMT will help improve collaboration in natural and heritage conservation across three counties in the Lune Valley and further develop the partnership scheme and its governance with consultancy support.

YDMT, in partnership with the Lune Valley communities, Forest of Bowland National Landscape, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Lune Rivers Trust, Sustrans and other organisations, are developing an ambitious long-term scheme focussed on conserving, celebrating and supporting the distinctive, living, working and cultural landscape of the Lune River, the surrounding valley and its communities.

We will consult with communities across the Lune Valley to establish access priorities and current use, as well as identifying rural skills gaps and opportunities to address them. New connections with voluntary groups and specific identified communities within Morecambe and Lancaster will establish the needs of underserved groups and inform future partnership work.

A Young Leaders programme and youth steering group will be developed through engagement with schools and youth organisations. Research and analysis of existing nature recovery and catchment plans will lead to the development of a cohesive strategy to better enable nature recovery within the landscape and a survey of the Lune Valley Ramble will ascertain its condition and suitability to meet user needs established through public engagement.

About the Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Learn more about the Heritage Fund at www.heritagefund.org.uk

Tell us what you love about the Lune Valley!

This exciting new scheme cannot be delivered without you. If you would like to help inform and define the areas and themes of activity of the scheme, we would like to hear from you.

By completing our online survey, you can tell us what you love about the places, wildlife and things you value in the Lune valley, and highlight the opportunities that you think future funding should address in the area and in your community.

Upcoming events

We will be delivering a series of open drop-in events, where you can find out more about the Three Counties One River scheme, our planned worked along the Lune Valley Ramble, or just come along for a chat. Our first event took place at Hornby Institute, Hornby on 24^th April and our next event is:

National Meadows Day

When: Saturday 05/07/2025 (2:00pm to 4:00pm)

Details

Free event. The meadows at the Crook o' Lune near Lancaster are at their best in July and August, so what better time to immerse yourself in this very special habitat? 

Enjoy a guided meadow walk; learn how to use iNaturalist to record plants and wildlife; get help with invertebrate ID and find out all you need to know about meadow creation and growing plug plants. Plus, children's activities for younger visitors. (Under 18s must be accompanied.) Tea, coffee, refreshments available.

Pre-booking needed for the guided walks (details closer to the time) but just turn up at the Crook o' Lune Picnic Site near Caton for everything else!

For more information, please email carol.edmondson@lancashire.gov.uk

 

 

Learn more about our work 

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