70th anniversary of the national park’s rangers

At this time of year, key priorities for rangers in the Peak District (including 28 employed and over 200 volunteer rangers) are preventing harm to springtime birds and animals caused by dogs off leads, and monitoring fire risk on moors and fields that can become tinder dry.

In the early days of the service, many of the wardens were former armed forces staff, who had a stern approach to members of the public breaking the rules.

One of those early wardens was Gordon Miller, who died last year, but was remembered fondly by many of the rangers at the Edale celebration.

In an interview for the Sheffield Telegraph several years ago, Gordon said: ”They were pioneering days, and we felt we had to enforce the byelaws, so I spent a lot of my time telling people you couldn't do this or that. Over the years you learn there are better ways of doing things.”

Sheila agreed, and said there’s more than one way to ask someone not to light a barbecue and risk causing a huge moorland fire.

She said you walk up with a smile on your face, and say:“‘Hello there! I’m a National Park ranger, and I don’t know if you’re aware, it’s no barbecues here, especially this time of year.’

“And if they asked why, I’d then tell them about the fire risk, and how sparks could blow onto the dry moor even if you could clear everything away.”

Sheila’s fellow ranger, volunteer Adrian Earp, is equally adept at tackling owners whose energetic dogs are racing around spring moorland or farmland.

“You say, you may not have spotted it, but there was a sign about keeping your dog on a lead? So if you're okay, can we do that?

And you have to explain, it’s not just to protect the sheep, it’s because there are nesting birds on the ground, who might leave or even abandon their nest and young chicks if they keep getting disturbed by dogs.”

Rangers said the number of professionals in the role has been cut dramatically since the days in the 1960s when there were upwards of 120 part- and full-time ranger staff working for the Peak District national park, and nowadays the job includes education work to help the visiting public understand why rules exist to protect the park’s environment and wildlife.

At 87, Margaret Black is one of the Peak District’s oldest volunteer rangers, and said: “Nowadays the service is short of money, just when it’s vitally important because of the health of the nation, all that research that’s been done about how good it is for people to be out in the open air. But you can’t get that without spending some money on it, it’s impossible.”

Her colleague Jess Coatesworth is a Ranger Team Leader: “The service definitely needs investment. But for me it’s not just about what rangers can do, it’s what we can all do. We all need to be more ambitious, I think.

“These days, people sometimes don’t feel as comfortable in the countryside, or maybe don’t quite feel the same ownership as those days when we fought for access, and I think we take it a lot for granted, and we should love it a bit more.”

The national park is always in need of volunteer rangers who can help and advise the public, or carry out conservation tasks, or even help with citizen science projects about the environment and wildlife. (Volunteering info: https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/looking-after/volunteering).

And the public can also help, keeping their eyes open for fires, litter, or damage to walls, for example.

“Nature is only declining at present, so our role in getting people engaged with nature and loving nature again is even more important,” said Jess Coatesworth.