Access & Conservation Team news round up - early spring
The BMC have been hard at work presenting the Outdoors For All Manifesto to parliament, kick-starting a new addition to The Climate Project, arranging re-bolting, cleaning up crags and consulting on access across England and Wales. Here are the highlights as we swing into spring.
The BMC have been hard at work presenting the Outdoors For All Manifesto to parliament, kick-starting a new addition to The Climate Project, arranging re-bolting, cleaning up crags and consulting on access across England and Wales. Here are the highlights as we swing into spring.
Senior Policy & Campaigns Manager Cath Flitcroft and BMC ambassador MaryAnn Ochota presented the Outdoors For All Manifesto to parliament on 6 March. Forty-Two leading national governing bodies and environmental organisations joined together for a parliamentary event to celebrate the Outdoors for All manifesto, seeking to extend responsible access to more green and blue spaces. Full story here.
Cath has also been working with SMT on a Sustainable Transport Policy, finalised the BMC Climate and Sustainability Action Plan, overseen filming projects with Mountain Training and held meetings with DEFRA, UK Sport and Sport England. She is currently drafting a BMC Mountain Manifesto for 2024, we’ll keep you posted.
Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick coordinated a successful crag clean up with BUMS - an excellent acronym for Bangor University Mountaineering Society. This meet was in conjunction with Trash Free Trails and part of their Citizen Science Programme which will contribute to its State of Our Trails Report in 2024. For this, each volunteer also analysed what they collected to provide more information on how single-use pollution impacts the local environment and wildlife. Trash Free Trails are currently looking for groups to join its Citizen Science programme, click here to find out more, and the BMC hopes to collaborate with them on this project on future clean ups too.
Climbing-wise, a working group has been consulting on the bolted fixed gear guidance for South Wales so we look forward to updates on that soon, and this will be voted on in the next area meeting. He has also been coordinating new replacement bolting in Minera Quarry, north east Wales, with local BMC Area Reps. This work will take place soon.
Tom is also overseeing the latest addition to the BMC’s The Climate Project - seagrass planting with Seagrass Ocean Rescue in South Wales. The UK has lost up to 90% of its seagrass meadows in the past century, a vital source of carbon sequestering, water filtration, sediment stabilisation and coastal erosion reduction. A total of 10 hectares of seagrass were planted this February at seven different sites along the north Wales coastline.
VOLUNTEER: To help out with seagrass planting
Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Jon Fullwood has been busy nationally with arrangements around this year’s bird nesting restrictions; most recently with new permanent signage for Ravens Crag, Wallthwaite between 15 Feb and 31 May.
Jon is joining the Stanage & North Lees Forum to increase climber and hill walker representation in this important group. He has also assisted local clubs (Derwent and Oread) with the arrangement of a clean-up at Wildcat Crag, a popular collection of limestone buttresses near Matlock Bath in the Peak District. This location has a turbulent history between climbers and the landowner so the clean-up is much needed and a sign of improving relations. Please keep an eye on the Regional Access Database (RAD) for any updates.
Along with local access legend Les Ainsworth, Jon recently met with the owners of Hoghton Quarry, Lancashire, to negotiate for a resumption of access. Permission to climb has been withdrawn for the last two years and some hurdles still remain, but the BMC will be sending proposals through based on the meeting and there’s reason to hope a way forward can be found.
Jon is looking forward to the Big Depot Climbing Fair event in Leeds this summer, where the BMC have been invited to host a stand highlighting local volunteer work, access issues, and encourage everyone to get involved at a grassroots level.
WATCH: Access Land
Policy & Campaigns Officer (Wales) Eben Muse responded to the consultation around Wales’ Sustainable Farming Scheme for the future of farming in Wales now that the UK has left the EU. Agricultural policy is facing a redesign and on behalf of the BMC, an organisation that bridges conservation and recreation, Eben worked to highlight the importance of public money delivering public goods and of integrating nature and access to it into the new policy and payment system.
He will also be supporting the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill in the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament). The purpose of the Bill is to enable all pupils to experience residential outdoor education, giving them the best possible start in their relationship with nature and the outdoors. Welsh Ministers will have a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure a course of residential outdoor education is provided once to all pupils in maintained schools, free of charge.
The Right To Roam campaign Access Land film featuring wild camping climbers has proved very popular and is being widely shown at film and outdoor festivals across the UK, and it won the People’s Choice Award at the London Adventure Film Festival. There is still much work to be done.
Senior Land, Property & Access Advisor Dave Turnbull has been arranging online Access Network sessions every month on conservation topics such as re-wilding, and future sessions are planned for 8 April and 6 May, with the US Access Fund as the guest speaker for the first date.
Dave has also been engaging with trustees from the Land & Property Trust and working on BMC owned and managed sites with colleagues Tom and Jon to clarify the BMC’s commitments and responsibilities at the crags that we own.
Related Content
Access News
On Tuesday 8 October, the Supreme Court will consider whether the right to wild camp on Dartmoor continues to be a cherished freedom. The case, brought by Alexander Darwall, owner of 4,000-acre estate in southern Dartmoor, challenges the notion that wild camping (or backpack camping) should be considered an open-air recreation in its own right.
Access Articles
This unassuming, bright, green or red moss with lush, almost tentacle-like fronds is hiding five well-kept secrets.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
Did you know that the 140,000 miles of footpaths and bridleways we have access to in England and Wales are under serious threat? The footpaths you love the walk on are disappearing fast before our eyes due to erosion from increased footfall and more extreme weather conditions. Here are 14 reasons why we can't ignore footpath erosion.
Access News
The Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) Big Clean Up event marks an unprecedented effort to begin to rid the mountain of decades-old litter, including a misplaced Santa hat! Over two days, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September, dedicated volunteers and specialists undertook a challenging mission to clean one of Wales’ most iconic natural landmarks.
Access News
The BMC welcomes and supports the Cumbria Wildlife Trust who are set to rewild the bleak plateau of Skiddaw. This work aligns fully with BMC values - protecting the mountains for future climbers, hill-walkers and mountaineers and promoting environmental sustainability.
Access News
On Sat 21 September, 40 BMC volunteers will climb Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) to rid the mountain of as much litter as possible in The Big Clean Up event, including the 'waterfall' of trash which has been stuck for decades in the steep and hazardous Trinity Gullies.
Rock Climbing
A peregrine survey by boat with high-quality photography organised by local BMC Access Reps Iain Peters and James Mann has helped to identify peregrine nesting sites so that a blanket ban on climbing at the Cornish climbing site of Carn Cowla can be lifted. A temporary ban had been put in place by the National Trust covering the cliffs between Tubby Head and Bawden Cliff, including major route locations up to and beyond the America Buttress. The ban has now been lifted so all sections are open, with only crag- and area-specific restrictions in place when necessary.
News
The BMC is pleased to announce our membership of Sports for Nature (S4N) - the first mountaineering organisation to do so. S4N enables and encourages sporting bodies to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration, an initiative that aligns completely with the BMC’s values, including our ongoing access and conservation work, aims for net-zero emissions by 2040 and new Climate & Sustainability Action Plan.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Caroline Mercer to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Caroline on a path above Derwent Water, near Keswick, to find out about a typical day in her life - it's pretty hard work!
News
The sphagnum season is upon us again! Now that the ground-nesting birds have stopped ground-nesting, it’s time for BMC volunteers to start planting this incredible, carbon-sequestering moss at strategic locations across the Peak District moorland. Can you help us?
Rock Climbing
A climbers’ meeting this week expressed their opposition to the continued ban on climbing at Symonds Yat, Herefordshire, imposed by Forestry England.
Olympics
With four GB Climbing athletes heading across the channel for the Olympic boulder and lead competitions starting Monday 5 August, not only are they bringing their A-game in terms of performance but, as part of the BMC, the whole team is supporting Paris 2024 in its bid to be the ‘greenest ever Games’.
News
This weekend the BMC joined Avon Access Rep Ben Darby and his team of volunteers near Bristol to install 28 new belay stakes on Main Wall so that climbers no longer need to rely on the wobbly old iron fence as an anchor point. Vegetation was also cleared and a thorough litter pick was carried out.
Access News
Yesterday, former Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Boardman CBE met with BMC staff in the Peak District to highlight projects that are successfully fighting the climate crisis.
Access News
Proposals to make ordinary trespass a criminal offence have alarmed outdoor groups, including the BMC. Ahead of a debate in Parliament on the issue and the possibility of Government publishing the Police Powers and Protections Bill, Ed Douglas calls for the Government to think again.
Access News
There are concerns that government are considering moves to turn trespass from a civil offence to a criminal one. In a public consultation that is currently out for comment, it has been suggested that police powers could be strengthened to force people to move on from unauthorised encampments. The BMC is concerned however, that there could be unintentional consequences of the proposals around issues such as wild camping.
Access Articles
Access to the south side of Cheddar Gorge is fragile and relies upon climbers following the agreements in place with the landowner.
Rock Destinations
Climbers have a responsibility to understand the relevant access and conservation issues associated with the places we climb. Here are a few pointers to help you enjoy these areas sustainably.
Hill Walking Articles
The health and well being benefits of physical activity are numerous. Apart from the obvious physical benefits, there are many mental health and social perks to hillwalking and climbing too.
Rock Climbing Articles
In this booklet for managers and landowners, the aim has been to address a range of common questions and concerns about rock climbing in disused quarries. Covering all aspects of access and liability, through a selection of case studies, it showcases the benefits not just for climbers, but for the wider public and land managers themselves. Benefits which can be realised with assistance from climbers and the BMC, through the repurposing of disused quarries as rock climbing destinations.
Hillwalking Skills
Camping ‘wild’ is a different way of spending the night outdoors but it isn't allowed everywhere - with a responsible approach however, there are many remote areas where you can still rest your weary head under a star-filled sky.
Rock Climbing News
The stats are in from the Bangor University Mountaineering Society's (BUMS, excellent acronym) crag clean up at Penmaen Head, a limestone sport climbing venue in North Wales, near Colwyn Bay.
Indoor Climbing Gear
We take a look at the culture of tight climbing shoes. Just how tight is too tight - and are we creating problems for the future?
Climate Articles
Want to know more about how you can reduce your own personal carbon footprint and lessen your impact on the environment? We’ve tried to make it simple for you by producing three separate checklists – for yourself, your workplace and for any events you might be arranging.
Governance
On this page, you will find links to recent BMC annual reports and annual accounts.
Hill Walking Articles
Diversity conversations in the outdoors can’t leave anyone out. At ESEA Outdoors UK we’re celebrating the fact that East and Southeast Asian people go outdoors too, in spite of historical erasure and lack of representation in outdoors media. Here’s what you need to know:
Climate Articles
The BMC has welcomed another conservation project into The Climate Project portfolio, planting seagrass with Seagrass Ocean Rescue in conjunction with the North Wales Wildlife Trust. This is in addition to the current sphagnum moss planting and peatland restoration with Moors for the Future in the Peak District that you can also get involved with here.
Access & Conservation
This April saw the BMC’s first volunteer day in Pwllheli, North Wales, partnering with the Seagrass Ocean Rescue project and the North Wales Wildlife Trust as part of the BMC’s The Climate Project. Two more dates are planned for May and August, read on for dates and how to get involved.
Mountaineering
The Julie Tullis Memorial Award is a small grant to assist deserving female mountaineers or any disabled climbers or mountaineers, both male and female, to achieve their climbing or mountaineering ambitions.
Mountaineering Articles
An introduction to BMC and MEF mountaineering grants
Rock Climbing Articles
Access & Conservation
With the general election announced for Thursday 4 July 2024, get behind the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) as we lobby for more access to nature, outdoor education and more protection for the places we love to walk and climb in. Pick one (or all!) of the below and ask your election candidates if they will back it and why it’s important to them.
Mountaineering Articles
Are the Alps falling down? IFMGA Mountain Guide Andy Perkins has a stark warning about the impact of climate change on the Alps: “I don’t have children but if I did I wouldn’t persuade them to be mountain guides. I’d be saying ‘Get your yacht sailing ticket...'" Katy Dartford interviews Andy to find out more.
Mend Our Mountains Articles
If you're a BMC member or if you have made a donation to the BMC Access & Conservation Trust (ACT), you are directly supporting our Mend Our Mountains campaign which is funding Fix the Fells again this year. Your contributions enable rangers like Liam Prior to consistently repair and manage the Lake District paths that we love to walk on. We caught up with Liam on the very popular path up Scafell Pike from Wasdale Head to find out what a typical day in his life is like - it's quite demanding!
As part of LGBTQ+ history month we asked members of the BMCs Equity Steering LGBTQ+ sub-group to share their stories about getting into climbing and walking.
Access & Conservation
As the general election date draws nearer, the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) have reviewed the manifestos from each party to help you make a more informed choice when it comes to protecting the landscapes and crags that we love to walk in and climb on.
News
As the world’s garment manufacturing industry moves to a more sustainable business model, what we’re wearing in the hills in three years time will be very different to today’s unsustainable, un-recyclable, polluting garments, predicts Mike Parsons from the Outdoor Gear Coach. But why is change needed? And what is going to happen? Mike explains in this article.
Access & Conservation
The Labour Party has announced three policies to help connect people with nature. The British Mountaineering Council has advocated for greater access to nature for many decades and welcomes action to promote this – we’ve therefore taken a look at each policy individually.
Here’s a rundown on ten of the best places to boulder outside for beginners.
Rock Destinations
The Landscape Project is the BMC's latest film series that brings climbing and natural history together. Presenter Nathan Chrismas, a biologist and ecologist, shares his deep knowledge and passion for the geological and ecological highlights of four hugely popular climbing and walking areas.
Access News
Wildlife and Countryside Link—a coalition of over 80 charities including the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, the National Trust and WWF UK—is challenging all political parties to set out how they would halt wildlife decline by 2030, ahead of the General Election.
News
This week is Volunteering Week 3 - 9 June so why not get involved with one of the many BMC volunteering opportunities? There are loads to choose from, including helping out at climbing competitions, leading hill walks at events and litter picking nationwide, planting seagrass in Wales, repairing footpaths in the Lake District and restoring peat bogs in the Peak District.
Article
In National Walking month this May we’ve teamed up with BMC Official Retail Partner Cotswold Outdoor to bring you all the info and advice you need to care for and repair your favourite pair of walking boots. Not only does this save you money, it also saves the environment - the less we consume and throw away, the better.
Access Articles
BMC volunteers from the Get Stuck In programme joined Fix the Fells last month in Wasdale on Lingmell Breast, one of the main routes up to Scafell Pike. They spent the day helping to maintain part of this hugely popular footpath up to England’s highest mountain.
News
BMC member Madalin Cristea, known as Cris, from Romania, has become the first person to summit both Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro from sea level and back again. He is currently attempting to be the first person ever to climb up and down each of the world’s seven summits (the highest mountain on each continent) from sea level - climbing every metre of the mountains up and down.
News
BMC member Wayne Andrews from Bettws, South Wales has started a hill walking group for people who suffer with their mental health or an addiction, called Forever In The Hills.
News
This May is National Walking month, so to celebrate the power of a good old stomp around the UK’s countryside, nine of the BMC staff have shared their favourite hike. From fossil-hunting in the Peak District and airy Scottish scrambling to the Via Alpina in Switzerland, one of these is bound to tickle your fancy this spring or summer. Better still, with the BMC collaborations with Komoot and HotelPlanner, you can plan and navigate your route and find your accommodation for your trip for less!
News
The Watkin Path up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the peat hags on neighbouring mountain Glyder Fach have benefitted from BMC volunteer improvement work on the latest Get Stuck In event, 15-16 April 2024. This was organised by Hill Walking Rep Steve Charles and Access & Conservation Officer (Wales) Tom Carrick as part of the Mend Our Mountains project, funded by the BMC Access & Conservation Trust.
Access Articles
Grabbing your attention with this beautiful picture of a Kestrel (Cudull Coch)! Now that the rain has subsided a little, it's a good time to remind everyone that we share our crags with many other creatures, notably our feathered friends who like to nest where we like to climb.
Access News
This April, local climbers have cleared overgrowing vegetation on the main crag at Wildcat, a popular collection of buttresses near Matlock Bath with a good selection of classic long, mid-grade routes.