A day in the life of a Field Ranger

For World Ranger Day we are celebrating our Lake District National Park Rangers. We have a total of 29 Rangers who are made up of Area Rangers, Rangers, Field Rangers, Lake Rangers and Project Rangers. They have a responsibility of looking after a wide range of areas within our National Park

We went behind the scenes and joined two of our Field Rangers, Finn and Den, out in the Park to see what work is involved.

Our location for the day was Orrest Head and Elleray Woods, Windermere. One of our popular Miles without Stiles routes, providing access for all including wheelchairs and pushchairs. It’s a short walk from the train and bus station but presents stunning panoramic views of Windermere and the Lakeland fells – In Alfred Wainwright’s words “Those few hours cast a spell that changed my life.”

For a Field Ranger in the Central area of the National Park, the day starts at their depot in Ambleside where they collect all the material and equipment required for the day’s work.

Fixing paths

Work had been identified for the paths at Orrest Head which included re-surfacing in some areas - this was job number one of the day. Finn and Den were early risers to get most of the new gravel down before visitors started to make their way up after breakfast. This involved using a dumper to carry gravel up to the top of Orrest Head and rake it over the existing path. As Orrest Head is a Miles without Stiles route, Rangers need to look out for any bumps or old path lifting up.

Planting trees

Den pointed out trees that have recently been planted to try and prevent visitors from cutting corners, damaging the vegetation and causing routes where rain water can follow and cause erosion scars. These trees had been transplanted from our own tree nursery and grown from seeds collected from local trees in the Lake District. It will be great to see how much they have grown in a few years’ time.

Adding drainage to dry-stone walls

With the famous wet weather we have in the Lake District, paths can often get flooded. To help this, Finn and Den identified an area in a dry-stone wall that needed re-building and by adding drainage through the wall this helps to keep the wall standing for many years to come. Their dry-stone walling skills were amazing, and we had visitors passing by admiring their work. Having took down the wall, they added a stone lined drainage gap, and they re-built the section in what felt like seconds.

Let’s call it a day

Towards the end of the day, at Orrest Head, there was some tidying up to do, in order to leave no trace. Finn and Den then returned to their base at Ambleside with their equipment whilst we made our way back to the office.

It was a great day out and we learned a lot!