Our work in Windermere - land management that works for people and nature

Published:: 16 March 2023

View from Queen Adelaide's Hill looking out over lake Windermere — Queen Adelaide's Hill is a great spot to see the views out over lake Windermere | © National Trust Images / Chris Lacey

Windermere is a busy tourist destination with the largest local community in the Lake District National Park. In Windermere the National Trust owns a number of small farms, numerous pockets of countryside, several patches of lakeshore and the Footprint building. This patchwork of land presents us with an opportunity to protect, restore and create spaces for nature that benefit wildlife and people on a landscape scale.

Together with the help of our neighbours, the local community and our partners we can create opportunities for sustainable farming and farm diversification, find more space for nature, build climate resilience and offer great experiences in the outdoors.

About Windermere

Windermere welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year coming to enjoy its amazing walks, heritage and to access England’s largest lake. The Trust is a major landowner in Windermere with jigsaw pieces of land set within the wider landscape. Windermere is a varied mix of bustling urban spaces, low-level fells & lakeshore parks, farmland and isolated pockets of rich wildlife habitat.

Windermere is a hotspot for some rare and endangered species including, white clawed crayfish, touch me not balsam, netted carpet moths, duke of burgundy butterflies and rare breed albion cattle.
Windermere is England’s largest lake, concerns have been raised about the health of the lake, in particular algal blooms and bacterial pollution.

Our aims

Increase the climate resilience measures that are in place throughout the catchment, including creating new wood pasture, restoring meadows and grasslands and creating ponds.

Work with our neighbours, tenant farms, partners and the local community to create wildlife habitats that are bigger, better and more joined up.

Make it easier for people to get out and enjoy the outdoors and inspire the local community to love and care for the natural world around them.

What we've achieved so far

Newly planted trees at Common Farm in Windermere — Since 2023 we have planted 15,000 trees in Windermere | © National Trust Images / Darryn James

Planting trees

In the last couple of years we have planted 15,000 trees in Windermere, primarily a mixture of native trees including oak, birch, hawthorn, cherry, rowan, holly, blackthorn and hazel. As they grow these trees will provide space for wildlife to thrive and help intercept rainfall run-off into watercourses, playing a part in improving water quality overall. These trees will have a small but valuable conservation role to play as part of the Trust’s pledge to plant 20 million trees by 2030, helping combat climate change and improving habitat networks.

Cowslips on Fulking escarpment, Devils Dyke, Sussex — We hope to encourage rare duke of burgundy butterflies by planting cowslips at Moor How | © National Trust Images / Christine Dawson

Planting native plug plants

Over the last few years we have planted over 10,000 native plug plants in Windermere. Including cowslips and primroses at Moor How, Common Farm and High Lickbarrow, to encourage the population of rare Duke of Burgundy butterflies. Marsh Violets at Moor How to encourage Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies and native wildflower plants to restore the meadows at Fell Foot and St Catherine’s.

Cattle at High Lickbarrow farm in Windermere — These rare breed albion cattle are excellent conservation grazers | © National Trust Images

Conservation grazing

High Lickbarrow farm in Windemere is home to the UKs largest herd of very rare Albion cattle. High Lickbarrow farm was gifted to the National Trust in October 2015, by local architect and artist, Michael Bottomley. Along with the buildings and land that was rich in biodiversity, we also gained the Scoutbeck herd of Albion Cattle, an extremely rare breed that has since been recognised in the critical category of UK native rare breeds by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. These cows are great conservation grazers. Where we have stuck to sensitive, cattle only grazing in recent years at High Lickbarrow and Moor How we have seen more wildflowers, more species of birds in higher numbers, natural tree regeneration and spreading heather, juniper and bilberry.

A dyers greenweed plant at High Lickbarrow farm in Windermere — This small yellow plant once helped to make the famous 'Kendal green' cloth | © National Trust Images

Propagating native dyers greenweed

In 2023, 100 native dyers greenweed plants were propagated using seeds collected at High Lickbarrow Farm. The seeds were sent to the National Trust plant propagation centre in Somerset where they were germinated and sent back in 2024 ready for planting. Last winter National Trust rangers and volunteers planted 80 of the plants at High Lickbarrow Farm. Dyers greenweed is an important foodplant for a range of scarce moths and other insects, but it’s importance also lies in its cultural heritage. Dyers greenweed was once used as a key component in making ‘Kendal Green’, a coarse cloth commonly worn by peasants, it made the town rich and famous. When High Lickbarrow Farm was gifted to the Trust in 2015 we found only 1 plant, in the years that followed careful grazing saw the number of plants grow to 50 and these 80 new plants will further bolster the numbers. By giving the dyers greenweed and other native plants a boost in numbers we hope to see more bees, moths, butterflies and other brilliant insects in years to come.

Newly grafted fruit trees at St Catherine's in Windermere — It will be two years before these newly grafted trees are ready to be planted out | © National Trust Images

The beginnings of a new orchard

We have been working with Dick Palmer from South Lakeland Orchard Group to replicate their national collection of rare apple trees from Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland. The creation of an orchard of this kind is complicated by the fact that you can’t just go to a tree nursery and buy them as they are so rare, so we have had to build them. The whole process takes a couple of years. Starting with M25 rootstock we grafted on scion wood of of Bulmers Norman as an intersectional stem builder to produce strong straight growth. After the young trees had grown on to the required height of a full standard, they were planted out in the orchard by rangers, volunteers and members of the community. The next stage in the process is to top graft the scion wood of the final rare trees, that will happen this coming autumn. In total, we aim to plant about 80 rare fruit trees in this orchard.

Apple blossom at Gibside, Tyne & Wear — As well as producing beautiful blossom, fruits trees have a vital conservation role to play | © National Trust Images/Tom Carr

Learning about blossom with local schools

Over the last couple of years we have been working with three local schools in Windermere, who have been learning about all aspects of blossom trees and how they are ‘nature’s fest’ for wildlife. Last year the children helped with planting fruit trees at Common Farm where three new orchards are underway. The trees planted here will have a small but valuable conservation role to play, providing homes and habitats for wildlife, sources of nectar for insects and pollinators and places to nest for birds in winter.

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Plans for 2025

Continuing to plant out rare fruit trees at Common farm in partnership with South Lakeland Orchard Group
Working with the local community to explore how we can make our outdoor spaces more welcoming and easy to access
Restoring 70 hectares of grassland at Common Farm, Fell Foot and Grove farm
Undertaking butterfly and moth surveys at Moor How and High Lickbarrow
Creating ponds and wetland at Common farm as part of a natural flood management scheme
Welcoming more school groups to learn about land management and nature conservation at Common farm
Planning to create new walking routes up onto Orrest Head, Bannerigg summit and through the wider Crosthwaite estate

Why is this work important?

Since the 1930s, over 97 per cent of the UK’s hay meadows have disappeared, taking with them vital habitats and food sources for wildlife. In addition to their beauty, the plants in a typical meadow can support nearly 1,400 species of invertebrates, that’s an army of bugs, beetles, flies, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies and moths. Flower-rich grasslands and meadows can store 500% more carbon than fields of pure grass.

How can you get involved?

Just by visiting our places, parking in our car parks and drinking tea in our cafes you are supporting the work we do. However, if you want to get more involved you can volunteer, help plant trees or donate to one of our appeals.

Windermere has a wonderfully dedicated and passionate team of volunteers and we’re always looking to grow our volunteer numbers. If you’d like to know more about how you can volunteer, email us.

We have a whole series of Help Out Days planned for 2025. Help Out Days are events where you can give some of your time to make a real difference to nature in the Lake District. Working with our rangers and gardeners, you'll be using your skills, developing new ones and meeting people.

Help Out Days in Central Lake District

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