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Morning! If anything brings you some #MondayMotivation this view of walking in the beautiful #Howgills will do 
Were you out and about in the #YorkshireDales this weekend? Let us know and share your photos
Paul Harris
Were you out and about in the #YorkshireDales this weekend? Let us know and share your photos
Paul Harris
Thread 1/8 - We’ve been following closely the discussion and debate surrounding this image of the Howgills.
2/ The northern Howgills are going through some transformation, with government agri-environment scheme funding that has paid for a lot of tree and shrub planting.
3/ Most of the Howgills are commons or privately-owned land, and we’d like to see land owners/managers moving forward with agri-environment schemes - though we can’t insist that happens.
4/ Natural England have influenced some commons to go down the scrub creation route in order to gain agri-environment scheme funding, otherwise there aren’t a lot of other options under the current schemes that apply to these kinds of habitats.
5/ Historically this area hasn’t had the same kind of agri-environment scheme funding as other parts of the Yorkshire Dales National Park as the geology and landform has limited the grassland habitats, as well as sheep grazing.
6/ Some farmers still need this land for grazing as their farmsteads around the edges of the Howgills are too small to be profitable without the large area of common for sheep. This may change as the new ELMS comes in.
7/ If you’re looking for wooded areas, these are on the north west flank of the Howgills - below Tebay - and there are acres of land planted open woodland and scrub along Mallerstang on the eastern flank.
8/ Finally, much of this area has only been part of the National Park since 2016, so we’re mindful this is very much work in progress. We continue to engage actively with all local land owners, key stakeholders and with farmers willing to manage the land in a different way.
