Mick Blamires

Mick manages the site at YHA Eskdale and has gone above and beyond his role to make the site more suitable for nature. Working with volunteers, he’s created a nature trail with five distinct habitats that are home to a range of species. Here's more from Mick: 

'In 2001, I was fortunate to be presented with the opportunity to manage YHA Eskdale. This is one of the loveliest of the Youth Hostel Associations sites, situated in peaceful Eskdale valley between woods and rugged hills, with beautiful Blea Beck tumbling through the grounds. With 15 acres of land surrounding the hostel, I immediately recognised the site's potential for transforming from a bracken monoculture into a wildlife oasis.

This was great for wildlife but also great for business, as we were able to develop the grounds into a resource for environmental education.

Over the past 20 years, with the help of some incredible volunteers, we've created two ponds, planted 500 trees and put in 400m of hedges, creating woodland and a patchwork of habitats. Bracken clearing lead to the regeneration of native wildflowers and native trees, resulting in increased biodiversity, and now over 60 species of bird have been spotted in the YHA grounds.

A particular highlight was installing the bird hide as a facility for visiting schoolchildren as over 1000 overnights a year at YHA Eskdale are visiting schools. Local schools also visit to walk the hostel nature trail where red squirrels, deer and adders can regularly be seen.

An additional focus has been on greening the running of the hostel, which has included installing solar panels, sheep fleece loft insulation and biomass heating.

There is still plenty to do and, with the support of YHA and our amazing volunteers, we’ll continue to develop the grounds as a resource for wildlife and education.

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