“How could anyone who understands the fragile and special nature of the Lake
District National Park and World Heritage Site not understand that it needs protection
from the damaging self-interest of a few - a very few? To see it damaged in this way
is a very singular and continuing sorrow.”

Bill Birkett, Mountaineer, writer and photographer

"My heart leaps up ..."

People who have walked these old tracks for many years describe

what makes them so special and what we're in danger of losing.

Read their stories here.

U5001 High Tilberthwaite to Little Langdale

GREEN LANES - WHY WE NEED ACTION

“Green Lanes, old paths worn into life by countless feet, are one of the key connections we have into the wilder places and are also a vital home for wildlife. Motorised traffic threatens them, not just the sanctuary for us and wildlife, but their physical integrity too.”

Hugh Warwick, writer and environmentalist

The hill and forest tracks, many of ancient, sometimes Roman origin, are an essential part of this landscape.

At present off-road 4x4s and motor bikes can legally use many green lanes, even if they cross ecologically highly sensitive habitats. They damage the tracks, upset the ecological balance and prevent residents and visitors from enjoying the beauty and tranquillity of the Lakes.

Ancient byways are being destroyed by off-roading throughout the Lake District, including inside the Lake District National Park.

The Lake District National Park and the highway authority have the power to stop the destruction. They need support, encouragement and, where necessary, pressure from the public to help them do so. The Lake District Green Lanes Alliance is working to protect these precious historic features of our landscape.

CALLING TIME ON OFF-ROADING

A new report published by GLEAM (the Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement) spells out the public nuisance and environmental damage from recreational 4x4s and motorbikes driving on countryside tracks.

The ancient tracks that thread their way through the countryside are a precious, historic feature of the landscape. 'Calling Time on Off-roading' explains how driving on them with 4x4s and motorbikes for the sheer fun of it

is a nuisance to residents and to people on foot, horse or bicycle, including people who are disabled
disrupts farming activities
puts heavy burdens on highway authorities and the public purse
brings noise, pollution and the depletion of nature into otherwise tranquil, unspoilt areas