You can experience the beauty of the Lake District without leaving your house – thanks to a new virtual tour from a landscape charity.
Friends of the Lake District has launched a new virtual tour of its land at High Borrowdale and said it was the first of many to come as it begins work to roll them out for all of its properties across Cumbria including valleys, native woodlands, moorlands, uplands and commons.
High Borrowdale, near Kendal, was once described by Wainwright as the most beautiful valley outside the Lake District, however, the valley is now part of the national park after its extension in 2016.
An online aerial 360-degree tour of this tranquil spot allows you to explore it from your home or your phone, deep diving into key elements, such as the hay meadows, its history, planting, volunteering and flood resilience research and activities on the site via short videos and image collections.
Jan Darrall, land manager at Friends of the Lake District, said: “Many may not get the opportunity to visit in person so we wanted to give people a flavour of the place, a glimpse of this spectacular landscape and our efforts in managing in on their behalf.
“We set out a long-term vision when we purchased High Borrowdale in 2002. To maintain, enhance and diversify the special qualities of the landscape, increase opportunities for the public to enjoy this property, and demonstrate that Friends of the Lake District are making a direct contribution to the Cumbrian landscape.”
An extensive programme of work has been undertaken by the charity and its volunteers since acquiring High Borrowdale. It has recreated two upland hay meadows, restored barns, stabilised a derelict farmhouse, rebuilt 5km of drystone wall and planted 20,000 native trees – ash, oak, rowan, holly, hawthorn, alder and willow – to enhance the habitats and landscape and help stabilise erosion.
Jan added: “We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved in the intervening years and are delighted that we now have new ways of sharing this as well as encouraging people to pay High Borrowdale a visit in person! We have dedicated the land as open access in perpetuity, so anyone can enjoy it at any time long into the future.”
The charity is also installing Near Field Communication (NFC) chips around its properties, enabling visitors to access its virtual tour content digitally via their phones on visits to land in its ownership across Cumbria.
Take the virtual tour via Friends of the Lake District’s website at: www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/high-borrowdale-virtual-tour
