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The Lake District National Park

Vegetation removal, dangerous tree felling and rock scaling on vertical rock faces, slopes and crests within a 10 hectare gorge environment. Stanley Ghyll, Eskdale

Publication Platform
The Lake District National Park

Publication Date
09 October 2020

Deadline
12:00pm, 26 October 2020

Tender ID
DN503746

Description
Stanley Ghyll is, "one of the finest waterfall ravines in the Lake District". (https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1000018.pdf). The humid, sheltered conditions within the 10 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) protect a rich community of mosses, lichen, liverwort and notable rare ferns. Birker Beck, the waterfall and adjacent woodlands form the most important habitat for these plants in southwest Lakeland. The awe-inspiring landscape and unusual biodiversity motivated exploration en masse and Stanley Ghyll became a popular destination for tourism and artistic endeavour in the late Georgian and early Victorian eras. Indeed, about this time, the property served as a nursery for the gardens of Muncaster Castle and the Victorian fascination with rhododendron saw the planting of many different species throughout the site. The common, invasive ponticum variety thrived in the steep sided gorge of Stanley Ghyll and in less than one hundred years, the property was a sprawling mass of densely packed, unchecked rhododendron growth; poisoning the soils, shutting out the light and the views and preventing the natural progression of the native species. Please apply through The Chest https://www.the-chest.org.uk/