Walkers can add a fascinating new dimension to their experience of two of the Peak District’s most dramatic and iconic locations – Bleaklow and Black Hill – with two brand new Audio Trails. The Trails can be downloaded onto iPods, MP3 Players or mobile phones and listened to as walkers follow the spectacular routes using a map.
Funded by MoorLIFE, an EU LIFE+ project, the Trails offer a lively soundtrack featuring birdsong, natural and social history and folklore. They also provide an insight into conservation works currently underway.
Large swathes of Peak District and South Pennine upland have suffered damage as a result of wildfires and 150 years of industrial pollution and the Trail routes skirt a number of locations where major landscape scale restoration works are underway to help save our moors. Much of the land covered by the new Trails is important for gathering drinking water and is owned by MoorLIFE partner United Utilities.
The 9-mile Black Hill route takes walkers past Laddow Rocks and the soundtrack incorporates information about flora and fauna and examples of birdsong to listen out for. The Bleaklow Trail takes in Torside Castle and Bleaklow Head, with lively historical background about the construction of the Woodhead railway line and tunnel and their effect on the landscape.
Moors for the Future was the first in the UK to create Audio Trails for the countryside and they’ve proved hugely successful. Our two new Trails are a fantastic way of getting close to one of the UK’s most dramatic landscapes – and of learning how essential the uplands are.
Walkers should be aware that the upland terrain can be challenging, so suitable clothing – and good navigational skills – are essential.
The two new Trails add to Moors for the Future’s growing family of countryside guides. All 15 Audio Trails will soon be available on iTunes and are available for download www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/audio-trails
But you don’t even have to be out and about to enjoy them. If you’re sitting in a comfortable armchair, listening to the Trails can bring a taste of the wild moors directly into your sitting room…