Princess Royal Joins Pupils on the Bowland Moors as Let’s Learn Moor Turns Ten
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal joined 167 pupils from five Lancashire primary schools on Friday 2 October to celebrate ten years of Let’s Learn Moor, with the Forest of Bowland Moorland Group hosting the day.
Images © BASC
The anniversary event took place at Grosvenor’s Abbeystead Estate, a long-standing supporter of the annual countryside education day. Her Royal Highness, who is Patron of BASC, spoke with the children about what they had learned and met the gamekeepers, land managers and partner organisations who make the programme possible.
Pupils came from Devonshire Primary Academy, Blackpool; St Mary’s Primary School, Claughton; Cawthorne’s Endowed Primary School, Abbeystead; Dolphinholme Primary School; and St Francis’ Catholic Primary School, Goosnargh. Throughout the day they moved between hands-on sessions:
Forest of Bowland Moorland Group gamekeepers: gundog demonstration
Field & Fell Environmental: moorland restoration
Grosvenor’s Abbeystead Estate: nature recovery, climate resilience and rural communities
Wyre Rivers Trust: aquatic surveys
Lancashire Constabulary: rural crime awareness
L&A Dent Game Dealers: game meat tasters
For many of the children, the day was their first chance to explore an upland landscape. They also met the people who work there and saw for themselves how managed moorland supports wildlife, water and rural livelihoods.
Images © BASC
In ten years, Let’s Learn Moor has reached more than 16,000 young people. Curtis Mossop, BASC’s head of training and education and Let’s Learn Moor coordinator, described it as “the UK’s largest upland education programme”. He said marking the milestone with The Princess Royal recognised how much the work matters and how important it is to connect young people with the countryside. He thanked Grosvenor’s Abbeystead Estate, the Forest of Bowland Moorland Group and Countryside Learning for making the day possible.
Let’s Learn Moor is a collaborative educational project which is overseen by BASC and funded by BASC’s Legacy Fund. Events are run by the Regional Moorland Groups and private estates across northern England, with support from more than 50 partners. Many of the children who take part live in towns and cities, and the days let them learn first-hand about conservation, biodiversity and rural jobs.
Images: copyright BASC