Ranger Service in Lancashire
Prior to 1969 Lancashire did not have a Ranger Service. In 1969 Lancashire County Council (LCC) entered into an agreement with two landowners (The Abbeystead Estate and the Bleasdale Estate) to allow access to some of the moors in Bowland, which allowed for access to Wards Stone and to Fairsnape Fell. These were the first access agreements in Lancashire.' The landowners had stipulated as part of the Access Agreement that a Ranger Service was to be created in Bowland.
It was headed by a professional head ranger who was assisted by several volunteer rangers, which was based at Carwags – to the east of Beacon Fell.
As the years progressed the Ranger Service was expanded to cover many other parts of the County. By 2010 the number of professional rangers was around 14. If anyone can supply details of a precise figure then I will be glad to receive it.
The financial crisis started in 2008 with the collapse of an American Bank -Lehman Brothers. Local government was to escape the effects of this crisis until 2010, when a prolonged period of austerity started. Then it became a case that if somebody in the Ranger Service resigned or transferred to a different job then it was a case of a post being lapsed. In 2010 the expectation was that the period of austerity would probably last for about three years, but we are still living with this period of austerity.
In 2016 as the period of austerity was getting worse LCC decided that all services that were not a legal requirement were to be ceased. Unfortunately, the various pieces of legislation about the countryside does not mention a ‘ranger service’, so LCC decided to try to abolish its Ranger Service.
LCC hoped that various charitable organisations would offer their services to run a ranger type service. Letters were sent to many organisations but LCC were disappointed with the poor response. One of stipulations was that access on foot was to remain free, but that they could charge for car parking and other activities. I am aware of only one organisation that talked to LCC about this, but they came away empty handed. LCC owns various bits of land in a few places in the County e.g. Beacon Fell, so LCC was effectively forced to keep a bare minimum of a Ranger Service, so at the end of the following year LCC was left with two professional rangers.
If LCC did not own the land then the ranger service ended at that point. It was at that time most of the volunteer rangers ceased to carry out their duties.
In 2000 the Government passed the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW), which allowed for access to moorland and commons. The right of access did not start in Lancashire until Sept 2004.
Places like Winter Hill have had open access for many decades by tradition. So CROW only confirmed what had already existed in this locality. It was at this time that the Ranger Service arranged for new stiles to be provided and also for footbridges and board walks to be made. The ranger that covered Winter Hill was based at Turton Tower. Turton Tower which is owned by Blackburn District Council, but this ranger used LCC headed letter paper. This ranger along with many other rangers saw their jobs disappear around 2016.
Items that are made of wood will eventually go rotten, and at that point they ought to be replaced. Earlier this year a footbridge over a ditch on the NW side of Winter Hill was reported to LCC as being in need of attention. The question was asked who should do this sort of work ? It was a case of many people saying ‘not me’. United Utilities who own the land state that this footbridge is not for their benefit, but for the benefit of the public who walk, thus the local authority should pay the cost of the repair. The correspondence with LCC continues. An update will be in included in a future Area News.
On Winter Hill there are also a few erosion scars that would benefit from some attention. The question again is who will arrange, and then pay for such a job?.