#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 11 - Because of our mountaineers

The UK has a rich and amazing mountaineering history - Peter Boardman, Joe Tasker, Chris Bonington, Doug Scott, Alan Hinkes, Kenton Cool, Leo Houlding, Gwen Moffat, Mabel Barker, Alison Hargreaves, Haskett Smith, Siegfried Herford - the list goes on and on and on.  Early climbers making the first ascents of challenging routes and paving the way for other adventurers - amazingly we don't yet have a museum dedicated to our world beating mountaineering achievements but folks like the Mountain Heritage Trust are working on that.

Photo: Chris Bonington on ‘Prana’, Black Crag, Borrowdale, the Lake District
Chris Bonington Picture Library,  www.bonington.com

What the fells of the Lake District lack in height they more than make up for in technical challenge with routes that still draw climbers from all around the globe.  The popularity of the Lake District with climbers is evident in the fact that we host 2 huge mountain festivals each year - one in Keswick and one in Kendal.  With support from major sponsors like Blacks the towns are filled with eminent speakers, breathtaking films and more RAB jackets than you can shake a stick (or ice axe) at.

Kendal Mountain Festival



It was at the Kendal Mountain Festival this year that the Lake District National Park Authority launched it's logo for the bid (lovingly created by the fab folks at Herdy) and announced the details of the bid for World Heritage Site Status - a bid which is fully supported by mountaineering legend (and thoroughly nice bloke) Sir Chris Bonington.

Chris Bonington at LDNPA presentation Kendal Mountain Festival

To learn more about the bid and to register your support with just one click (honestly, just one click, no email address needed or anything) please visit the World Heritage Bid site here.

To go back to day 1 of the advent calendar please click here.

24 Reasons to back the #LakeDistrictBid Day 1 - Because we're worth it!

In 2016 the Lake District will bid for UNESCO World Heritage Site status - the bid is being managed by the Lake District National Park Authority and to qualify we need to satisfy at least 1 out of 10 criteria laid down by UNESCO.  The full list of 10 is here, but we're not aiming to satisfy the bare minimum of just 1 criterion, oh no, we're going for 3:

2: to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
5: to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
6: to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

LDNPA's Richard Leafe, Sir Chris Bonington
& Herdy co-founder Spencer Hannah

There are loads of people working together to make this happen.  Mountaineering legend Sir Chris Bonington is giving the bid his full support, and those fabulous folks over at Herdy have designed a logo which will be smiling at us throughout the campaign.

In the run up to Christmas we (me & Steve) will be posting an advent calendar of blogs, each day highlighting another reason why we believe the Lake District should be recognised as a World Heritage Site alongside the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon.

You can learn more about the bid and show your support by clicking here.

So, what's today's reason?  Simply because we're worth it - and if you don't believe me, check out the video below.