2BR tells the story of how the county council cuts could
affect Wycoller.
The friends of Wycoller group are taking a stand to try to protect the ranger service, who look after the area. If cost saving mesures are taken away, the people who look after the area could be forced to stop within two years.
Ranger Roger Cunliffe is the chairman of 'Friends of Wycoller' group he told 2BR why he loves Wycoller: "It's a mixture of history and natural history and it attracts a wide range of people. We see visitors from all ethnic groups as well as people coming from overseas too, some of them looking for thier routes."
"I'm worried about the cuts for the site; there was a quote I heard 'If it's not looked after, Wycoller will become a scruffy picnic site' and we don't want that. If the cuts go ahead the ranger service could finish in a couple of year's time. That would put more onus on groups like the 'Friends of Wycoller'. Unfortunately, most of us are quite elderly and getting older. Ideally we'd like to encourage more young people to get involved and for them to take a love of Wycoller as well."
Roger says there is still hope for the site, if younger people get involved: "One of the good things is that local schools tend to come to Wycoller on trips for the students to do activities. They find out and then bring their parents along to visit, so there is an interest there but they're not getting involved as much as we'd like them to."
"We have connections with the Brontë's here, we're just on the Brontë way. Although we don't get too many coaches coming in from Japan, because of access, but we're part of the Brontë flavour and Brontë country. "
Roger has been enjoying the park for many years but has been in his post for 6 years: "This kind of thing would never happen in Howarth [sic] but Lancashire County Council are suffering. They have to make cuts somewhere but we feel it would be detrimental to society. The government want people to get involved in the countryside and get more exercise. They can come here; we have miles and miles of footpaths around the Pendle area, a lot of them starting or ending at Wycoller."
"There will be a final decision on the cuts in March. The proposals are there, it's been accepted but it hasn't been finalised. There's a couple of years left of the ranger service but, from that period they would then have to wind down. Maybe, with a little thought, we could get other groups involved to support us in the meantime. We had a meeting here and the manager was told he had 12 nonths to find a solution so there's still hope. But until something definite is found, we've just got to keep trying ourselves."
Still outdoors,
The Telegraph and Argus suggests a few walks for the 'festive season'.
Exploring the 'Old Paths and Ways around Brontë Country' will be particularly appealing for Brontë enthusiasts. This circular walk of Haworth's historic village, involves treading along moorland paths and following in the footsteps of the famous Brontë siblings. (Sally Clifford)
And home for some warmth as Stuart Kelly looks back on 2015 from a bookish perspective in
The Scotsman.
Deborah Lutz’s The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives In Nine Objects took the “keyhole” approach to biography to a profitable extreme.
The Irish Times Christmas Quiz has a Brontë question:
19 True or false: Charlotte Brontë was the first person to use the term “Wild West”.
The right answer beings with a T.
Bleacher Report has a sophisticated way of starting a football article:
It was a dismal afternoon at Old Trafford, as swirling rain was illuminated by the floodlights, providing Louis van Gaal and Manchester United's discomfort with pathetic fallacy worthy of Emily Brontë. (Paul Ansorge)
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