Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) South Yorkshire
protecting the countryside - for the nation, for the future

JULIA BRADBURY PRESENTS COUNTRYSIDE AWARDS

AN IMPRESSIVE ECO-FRIENDLY WOODEN CLASSROOM, A BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED CHESTNUT BRIDGE AND THE LOVING RESTORATION OF A HUMBLE BARN WERE CONGRATULATED BY TV PRESENTER JULIA BRADBURY AT LAST NIGHT’S (18 NOVEMBER) COUNTRYSIDE AWARDS.

Julia Bradbury (pictured left with Branch Chair George Wolfe outside the Moorland Discovery Centre) handed handsome oak plaques to award winners, and spoke passionately about her love for the countryside of the Peak District and South Yorkshire. Julia is President of Friends of the Peak District and Campaign to Protect Rural England South Yorkshire, who hosted the event. She is well-known to TV audiences as the host of BBC One’s Watchdog, and the Rough Guide to… travel series.

“The Peak District and South Yorkshire countryside are very close to my heart. I tickled my first trout in a Derbyshire stream, and nothing beats the pure joy of walking and taking in an excellent view,” Julia Bradbury says. “Whether you live in a city like Sheffield or London, it is our duty to preserve and appreciate the countryside. We need more people to get involved and support the work of Friends of the Peak District and CPRE South Yorkshire. Let’s keep it going!”

The Countryside Awards recognise good building design and projects to promote access and enjoyment of the Peak District and South Yorkshire. This year, CPRE and Friends of the Peak District joined in partnership with the Peak District National Park Authority to launch a new Special Award for Craftsmanship.

Three full awards were presented at the ceremony:

• Moorland Discovery Centre, Longshaw. Moors for the Future Partnership and the National Trust won a Design Award for the sturdy wooden classroom that is heated by a ground source heat pump, has timber-enclosed sheep’s wool insulation and is built with untreated natural materials. The judges noted that it “sits squatly in a gently rising location, but is spacious and airy inside.” They called it a “worthy low carbon footprint gateway to the moorland experience for visiting schoolchildren.”
• Golden Clough Footbridge, Grindsbrook. Robin Wood and the Peak District National Park Authority won a Design Award for a new bridge to replace one worn out by walkers on their way to Kinder Scout or on the Pennine Trail. The massive curved beam of the bridge was cut from a carefully selected sweet chestnut growing nearby. The judges said “it seems to leap organically and gracefully from one bank of the stream to another.”
• Wellhead Barn, Ashes Farm, Derwent. The National Trust won the Peak District National Park Authority’s Special Award for Craftsmanship. This working barn was repaired by highly skilled stonemasons and workers using traditional techniques and local materials. It is used to store hay from meadows that have some of the richest diversity of grasses and flowers in the Peak District. The judges were impressed by the “exemplary standards of craftsmanship lovingly lavished on this humble building.”

The judges also commended Friends of Grenoside Village Green in South Yorkshire for the enormous community effort that went into the project’s design and Peak District Mines Historical Society for the High Rakes Mine project.

Pictures available on our Countryside Award Winners page.

Picture top left: Julia Bradbury and George Wolfe outside the Moorland Discovery Centre, Longshaw