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email this page to a friendVISITORS to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) Centre in Grassington will soon have more room to move following a complete revamp of the building.
And they will be able to learn more about what they can see in the surrounding area.
The centre, in the National Park car park in the village, closed on December 31 to allow work to start on a refurbishment that will see more retail space and new interpretation displays explaining features of the local countryside. It will reopen in time for Easter.
Karen Griffiths, the YDNPA's Interpretation Officer, said: "There will be a new area focussing on farming, with panels explaining how the agricultural landscape in Wharfedale has changed over time. It will show the difference between traditional and modern farming methods too.
"In addition, there will be a prediction of what the area might look like in 2080 if climate change goes unchecked. It's quite a frightening picture of a dry, barren landscape.
"There will also be a hay meadows display that will contain descriptions and photographs of the summer days of hay making that many will remember from their childhood. "
The display will coincide with the Yorkshire Dales Hay Time Festival, a programme of events and activities for visitors and locals that will run from May to September to highlight the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the National Park's hay meadows.
Karen, who is also Hay Time Festival co-ordinator, said: "We have had a fantastic response to the festival idea, with a host of organisations and individuals in and around the National Park saying they will stage events and activities during the five months."
The ecological importance of the meadows has already been recognised with the launch by the YYDNPA and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust in 2006 of the Hay Time Project, which aims to restore 140 hectares of upland and lowland meadow to their former glory by encouraging farmers to revert to more traditional management that allows meadow flowers to thrive, supporting a huge variety of wildlife.
