Kalham Cove

LANTERNS will light the route for walkers joining an evening procession round Malham Cove at the weekend in the first event of the summer-long Yorkshire Dales Hay Time Festival.

More than 70 separate activities are being staged by organisations from all over the Dales that have teamed up with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) to celebrate hay meadows.

The fun will start on Friday when a group of 16 children and parents from Eastwood Primary School in Keighley will be spending the day in Malham exploring the plants and animals that live in hay meadows and pasture lands.

They will spend half the day collecting ideas and images which they will then use to make willow and tissue hay time lanterns in the Malham National Park Centre with storyteller Creeping Toad, alias environmental artist Gordon MacLellan.

On Saturday there will be a free drop-in session between 2pm and 5pm when anyone can go along and make their own lanterns while listening to Creeping Toad. Materials for the lanterns will be supplied. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

The procession will start from National Park Centre at 8.30pm and will include a story telling session by lantern light.

Catherine Kemp, the YDNPA’s Outreach Officer, said: “We are hoping lots of people will come along and join in the fun. It’s a great chance to try something different and to learn about some of the wildlife in this beautiful cove.

“We are very pleased to tie in with the annual Malham Safari at the start of its week of events. It should be a brilliant day – and night.”

More information about the lantern event can be obtained by phoning 01969 652380 or emailing malham@yorkshiredales.org.uk.

The ecological importance of the colourful meadows has already been recognised with the launch by the YDNPA and the YDMT in 2006 of the Hay Time Project. It aims to transform 140 hectares of upland and lowland hay meadow to its former glory by encouraging farmers to revert to more traditional management. It also hopes to restore meadows that have lost some of their botanical diversity by spreading seed on them that has been collected from nearby good meadows. More information about the YDMT project is available at www.ydmt.org/page.php?page=haytime.

The festival also aims to promote sustainability within the National Park generally and will look at the influences of the hay meadows on:

• Culture – the old farming methods and traditions like bringing the drinkings
• Wildlife – the huge variety of birds, animals and plant life
• Architecture – the building and use of the stone barns that are such a familiar sight in the Yorkshire Dales.

The festival runs throughout the Yorkshire Dales, including the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are events suitable for all ages and interests, from farm walks to hay time picnics, flower identification days to a lantern procession at dusk.

The celebration will also include events run by the National Trust and Field Studies Council at Malham as well as several other smaller independent organisations.

A full list of events is available on the YDNPA website at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk.

The Malham Safari runs from Saturday to 1 June and takes on an Olympic theme this year.

Malham Safari Animals will be competing in the Olympics and every day throughout the week will see some Olympic Style events. Full details can be found at www.malhamdale.com.