Ranger Service

Profiles of volunteer and part-time rangers

Ian Taylor

I have been a part-time ranger for eight years now and work in the beautiful Goyt Valley. I started my training after taking early retirement from BT.

My duties as a ranger are very varied and include organising and leading events for the public such as guided walks, map reading courses and family activity days. I co-ordinate mid-week working parties that carry out practical tasks, such as building bridges, steps and footpath repairs, and I also get involved with some of the administrative tasks that are necessary for the smooth running of the service.

Why do I do it? I enjoy the countryside and being given the opportunity to help others enjoy it too.

Alan Reeves

I started helping out the full-time rangers at Parsley Hay in 1992. I moved house to Bakewell from Loughborough and then spent about a year on the ranger training programme before qualifying in 1994. I initially took up a post working at Parsley Hay before moving to Millers Dale in 1997.

In addition to my usual patrolling and guided walks, I started a mid-week working group. We have completed projects including installation of wooden wicket gates, rebuilding stone walls and steps, repairing and resurfacing footpaths, scrub clearance, fence installation and repair, and other tasks related to keeping rights of way in good condition.

Rangers, trainees and volunteers are all are welcome to join the working group.

Carolynn Cocksey

I am married with three young children and live in Stockport. I have been a ranger for 18 months and prior to that I trained for a year to become one. I work as a patrol ranger, which means I work alternate Sundays at Marsh Farm Ranger Centre near Tittesworth reservoir.

The job is varied: checking paths and stiles are accessible, clearing paths that are overgrown, ensuring the area's wildlife is protected and leading guided walks several times a year.

I occasionally help to lead the Peak Park Leisure Walks, which are run for people who have various health related problems. I also help out with the Goyt Valley fun day, which is held annually for families and children.

I work as a part-time social worker in a busy city hospital. It can be very stressful at times, but I use a variety of skills within my job to negotiate and promote good relationships with the various groups of people I come into contact with. I find that I am able to use these skills to promote good relationships with the public within my role in the National Park.

I enjoy being out in the open, walking and learning about the wildlife and nature in the area. I find it mentally and physically challenging to be part of the ranger service and enjoy being part of a team that brings such benefits to the general public.

Margaret Anderson

I started as a warden (the name changed to ranger later) in 1969 having seen an advert for a training course for the 'Peak Park Warden Service' in my local paper. Becoming a warden enabled me to develop a way of life walking the hills as relaxation from the pressures of weekday work.

The first briefing centre I joined was Langsett. I then moved to Crowden, Edale, Glossop, Hartington and Fairholmes (when it first opened).

I enjoy meeting all types of people in the National Park, from the hill walkers to the public visiting for the first time who are not quite sure what to expect from the countryside, enabling me to impart my knowledge of the area to them.

I feel that the main thing you need to do the job is an appreciation of the National Park in all its many guises.

Julie Cook

I started as a ranger at Dovestone, in the far north west of the National Park. I was fortunate to get a regular patrol on the Sunday B team when I qualified in March 1995. I have fond memories of 'Dovey', it's a terrific location and the area ranger, the part-timers and I became such good friends.

In 1997 I moved to Langsett, on the Sunday A shift. I was sorry to leave Dovestone, but it made sense to make the move, as Langsett is very close to home and is an equally lovely place. On a couple of snowy winter's mornings I was able to walk to the briefing centre when the roads were impassable!

At Langsett we're a real mixture of old-timers and newcomers. Why not come and meet us? Langsett is an interesting place!

One of the things I enjoyed most whilst I was training were the conservation activities.I did much more than the basic requirement for training and would regularly work on weekend conservation projects. Work consisted of anything from rebuilding stretches of drystone wall, creating or maintaining footpaths to tree brashing.

It's good fun and I learned so much about the National Park, its wonderful landscape, the role of a ranger and the numerous partnerships that are critical to effective management.

More information about becoming a conservation volunteer

Chris Fontaine

Have you ever been out on the hills walking on compacted snow and ice? Rain, snow and hailstones all start falling at various intervals, your gloves are getting increasingly soggy and all you want is a comfy armchair and an enormous mug of hot chocolate.

But then a call comes over the radio: an elderly man of 83 is missing, he walks with a limp and is in the early stages of senile dementia and was seen earlier that day in our patch.

How the picture changes! All your training kicks in as our team continue the patrol but checking constantly, hoping to find him safe and well. The radio crackles with the emergency services co-ordinating their search, until eventually we have to leave it to the mountain rescue team.

Fortunately, this time the man was later found safe and well in his own home! That wasn't a typical patrol by any means; but how I valued those months of training, the teamwork and the camaraderie that day. The Peak District National Park Authorit sets a very high standard for their rangers, which means we can go out in any conditions, over any terrain and do the job with confidence.

I've enjoyed the outdoors all my life and, as most rangers will tell you, this is a good way to give something back. I knew very early on in the training that I wanted a part-time position at Derbyshire Bridge, and that's exactly what I'm doing now. I like the contrast of the wild moorland areas with the family picnic sites in the valley, the history of the area and the wildlife.

We have regular nights out, in-house training specific to our patch, a conservation team, a Family Fun Day and choccy biscuits on every shift!

So, if you're in the Goyt Valley one Sunday and spot a middle-aged housewife carrying a radio and wearing a red fleece come and say hello.

Jack Elmore

I started as a part-time warden in April 1971, my first patrols being the Eastern edges. In 1974 I was offered a change of area and went to the Old Station at Hartington, with Sunday B team, patrolling the Tissington and High Peak trails. I was also based at Langsett on Sunday A team.

My full-time occupation up to my retirement was as a department manager for an engineering company making shock absorbers for the motor industry and I worked there for over 40 years. Now I have retired I am able to spend more time at Langsett and other areas in the National Park.

I also work midweek with the area ranger at Langsett doing estate work such as repairing footpaths and walls. I take guided walks and leisure walks, help with school groups, moorland fire fighting exercises and maintaining equipment, and anything else that's required.

When not on duty I walk in other areas of the National Park, but I like prefer Langsett because it's got everything: lovely valleys, high moorlands, reservoirs and some quite busy areas.

The people I work with are some of the best. They are easy to get on with and we all have the same thing in common: looking after the best national park in the country!

Julie Dyer

I have been a part-time ranger working from Stanage for the last two and a half years following completion of my training. I thoroughly enjoy working my Saturday shift and getting outside, as the rest of the week finds me working in Nottingham as a PA for a venture capital company.

The visitors to Stanage enjoy a wide range of activities. Aside from walking, we have areas where you can paraglide, fly kites, ride mountain bikes and enjoy the main 'claim to fame' of Stanage: rockclimbing. We are world famous for our range of rock faces, which offer the challenge of every type of climb that can be experienced.

Working as a ranger I am able to gain enjoyment from the knowledge of what is around me and I continually learn more from speaking with visitors to the area. Many people have hobbies related to the history or wildlife of the area and it is easy to spend an enjoyable half hour speaking to someone and learning something new.

Guided walks are another way of introducing visitors to the Stanage area, these also provide an ideal opportunity for ourselves and our visitors to learn from each other.

Even on the very windy, wet, foggy days, Stanage always has something special to offer and nature at its most temperamental can be fascinating too!