Explore with Amie

Have you seen the news recently? There is going to be a new National Park in England soon so I thought it would be a fun idea to discuss where I think it should be and some possible contenders. This is a plan by the government to try and improve the natural environment within England. We have ten National Parks already and I am going with the assumption that the new National Park is going to be an area that is already an AONB (area of outstanding natural beauty). I don’t think we could establish a completely new area because most of the rest of England is taken up by urban land anyway. There isn’t enough room! With that being said, there are 34 AONB within the UK so there are quite a few contenders.

According to Sir Arthur Hobhouse, who was on the committee that set up the National Park legislation in 1945, a national park should:

“… have great natural beauty, a high value for open-air recreation and substantial continuous extent. Further, the distribution of selected areas should as far as practicable be such that at least one of them is quickly accessible from each of the main centres of population in England and Wales. Lastly there is merit in variety and with the wide diversity of landscape which is available in England and Wales, it would be wrong to confine the selection of National Parks to the more rugged areas of mountain and moorland, and to exclude other districts which, though of less outstanding grandeur and wildness, have their own distinctive beauty and a high recreational value.”

https://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/learning-about/about-the-national-park/our-history

Here are the ones that I think should be/are going to be considered.

Cotswolds

I think the Cotswolds might be the most obvious choice. I imagine the National Park will be somewhere in the South of England to be honest, just because that is how things usually go. However, the Cotswolds is beautiful and covers a huge area of 800 square miles, spanning across Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. Would the national park cover that whole area? I’m not sure. But, the Cotswolds already generates a lot of tourism which I imagine will be a requirement for the new National Park too. Some of its most popular spots already include the Farm Park, Blenheim Palace, Chedworth Roman Villa, Westonbrit National Arboretum and, of course, the Cotswold Hills. This wouldn’t be my first choice but I wouldn’t be mad if this was the final decision.

Mendip Hills

I think a great choice would be the Mendip Hills. This is an area of the country that is high on my hiking bucket list as it is home to Cheddar Gorge, The Mendip Way, Black Down and many more areas to explore. Like the Cotswolds, it already has a lot of tourism from Wells and Glastonbury and would attract people visiting nearby cities of Bristol and Bath. The thing that may prevent this one from getting the National Park status is how small it is. It spans 200 square kilometres which is 77 square miles and significantly smaller than the Cotswolds, for example.

Bodmin Moor

Another smaller option is Bodmin Moor which is in my favourite part of the country, the South West. This one is just over the Cornish border in North-Eastern Cornwall. Like the Mendips, it is only around 80 square miles so its size does let it down a little bit in this race. Cornwall is just a beautiful part of the country and, if I could designate National Park status to the whole of the coastline then I would. However, it deserves one National Park and Bodmin fits the bill. It has literary and cultural significance as the inspiration for Daphne du Maurier’s novels and is home to Jamaica Inn. It also forms part of Cornwall’s Mining History. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to visit Bodmin Moor whilst studying at the University of Exeter but it is still very much on my list as a place to go camping.

North Pennines

Nestled near the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District is the North Pennines. I don’t think Nidderdale will be part of the discussion as it is practically part of the Dales already but, the North Pennines could be in with a chance. It is located slightly north of the Dales and runs almost from Carlisle to Darlington. However, it already has the accolade of being Britain’s first UNESCO European and Global Geopark which may diminish its chances or heighten them. It has less tourism, in my opinion, than others mentioned on this list already so it would be nice to get more people into the area. If the website is anything to go by, it seems to have had less investment too so, it would definitely help in that department.

Chiltern Hills

As I said, I would be surprised if the government opted for another National Park in the North, partially because of the already concentrated number up here. However, I also think that putting one near London will be the direction they go in. The Chiltern Hills then, or perhaps the North Wessex Downs, would be obvious choices. The South Downs is also the newest national park, awarded the privilege in 2010. Size is also on the side of the Chiltern Hills as they span 660 square miles or 1,700 square kms so, it is more the size of the Cotswolds. They span Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a relatively flat area of the country with the highest elevation around 250m so could be a very accessible National Park for many people.

Forest of Bowland

Alex thinks that this one could be an option too but, I am less convinced. Forest of Bowland is another AONB located near the Lake District. It does however, fit the bill of having recreational value as you can cycle and walk as well as go bird-watching and explore the cultural history of the area. There is lots of medieval history to explore for example, the Cisterian monastery located at Sawley as well as lime kilns, halls, disused mines and quarries. To be honest, it is also bigger than I expected at 310 square miles or 803 square kms. That means that it is bigger than the Mendip Hills and Bodmin Moor. However, I think that for this one and the North Pennines, their location being so close to already well established National Parks may put them at a disadvantage.

What do you think? Where should the next national park in England be?

Amie x