Peak District rangers celebrate 70th anniversary

There are currently 27 employed Peak District rangers, who are assisted across the park by 230 volunteers

The Peak District National Park ranger service has celebrated its 70th anniversary outside the pub where it was founded.

Rangers provide access and information for visitors to the national park, which covers 555 square miles.

There are currently 27 employed Peak District rangers, who are assisted across the park by 230 volunteers.

The warden service of part-time volunteers, as it was originally known, was launched on 16 April 1954.

Rangers now carry out a number of roles, including safety inspections and patrolling busy sites

It was founded at the Old Nags Head pub in Edale, where rangers past and present gathered on the 70th anniversary.

The role of rangers can be traced back to the first national park warden Tom Tomlinson, also appointed in 1954.

He and his wife Hilda ran the youth hostel in Edale for eight years before he took on the pioneering role.

His job included helping lost or injured walkers and assisting farmers to recover their sheep in the snow.

The volunteers' first gathering was at the Old Nags Head pub in Edale

Today, rangers help to carry out safety inspections, patrol the busiest sites across the park and prevent wildfires.

Adrian Earp, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, has spent more than 25 years volunteering as a ranger.

He said: "I've always walked in the Peaks. I've a great interest in the landscape and preserving it is incredibly important to me."

Sheila McHale volunteers as a ranger

Sheila McHale was the service's third female member of staff and now volunteers as a ranger.

When asked why, she said: "Just look around you! It's the landscape, it's the wildlife, it's the atmosphere, it's got everything.

"As well as being with such a lovely group of people - the first ranger service in the first national park!"

Andy Farmer, ranger team manager, added: "Without our volunteers, we could not be a ranger service.

"They're the people you see out on the ground and who engage with the public, so they're absolutely essential."