News en
route
Weather hots up for 2009
The global temperature for 2009 is likely to be 0.4 °C above the
long term 
average,
with an increased probability of record temperatures to follow,
according to climate researchers.
2009 is expected to be one of the top-five warmest years on
record, say scientists at the Met Office and the
University of East Anglia. The ten warmest years on record have
occurred since 1997.
Professor Chris Folland from the Met Office said:
"Phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña have a significant
influence on global surface temperature. Warmer conditions in 2009
are expected because the strong cooling influence of the recent
powerful La Niña has given way to a weaker La Niña." During
La Niña, cold waters rise to the surface to cool the ocean and
land surface temperatures.
These cyclical influences can mask underlying warming trends as
Professor Phil Jones, Director of the Climatic Research Unit,
University of East 
Anglia, explained: "The fact that 2009,
like 2008, will not break records does not mean that global
warming has gone away. What matters is the underlying rate of
warming - the period 2001-2007, with an average of 14.44 °C, was
0.21 °C warmer than corresponding values for the period
1991-2000."
The Met Office, in collaboration with the University of East
Anglia, maintains a global temperature record which is used in the
reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Each
January they issue a forecast of the global surface temperature
for the coming year. The forecast takes into account known
contributing factors, such as El Niño and La Niña, increasing
greenhouse gas concentrations, the cooling influences of
industrial aerosol particles, solar effects and natural variations
of the oceans.
See The Met Office
and The University of East Anglia Climatic
Research Unit.
1 January 2009
Grouse shoot to resume on Ilkley Moor
A controversial decision by Bradford Council to allow grouse
shooting to resume on Ilkley Moor was approved by the Council
Executive last week. 
Shooting
is expected to resume within 2 years, after grouse numbers have
recovered from a devastating moor fire in 2006.
Grouse shooting was stopped on the publicly owned moor by the
then Labour-run council in 1997. The current Tory administration
signed a new 10-year lease for the shooting rights in June this
year, but a challenge from Animal Welfare Groups and opposition
councillors forced a review.
The lease has been granted to the Bingley Moor Partnership,
which owns adjoining Bingley and Burley Moors where they have run
grouse shoots since 1947. The Partnership will install a
gamekeeper and pay £10,000 to the council each year when shooting
resumes. They charge shooters over £1000 per day during the
shooting season, which runs from August 12 to late October.
Management of the moor, the whole of which is designated a Site
of Special Scientific Interest, will involve the trapping and
killing of some natural predators, which include fox, brown rat,
stoat, mink, weasel, crow, magpie, owl and raptor.
Tory councillor Anne Hawkesworth said "The land management
that goes with grouse-shooting, such as heather burning and
bracken control, drainage management and sheep farming, is one of
the practices which ensures the moorland is maintained to the best
possible standard."
Green councillor Kevin Warnes said "The people who are
paying the money for the grouse shooting will, at the end of the
day, justify it as moorland management but they are doing it
because they enjoy the sport of shooting birds."
Concern has also been expressed on the effect shooting will
have on walkers. The route of A Dales High Way, which crosses both
Bingley and Ilkley moors, sticks to designated Rights of Way and
so there are no restrictions here. However, walkers wishing to go
off-route to enjoy their Right to Roam may well face restrictions.
Significant amounts of public money have recently been obtained
to improve, amongst other things, public access to the moor. How
the council will manage these conflicting interests remains to be
seen.
Read the Councils
Ilkley Moor Management Plan. Read the views of The
League Against Cruel Sports and the Moorland
Association.
22 December 2008
Time Team excavate Dent shanty town
Channel 4's new Time Team series, to be shown in the new year,
will feature the excavation of one of the "shanty towns"
that sprung up to 
house
the navvies and their families who constructed the Settle-Carlisle
railway line. The construction of the line, across some of the
most bleak and inhospitable terrain in the country, was the last
of the great Victorian construction projects. The work started in
1869 and over 6000 men worked on the project at it's peak, living
a series of shanty towns with names such as Inkerman, Sebastopol
and Jericho.
The Time Team crew worked for 3 days in June at the site atop
Rise Hill, where a tunnel runs between Dent and Garsdale stations.
Two air shafts were constructed and the material excavated from
the tunnel stills sits in spoil heaps by the shafts. Access to the
site is difficult, with the team using forest tracks closed to the
public.
Members of the Sedbergh & District History Society met
researchers from Channel 4 before the dig and visited the site
during the second day of the dig.
Local historian Richard Cann said: "Before lunch we
wandered around the site watching the digs in progress one of
which involved Phil Harding. We also encountered other leading
characters including Tony Robinson who fronts the programme. We
then joined in the excellent communal lunch and if an army marches
on its stomach then Time Team certainly digs on its.
"After lunch we met the historians in the team and
discussed the sources which give information about the site and
the people who had lived there during the railway's construction.
Later we were filmed talking to Dr Helen Geake about these
topics."
The excavation is said to have been successful, though the
weather was bad.
See The Time Team's Official
and Unofficial
websites, or read the History
of the Settle-Carlisle line.
10 December 2008
Skipton High Street "Best in Britain"
Skipton's famous High Street has been voted "Great Street
of the Year" 
for
2009 by the Academy of Urbanism. The result was announced last
week at a glitzy ceremony at Liverpool's St Georges Hall. Skipton
beat 2 other finalists - London's Kensington High Street and
Portobello Road.
Skipton High Street, which lies on the route of A Dales High
Way, is at it's liveliest on market days - Monday, Wednesday,
Friday and Saturday - when dozens of market stalls huddle along
the roadside cobbles. As well as shops, pubs and cafes, the High
Street hosts the Craven Museum at the Town Hall, the nearby canal
basin and one of the best preserved medieval castles in England at
the top of the street beyond Holy Trinity Church.
Last years winner was Buchanan Street in Glasgow. The Academy
presents other awards including European City of the Year, Great
Town, Great Neighbourhood and Great Place.
John Thompson, chairman of the Academy said: "It is the
character of the people and place that makes Skipton High Street
stand out; when you go there it is such a welcoming place.
"Slowly, a lot of towns are becoming clone towns, but
Skipton retains a very strong identity and character. It has a
wonderful canal next to the high street, and it's such a beautiful
setting."
See SkiptonWeb
and the Academy
Of Urbanism
2 December 2008
