An eco-friendly and walker-filled future awaits Black Sail hostel...
The YHA has announced a new 25-year lease for Black Sail Youth Hostel, which welcomes weary walkers to the head of the Ennerdale Valley in the Lake District. There were some doubts over its future but fortunately for Lakeland ramblers, they’ve been cast to the plentiful Ennerdale winds:-)
The building, which was once a shepherd’s bothy, is all set to be refurbished to make it more environmentally-friendly – and more comfortable, of course.
There’s also some good news for anyone who’s enjoyed a hearty meal at Black Sail in the past. You may have been dismayed to hear recently that breakfasts, lunches, dinners and even elevenses were all set to be taken off the menu, but a combination of visitor feedback, rumbling stomachs and common sense have prevailed, and you need fear no longer for your grub. Black Sail meals have been reinstated, so there should be a nice warm dinner waiting for you next time you visit. Phew.
Seriously though, with all the money and effort the YHA have put into city youth hostels it’s nice to see that the hostels in the back of beyond – in other words, the places we most like to visit – are holding their own.
An environmentally-friendly hostel
Black Sail YHA can only be reached on two wheels not four – or on foot of course – so it doesn’t attract many petrol-fuelled visitors. So far so good for its environmental credentials.
It’s now about to climb a little higher up the green scale when a hydro-electric power scheme is installed, paid for by a recent fundraising campaign. The YHA are now looking for grant funding for other eco-friendly measures, including some that are particularly appropriate for the Lake District. Sheep’s wool insulation, for example. A wood-fuelled heating system and solar panels (yes really) are also on the cards.
The main local landowners – the National Trust, the Forestry Commission, and United Utilities – have also set up a partnership called Wild Ennerdale, to help protect the area. See their website for details.
And for more information about Black Sail Youth Hostel, visit the YHA website.
