The Lake District Tales from the National Parks

The National Parks are Britain's most beautiful countryside.

Rolling hills, wide lakes, panoramic views,

they are places to relax and inspire you.

The Lake District National Park wants to be

the adventure capital of Britain, but is it right to turn

a beautiful tranquil landscape into an adventure playground?

This really will be very intrusive into this amazing place.

This is a story about one of the most controversial developments

ever in the Lake District.

You've got to reflect long and hard on how it is we encourage

the next generation to engage with these magnificent places.

But this is also the story of one remarkable man.

Oh, Christ!

You've never lived, have you?!

Mark Weir had a unique vision for the Lakes.

Run, run, run...hey! And off you go.

It'll be a fantastic thing for all people of all ages.

Character building, I think. Character building.

But Mark would never see his vision become a reality

because tragically, he died during the making of this documentary.

He's lost his life and we have to take this legacy forward.

Let's make him proud.

This is what "Adventure Capital" is all about.

Mountain biking at Whinlatter Forest estate.

This is Richard Leafe.

He's the Chief Executive of the Lake District National Park Authority.

Fabulous. I particularly liked the bump!

He wants to turn the park into the home of exciting, adrenaline-fuelled activity

like rock-climbing, canoeing, mountain biking,

and he calls this idea "Adventure Capital".

We've got to think about the economic well-being

and the future of these wild places, and I think appealing

to young people through adventure is a great way of getting people

to discover what's fantastic about National Parks.

It's not as easy as it looks, going up the slope like this!

You do certainly set some challenges! Right, hang on.

If Richard wants the Lakes to be recognised as the undisputed adventure capital of the UK,

he believes he needs a high-octane attraction

that none of the other 14 national parks have got.

-We're just going to lower you into position.

-Good luck!

This is the biggest zip wire ride in the world

in Sun City in South Africa.

-ALL:

-Five, four, three, two, one! Go!

It's 2,000 metres long and it travels at over 70 mph.

Imagine THAT plummeting down from the summit of one of the Lakes' highest mountains

in the one of the parks most remote, wild landscapes.

It's an idea that really appeals to Richard Leafe.

If your aspiration is to be the adventure capital of the UK,

you probably need something at the high end of the adrenalin factor

to give it that stamp of... that seal of approval,

and I recognise that this zip wire may well do that for us

but boy, is it ever in a challenging location!

It's right in the open furls,

much valued for its remoteness and its tranquillity.

It's the summer of 2010, and I've come to this range

of tranquil mountains in a remote part of the park.

It's called the Honister Pass.

It's home to the last remaining slate mine in England.

Life is so good. It's a beautiful day, it's not raining,

it's excellent. Every day's a good day if you wake up.

This is the mine owner, Mark Weir.

He's the man who can help Richard Leafe

realise his ambition of Adventure Capital.

He's a self-made man and a self-confessed adrenaline junkie

and the giant zip wire is his idea.

-Are you nervous?

-I'm likely to experience vertigo,

-but I'll probably get used to it after a while.

-It's bizarre.

Have you not had anybody in here before who's a little bit nervous?

I have, yeah...

..and the...

MOTOR DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Oh, God!

He's been flying helicopters around the hills and lakes here,

come rain or shine, for over 20 years.

His mine is situated on Fleetwith Pike,

one of the largest mountains in the park.

The zip wire will take off from near the top of this mountain.

Now you're entering a different world.

You're entering the world... in the air.

Look at that, Richard.

Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it?

-Isn't that beautiful?

-Yeah.

After we land, Mark takes me over to the opposite side

of the Pass for the best perspective on where the zip wire will run.

Just on that point there, will be a stone pile with a wire attached,

and that will come down the vertical face and follow

the ground terrain all the way back

and lock into this building here.

It's 1,200 metres long and hopefully,

the speeds that you'll get up to will be...50, 60mph.

You're falling down the edge. You're coming down that vertical edge.

-So there's really a big drop beneath you?

-Absolutely.

Yeah, I mean that's... maybe 1,500 feet.

You'll have...certainly about 6-700 feet drop from the top.

To get the zip wire, Mark needs to apply

to the Lake District National Park Authority for planning permission.

He will be given just three minutes to sell his idea

to a Park Authority planning meeting in a few months time, in November.

Ellis Butcher is Mark's PR manager.

The big day. I think you need to be fully prepared

and I think it's too big an opportunity to miss

for you to go in there and hopefully wing it.

-You fly from the seat of your pants in everything that you do.

-Right.

-When I think this one day is the day that Mark...

-All right.

Hang on. ..that Mark does his homework...

You've got to do your homework and you've got to make sure

that the case that you make to them is absolutely watertight.

I totally agree with that.

It's totally got to be focussed on the zip wire.

Do we get it, do we not get it? But it's just so frustrating, you know!

'Mark thinks the planning process can be too slow and bureaucratic

'and in the past he's had bad experiences with it.'

This day...is going to be a very interesting day for me.

Days gone by in here, I've wrecked this office two or three times.

I mean, flattened every table, every chair, destroyed them.

That's how mad I've become over the system.

And it fills me up now, and if you...

It's almost like a caged...

-Fish?

-..tiger.

It's August.

Mark Weir's planning application for a giant zip wire ride

is being considered here at the Lake District National Park Authority in Kendal,

where Richard Leafe oversees a staff of 200 people.

The Authority was established to conserve the park's

natural beauty and wildlife, but also promote businesses and tourism in the park.

The zip wire proposal is open to public consultation

and it's already proving one of the most controversial applications

Richard and his team have dealt with.

-At last count, we had over 400...

-Wow!

-..letters of rejection, and that's from individuals.

Can you give me a feel for what they're saying in their response?

Yeah.

It's Dave McGowan's job as head of planning

to compile the differing views.

The concerns are as much about the physical impact...

but they've got a feel about the...

I suppose, introducing that new activity in the environment.

-How many supporters?

-Not so many.

-How low?

-Less than 30.

-Crikey.

400 objections to a planning application.

Is that standard or is that quite a contentious one?

400 would be more than we'd get for your average porch extension!

You'd have to be pretty unpopular!

Richard likes the idea of the zip wire

but he doesn't get to vote on it.

Instead, Richard and his planning team will advise

the park authority board to either reject or approve the zip wire

when it meets in three months time.

The Lake District is one of the oldest national parks

and has over 15 million visitors a year.

Since its creation 60 years ago, people have come to walk

and enjoy the tranquillity of the countryside.

Many of the zip wire's 400 opponents are concerned

this tranquillity will be ruined if the application gets approved.

But around the workings of the slate mine,

this site is anything but tranquil.

Mark Weir bought the Honister slate mine 13 years ago

when it was a derelict site.

Now it's a thriving business, employing 30 people,

and there is even a gift shop attached to the mine.

Mark grew up on a farm just four miles away from the slate mine,

and his first job was as a gravedigger.

But many generations of his family used to work here as miners.

My uncle taught me how to make slates.

He used to touch slates and caress it like a woman,

and I, like you are now, thinking, "He must be mad",

I actually looked back behind him and I thought, "He's crazy",

touching a piece of stone with such affection.

I do the same thing now myself

because it's so hard worn underground,

and you go through so many emotions,

through drilling it, blasting it and actually physically getting it out of the mine,

that you become at one with it.

Is it a sensual thing?

It's just that you've got the highest respect for the slate,

and when you put your life on the line so many times on the ground,

you become more at one with the slate.

Now we're going to see something

that not a lot of people would like to do.

Mark is still very hands on in the mine, and while I'm with him,

on this occasion, he's doing something called "sounding out".

From where I'm standing, it seems a fairly precarious activity.

At the top of the ladder,

he removes the loose bits of slate after the rock has been blasted.

-OK?

-OK.

-Good.

Mark has brought an ancient business back to life.

But he's also turning Honister into a bit of a tourist attraction.

I'm going to go down there, and then I'll tell you how we mine here in Honister today. OK?

His mother Celia gives mine tours to visitors

and these have been proving hugely popular.

When I first came to see Honister, I felt so sorry for him

because he was struggling on his own

with very little equipment,

and you know, he's gone on, and I do admire Mark for that.

He has said if he knew what he was taking on,

he wouldn't have touched it with a barge pole! He persevered and he went on.

Mark has made this remote mountain pass

an unlikely tourism destination,

but his plans to build on that with the giant zip wire

are proving very controversial.

It's September, two months before the decision on the zip wire.

The park authority has received 400 objections to the application.

One objector is a charity called The Friends Of The Lake District,

which campaigns for the preservation of the landscape.

Richard Pearce and Judith Moore are preparing their case

for the hearing in a few weeks' time.

We haven't got anything that shows any of the impacts from

this side of the valley, have we?

Well, that's one of the things we could say, actually.

You will then see the whole of the zip wire from beginning to end

if you're walking on this side of the valley.

It's difficult to get any sense of the scale of it from that drawing.

-It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-What's that one?

This one here is the upper support pillar.

This, in itself, probably isn't going to be that objectionable.

It's been designed to look like a cairn

and the scale of it doesn't look too significant

when you're looking at the people here.

-But it's a knock-on effect on people using the footpath.

-Yeah.

Up towards Haystacks.

And I guess, inevitability, there'll also be wear and tear

on the summit, and erosion there... would be really serious.

The Friends are also planning a large media campaign against the zip wire,

and around this time, an article appears in a paper with quotes from Richard Pearce.

The piece angers Mark because it says the zip wire

will run from the summit of Fleetwith Pike,

when, in fact, it will come from a lower point called Black Star,

and Mark believes The Friends have got their facts wrong.

Does it matter then whether it says Fleetwith or...

Fleetwith Pike IS the summit, and it's about 80 or 100 feet

from the place I want to actually depart on the wire.

The thing about it is, if you're making a statement

that something's going to go off the summit of Fleetwith Pike,

which is inaccurate, and all those millions of people up and down the country think,

"Well, I don't want him to put a pole in on the summit of Fleetwith Pike

"cos I've sat there with my children!"

They get scared to think that that special place

that they've been on... has been disturbed.

I guarantee that they will not hear a zip wire

or the rollers on the zip wire.

The loudest thing up there is the wind itself.

As part of their campaign against the zip wire,

the Friends of the Lake District has commissioned a study into

the unique tranquillity of the area around Fleetwith Pike.

At the start of October, a month before the hearing,

Richard and Judith want to show me

how the zip wire will shatter that serene atmosphere.

We'll be able to see it from here, will we?

-We will.

-How will it run?

The route comes from just below the summit of Fleetwith,

from Black Star up there, down, right into the car park

and it will terminate around the mine buildings there.

This is a very peaceful and tranquil location

and this really will be very intrusive into this amazing place.

Mark could see we are filming them, and decides to take the opportunity

to question Richard and Judith about their recent publicity campaign.

-I believe you're doing an interview on the zip wire?

-We are.

-I'm Mark, obviously you know.

-We haven't met, have we?

-No, we haven't met.

-I'm Richard from Friends Of The Lake District.

-Richard Pearce, planning officer.

-Right, Richard.

Could I ask you a question?

Why did you put out that we were putting the zip wire from the summit of Fleetwith

-when it's Black Star? Completely different location.

-A technicality, isn't it?

We're talking about the impact on the tranquillity

and the impact on people coming up this path.

That won't make any difference to our argument.

-Not a technicality!

-Unfortunately, it's not going to change.

That upsets me - you're saying it's one location when it isn't!

Fleetwith Pike is NOT Black Star. Two different locations!

We may as well be on Mars and the Moon.

They want to keep it to themselves and nobody else to share it.

They're very selfish people and just let them go and trail the mountains.

There's tonnes of them to go to. Don't just pick on Fleetwith.

If you want tranquillity, go on the other 200 mountains!

We're happy to be with you to discuss it...

and you have never relented

and told your members that it is NOT the summit of Fleetwith Pike!

-It is NOT the summit of Fleetwith Pike.

-As I said...

It is not a technical issue. The location is totally wrong!

-I'm not standing here to be shouted at.

-No, well, fair enough!

-You've put your point across.

-I have put my point across!

If you want to debate it, then that's fine.

-Debate it! Fleetwith Pike, Black bloody Star!

-Right.

Dear God.

Technical issue?! You really want to connect with people!

The Friends had got the information

from Mark's own planning application form.

I check it later, and it did does say the zip wire

would run from the summit of Fleetwith Pike,

although, on the inside, it shows it starting from Black Star.

Just two miles from the site of Mark's proposed zip wire

is Derwent Water in Keswick.

It's one of the Lakes' most popular tourist destinations.

-You two are married, I take it.

-This is our golden wedding.

-It's our wedding anniversary tomorrow.

-Is it?

We've been married 49 years tomorrow, 24th.

We always come up to the Lake District for our wedding anniversary.

-Do you do something romantic?

-No, not really.

-Not really.

The other night the tops of the mountains were just peeking

through the clouds.

I took a photograph of it and I called it Island In The Sky.

-It's beautiful.

-Island In The Sky?

-Yes, because the mountain...

the cloud was below the mountain.

It just looked like an island so I called it Island in the Sky.

'Even though there are many objectors to Mark's zip wire, he also has powerful allies.

'Business leaders, who support the zip wire

'and the idea of Adventure Capital.'

Welcome to the Business Passports Group.

The first thing is we're going to look at

the Cumbria Adventure Capital.

'Every four months, members of the tourist board get together with Dave McGowan

'and his team at the Park Authority to help businesses in the area.

'Everyone here thinks Adventure Capital

'is critical to the Park's survival.'

Unless we truly understand what will make a difference for business,

there's no point in us spending lots of time in our offices in Kendal coming up with new procedures

within the flexibility we've got. Actually, item four was very much about hearing what your views were

about what would make the biggest difference.

If we can do it, we will do it.

These are issues to business.

For a simple extension on a little commercial building,

it takes eight weeks to get planning permission.

It's just a bit too long for business to sustain

because you've got to keep your people employed while you develop this.

What we're missing here is

quick decision-making,

and quick decision-making means the public sector

have got to work together with the private sector.

We're all behind Adventure Capital.

That doesn't mean, though, that it will be 100% sailing,

because it won't, unfortunately.

But I know we're looking at the speed of applications,

particularly with the businesses.

We do want to be as flexible as we possibly can and be innovative.

'I get the impression the Park Authority is keen to create a strong tourism economy

'in the Lakes, but it's not easy

'to balance that with protecting the beautiful landscape.'

But how do you judge something's beauty?

Is the Honister Pass, where the zip wire would be,

really a tranquil wilderness that needs to be preserved,

or is it an industrial landscape shaped by centuries of mining?

I've come to Craghouse Farm in Wasdale to meet the chairman

of both Cumbria Tourism and also the Alfred Wainwright Society.

That's my favourite Wainwright book - A Pennine Journey.

'Eric Robson is a big supporter of the zip wire.'

There's a bit of moral panic going on about the zip wire.

You've got to remember it is replacing the Lancaster flight

which was a rusting piece of scrap.

That used to haul slate down -

a big piece of industrial kit used to haul slate down off the mountain.

'Eric visited the slate mine with Wainwright

'when it was derelict in the '80s.'

I went there with Wainwright.

He was sad when he looked out over those workings at Hollister

and they were completely still and completely quiet and no-one was working there.

Mark Weir has reopened them

and brought life back to that valley head.

-Do you think he's a force for good?

-I do.

He comes there not simply to make money.

He believes in that place

and he believes in the communities that serve those quarries.

He believes in providing jobs for communities

that his family were associated with.

I think that's all entirely laudable.

It's mid-October in the Lakes,

just a few weeks before the Lake District Park Authority board

is due to vote on Mark's zip wire, his application runs into problems.

It's not anything to do with the zip wire.

It's a bit too big, isn't it?

-You could do with it like that.

-It works!

The problem dates back three years to 2007,

when Mark installed another activity for thrill-seekers

on the side of his mountain.

The idea was inspired by an old miners' pathway

that traverses the sheer edge of Fleetwith Pike.

Mark created a deviation off this pathway.

It's called a via ferrata, which means "iron road" in Latin.

Using steps and carabiners,

people climb around the sheer rock face of Fleetwith Pike.

It provides all the excitement of rock-climbing

with none of the danger.

It's been hugely popular and very profitable.

Well done, Ellen. Now you've got to step up, step up a bit more, Ellen.

Mark wants to use the via ferrata as the route for people to reach

the zip wire take-off point.

But Mark put the via ferrata in without getting planning permission,

and in doing so he was breaching planning regulations.

Why was he so cavalier?

Every time I've asked for planning permission,

it's always been refused.

Ever since a young boy,

we've had issues in the Lake District

to do with the national park.

It's always been they're on one side and the locals are on the other.

A failure to seek planning permission is not Mark's only problem.

His unauthorised via ferrata is routed through

a highly protected site of Special Scientific Interest,

or triple SI as it's known.

And it's alleged that people using the via ferrata are damaging rare plants.

This matter has come to the attention of Natural England.

This organisation advises the government on how best

to safeguard the natural environment

and it prosecutes people who damage protected areas of land.

This one is yellow mountain saxifrage,

and it only occurs on particular rock types that are very rich in calcium.

It's particularly associated with slate at Honister

which is calcium rich.

'Jean Johnstone has been investigating the via ferrata.'

That's the via ferrata cable.

It shows how the vegetation's getting trampled.

Putting in the via ferrata without consulting us

is a breach of the legislation.

We have to pursue that.

He might be prosecuted?

That decision hasn't yet been formally taken

but that is a possibility.

Back at the mine, I put Natural England's allegations to Mark.

He believes the sheep are to blame

because they eat the rare flowers near the via ferrata,

and in his defence he has filmed the culprits from his helicopter.

There you go.

Now, that's a ledge, and you can see the wires just here.

We walk along here and the sheep are just there.

English Nature reckons there's no sheep.

You can see them sat nice and happily

because they've just fed themselves,

and a picture speaks a thousand words.

Regardless of Mark's sheep theory,

the issues over the via ferrata have a knock-on effect for the zip wire.

The problem is, Mark has decided to apply for

retrospective planning permission for the via ferrata

and it's being considered in the same application as the zip wire.

This means that concerns over damage to a protected landscape

have come to the attention

of the Park Authority's Chief Executive, Richard Leafe.

Mark, bless him, does have a tendency to act first

and seek permission later, and that's not a method of operating

that I would advise anybody to follow.

It leads Mark into some difficult and tricky situations

and makes life difficult for us,

in trying to deal with the conflicting issues that throws up.

Richard has a vested interest in the zip wire

because it fits into his vision

of the Lakes being the adventure capital of Britain.

So, on a rainy day in October,

he gets all the interested parties together for a site visit

up to the via ferrata.

He wants to find a solution to the problems

between Jean Johnstone and her Natural England colleagues

and Mark Weir,

so that the zip wire planning application can be kept on track.

I'd like us to be in a mode where we think seriously about whether or not

there are any options that would mitigate that

by either moving the alignment of the via ferrata

or introducing more equipment, more staples,

to avoid harm to vegetation in some way.

I'm interested in seeing if we can get our heads round

understanding what might be in the art of the possible there.

Once on the mountain side,

Jean Johnstone shows Richard Leafe some of the damaged flowers.

That's the Alpine Lady's Mantle, that one.

Alpine Lady's Mantle.

It's got Yellow Mountain Saxifrage.

A whole host of mosses, this site's really important for mosses.

-The damage has been done here and you've lost the soil.

-Indeed.

You're not going to replace that soil

because it's built up naturally since the last ice age.

It can't be the last ice age because this here, these deposits -

this is slate, and this is made from the men making.

This actual incline here is only 200 and summat years old.

That's typical, because you can see the rock face bare there.

By the end of the route,

the Natural England officers feel there is little room for agreement.

The criteria for protection of that site are incredibly stringent.

You can't approve anything

that's going to have an adverse effect on that site.

It's not within their power to do that.

But of course that gets us nowhere.

It still leaves us with no via ferrata

and with a damaged section to the site, doesn't it?

That's the way the Habitats Regulations,

the Habitats Directive takes us.

At the end, Natural England leave to consider

whether to prosecute Mark Weir.

But there's a more immediate impact -

Richard Leafe's authority cannot approve the via ferrata

or even the zip wire while there are concerns over the landscape.

He advises Mark to withdraw the whole application.

I am in a canoe on Ullswater

with the Chief Executive of the Park Authority, Richard Leafe.

-Can you sit in the middle of your chair?

-Am I not in the middle?

-You're a little bit to one side.

-Which side am I on?

A little bit to your right.

-I need to move that way?

-Yeah.

-Is that better?

-Yeah. Perfect.

'Today, he is boating with some teenagers from Dudley

'on an adventure course.'

-Have you done this before?

-No.

-That's you and me together, then.

These young kids are getting their first taste of the countryside.

It's a perfect example for Richard

of his policy of Adventure Capital in action.

Mr Cox says if you turn this, all the water will drown out. Is that true?

-Turn it and see what happens.

-Sir!

I'm keen to find out if Richard Leafe

is disappointed by Natural England's position on Mark's via ferrata.

I didn't feel that they were coming to the piece of work

with a mindset that would be about looking for a solution,

that allowed the via ferrata to stay where it was.

But it's not really Natural England's job

to worry about solutions to things, is it?

No, it's more OUR job to worry about solutions to things.

It helps if you've got people on all sides of the debate,

if you like, trying to work to resolve it.

If Natural England do prosecute Mark,

he might end up losing the via ferrata altogether,

and almost certainly never get the zip wire.

His whole business could be under threat.

So at the end of October, I take up an invitation

to have dinner with Mark and his family at their home,

a remote spot near Cockermouth.

Jan, his partner, is a full-time mum to Prentice, Piers and Georgie.

-Hello, Darling.

-Hi, Sweetie. How are you? Good day?

-Yeah.

-Busy, busy.

-Are we cooking?

-Smells delicious.

-Is that enough?

-Yeah.

'Jan and Mark tell me the conflict with Natural England

'is making them wonder if they should just pack up and move somewhere else.'

We'll sit at the table, sweetheart.

Most people can't just up sticks and go because something goes wrong.

They've got bills to pay, mortgages to pay.

Well, you pay your bills then you go, don't you?

There's options and all you have to do is embrace what's happening.

You don't sit and dwell on it.

You go to where your life's going to be

more fruitful, maybe, and happier and easier.

That business is very demanding

-and if she's lucky...

-It's lonely.

-..she's got two hours a day.

-You're lonely, are you?

-It can be very lonely.

I've got three children and you need a team - I need a team -

and half my team's been taken away.

Every time there's more issues to battle on with,

that pulls even more time away.

-You didn't say goodbye to me this morning.

-Did I not?

'After dinner, 11-year-old Piers joins us at the table.'

-So, big boy...

-Leave me alone.

-Right. If you don't say goodbye to me again, there's a problem.

-OK!

-Do you understand? A cuddle and a kiss, do you understand?

-Yes!

In November, Mark receives a letter from Natural England.

It's demanding he dismantle the via ferrata immediately

or face certain prosecution.

He rings Richard Leafe for advice.

-Hi, Richard, how are you doing?

-'Not too bad, thank you very much.

'How are you?'

Well, I'm in no man's land at the moment because they've given us

almost a closure notice to come off there.

'Yes, I know they're quite focused on their enforcement activity.

-'Natural England, you're talking about?'

-Yes.

I think it really, really will be sad for everybody concerned,

even the customers that use it,

if we lose that via ferrata on the front of there.

I think it's bad for the Lake District...

'You have to recognise that you're in a tricky position

'with Natural England.

'However, given the point that you're at now,

'and they're about to start the serious bit of the prosecution,

'I would do as much as you can to play ball with Natural England.'

She's given us a deadline of 12th November to pull off there.

I'm not going to adhere to that

because if I haven't got a via ferrata, I haven't got a product.

The 12th of November comes and goes.

But Mark continues to ignore Natural England's demand

that he close the via ferrata.

By doing this, he's not just risking losing the via ferrata,

but also getting a fine of up to £20,000.

I'm joining Richard Leafe and Dave McGowan

for a walk up to Stickle Tarn in Langdale.

It was climbing up here many years ago

when Richard fell in love with the landscape.

I think it was the sheer scale of it. It was the size of it.

I'd never seen hills or mountains this big before.

In a sense, back then when you were just a teenager,

there was this moment here that meant that your destiny would be to come back to the Lakes?

It sounds pretty cheesy, that, doesn't it?

"I had a moment when I was a teenager"!

"There was a revelation in Langdale".

Actually, it's not untrue. I was gripped by the place.

I was struck by it.

While we're sitting at the top,

Richard talks about how he and Mark Weir

share a similar vision for the Lakes.

There's a little video clip on Mark Weir's website

of a black kid from Bolton or Manchester or somewhere,

who's gone up the via ferrata and got to the top of Fleetwith Pike,

and he's stood there on the top with his jaw open, going,

"God, this is just unbelievable.

"Absolutely fantastic".

And I think we've got to reflect

long and hard on that and think about how it is

we encourage the next generations

to engage with these magnificent places.

Around the same time, the mine is completely cut off by the snow.

Only Mark has made it in.

It's been several weeks since the letter from Natural England

and I'm keen to know if Mark has decided to close the via ferrata, as they are demanding.

I don't agree with English Nature's stance.

So when you don't agree with something like that,

you've just go to sit by and see what happens.

Christ!

You've never lived, have you?! Richard, you've never lived.

Never mind.

BIRDSONG

Three weeks later, the slate mine staff gather for their Christmas party.

Mark is continuing to ignore the ultimatum from Natural England.

This year has been an incredibly difficult one for various reasons.

The via ferrata and the new zip and all the rest of it, we're still working on all those projects.

But, on a more positive note,

this year, I've escaped losing my life nearly four times, so it's getting less!

It's actually getting less, which is really good.

So, I'm glad I'm still standing here and I'm still alive.

But there wouldn't be a Honister without all you around this table,

and from the absolute bottom of my heart,

I genuinely, genuinely love you all in all different ways.

Here's to all of you.

ALL: Cheers.

PARTY BLOWER HOOTS

Here's to the future.

Although I could never condone what Mark is doing, I can see his dilemma.

If he closes the via ferrata, he'll have to lay people off.

But if he keeps it open, he'll be prosecuted and it will be shut down.

So, either way, job losses seem inevitable.

But things are about to change.

Early in January, I'm heading back to the top of Fleetwood Pike

with Mark and his architect, George.

-You've never been up here, have you?

-No.

We're going to do a little bit of walking now.

Over Christmas, an idea has occurred to him.

If his plan works, it will mean he could reapply for the zip wire,

regardless of what happens to the via ferrata.

He's going to show it to George and I today.

Beneath our feet are miles and miles of old mine tunnels,

and Mark's new idea will utilise these.

One of those tunnels surfaces near the summit.

How far down there are you before you hit the workings?

-You're in the workings there. That's it.

-Is that a man-made hole?

-Yeah, it's a mine's entrance.

-Have you come up through the hole?

-Absolutely.

Otherwise, I wouldn't know anything about it!

Mark's idea is simple.

Visitors will access the zip wire not by coming up the via ferrata,

but by climbing through the inside of the mountain,

through tunnels made by miners hundreds of years ago.

Once out of the tunnel,

it's just a short walk to the zip-wire take-off point.

So you'll go along, run, run, run, run, run...

Hey! And off you go.

Exciting, innit?

I only get animated when I'm actually here.

What you know you're going to enter into there, it'll be a fantastic thing for all people of all ages.

I could see that Mark is quite excited about his new idea.

It resurrects his dream of a giant zip-wire ride.

But, sadly, it's not a dream he would see come true.

A few weeks later, in February, I went back to Honister.

It was the day his new zip-wire application was formally resubmitted to the park authority.

This would be the last time I filmed with Mark.

-Where are we going?

-We're going to get a sheep.

There she is.

The sheep is stuck high up on a crag.

HE GRUNTS

It needs to be rescued.

Hello.

HE GRUNTS

This is another precarious act, a bit like the time

he climbed the ladder in the mine, six months earlier.

But, to Mark, it is simply the way he lives his life.

HE GRUNTS THROUGHOUT

Go on!

I would say, another two or three days, it would have been dead.

Will he be all right?

Yeah, it will go for some water now and it will be all right.

Would you do something like that?

It's that risk thing we were talking about the other day.

-Yeah, I probably wouldn't.

-Would you be insured for that?

-I don't suppose so.

-No.

No.

So, who would do that, then?

No.

Not my job, really.

'A week after this...'

'..and Mark is dead.'

He took off from the mine

just after seven o'clock one evening for the usual journey home.

It was pitch black and unusually windy.

His helicopter crashed just 200 yards from its take-off point.

Two days later, Mark's partner, Jan, assembles all the mine staff together.

There are my thoughts here on this paper that have come from my heart.

He's lost his life.

And we have to take this legacy forward.

And, um, I know he has so many, many qualities...

and faults, because he was by no means perfect.

And when you're having a bad day, be strong, please be strong.

Please, just be strong.

Be strong.

And, um, let's make him proud. Yeah?

Can we all be upstanding? I know that's a formal way to do it,

but it's an important thing, yeah?

This is us going forward. This is Mark going forward.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Mark.

-ALL: To Mark.

So, I'm going to cut the ribbon first. Here we go.

-There we go.

-Thank you.

-OK, all right.

'At the same time, Richard Leafe is entertaining the environment secretary on a visit to the Lakes.'

What is special about English national parks...

We're all in a state of shock, really, I think, about what's happened

and it's going to take us a bit of time to digest it.

Over the next few weeks and months,

Jan has to take over the reins of the slate mine.

She is thrown in at the deep end with the zip-wire application.

But it only takes one query and then we're into... Absolutely.

In the spring, Dave McGowan and his team return to the mine

as part of the zip-wire application.

Then there is sorting out how this surfacing would work.

Your point is maintenance, health and safety?

In the summer, Natural England follow through with their threats of legal action

over damage caused by the via ferrata.

Jan is fined £15,000, as she agrees to remove the via ferrata by November 7th.

Two weeks before the zip-wire hearing,

I meet with Richard Leafe and Dave McGowan.

They don't decide the outcome of the zip wire,

but they do recommend to the board members which way to vote on it.

'For 18 months, Dave McGowan's team has been analysing results of public consultations,

'ecological surveys, impact assessments, and now it's time to reveal its conclusion.'

So, what is the recommendation?

Well...

Where we've ended up is on something which, on the one hand,

gives me a little bit of discomfort. I feel that perhaps

our committee won't feel we've done the job we need to do for them.

Um, because it's an open recommendation.

I can see why that might make you a little uncomfortable,

I suspect. It does me.

My inclination, as you know, is always to call that shot

when it comes down to it, however difficult it is.

And I feel that we haven't ducked it.

After careful consideration, Dave's team has decided the issues are too finely balanced

to recommend either rejection or approval.

You know, I could write a reason for refusal and a reason for approval,

which would both be logical arguments based on the assessment.

It depends which side you fall on that line.

You know, I've said in the past that I would fall on the side of

consenting this, because of the...

In my view, the benefits outweigh the harm.

But, as Dave says, it's easy to construct an argument

that's the other way round and would be as justified.

And so, which way do you think it's going to go?

LAUGHTER

At the beginning of September, two days before the zip-wire committee,

I meet with Jan to find out how she feels now the decision is imminent.

It is very difficult, because I can imagine a helicopter coming in,

I can hear it coming in,

and I have to not get too emotional on Wednesday.

I have to be constructive and I have to try

and relay the essence of what it's all about.

What was it like being, you know,

a partner of someone who was a risk taker?

Um, it wasn't easy an relationship,

because he was such an adrenaline junkie,

because he had such off-the-wall ideas, sometimes.

Um...

He was a good guy.

He was hard to live with, but he brought a full life.

And that's what life's about.

It's having a fulfilment, and that's what Honister's about.

He wanted to let people, I suppose, maybe live like a tiger for the day,

rather than a mouse for the rest of their life,

and that was how he lived his life. That was his motto.

On 7th September, people gather

at the headquarters of the Lake District National Park Authority.

Lots of Honister staff have come to support Jan,

but she also has a surprise star witness to unveil -

the renowned mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington.

Just to explain how we're going to do this,

a presentation from officers, then there are questions from members.

'The 14 board members who will be voting sitting around the outside of the room.

'The board is made up of locally elected councillors,

'and some people appointed by the government.'

-Andy.

-First of all, in terms of the background to the proposal...

'At the start,

'the planning team outlines the application for the board members.

'Then it's time for the interested parties from either side to put their case to the board.'

-I'd like to start off..

-'Richard Pearse, from the Friends Of The Lake District,

'is one of three people to speak against the zip wire.'

We feel this is a line-in-the-sand proposal

that has implications for the entire ethos of the national park and its future.

I'll summarise briefly the reasons we feel that this proposal is

so fundamentally inappropriate. Firstly, the mine is located

in one of the most outstanding landscapes in the country.

It is this quality that attracts many thousands of visitors to the area.

'Then it's time for those in favour of the zip wire.

'First to speak is Sir Chris Bonington.'

I have lived in the Lake District National Park for 45 years

and have a deep love and concern for the conservation

of its beauty and its very special character.

I have a very deep respect for the work of many voluntary bodies

who oppose this application and, in fact, I've got honorary positions

on just about every single one of them.

But, in this particular instance,

I feel I've got to express disagreement.

Then, Jan speaks.

Some remember Honister as a derelict,

dirty and abandoned, lonely place.

Wainwright was one of those people,

and that's what it was like before we actually came.

My family reopened England's last working slate mine

and we have kept it open, despite all the odds.

But keeping that 400-year-old business,

and the last working slate mine in England open,

can't be sustained by slate alone.

'Then, it's time for some of the board members to express their own views before the vote is taken.'

I shall be voting to reject the application.

In my view, the proposed development

would conflict with the first statutory purpose and I would refuse this application.

You can be on one of these beautiful places,

which is tranquil in the fact that you don't see another person,

and I do think we would be sacrificing it, so, therefore,

I will be voting against it.

I consider the zip wire would be an incongruous and inappropriate development on this occasion

and I have to agree, therefore, will be voting against it.

'It all seems to be going against Jan -

'that is, until the next member speaks.'

Do we want to kill the Lake District dead, or do we want to preside over a mausoleum

where human beings can no longer shout, can no longer enjoy themselves?

Who is this park for? We know who it's for,

because it's in the regulations.

It's there for the enjoyment of all, and we must never forget that.

Every age group, every colour, every creed

and wherever they come from, and that's what we're doing.

We're not fossilising it, we're not putting it in aspic,

we're not keeping it for the privileged few.

Honister has got a very reasonable application,

I think they've worked wonders. Thank you.

I, Madam Chair, am going to support the application for the zip wire.

I do feel that there are plenty of places that we can have the quietness, and I will support this.

I definitely will support it.

I think it's a great idea, and it's a pity they put an age limit on it,

because I might have just tried it.

LAUGHTER

So, members, there is a proposal on the table, which is to support this application.

'Once some of the 14 members have spoken,

'the final decision is made with a show of hands.'

So, those who are in favour of the proposal, please show clearly.

One, two, three, four, five.

And those who are against, please.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

That means the application is rejected.

The zip wire is rejected by nine votes to five.

Is everybody happy with what David has just set out?

My mate would be extremely angry today.

He would be punching the trees, I think.

Er, yeah, he would. He would.

I'm going to go home. I feel like shutting the door.

Um, and no more Honister. Maybe that's what people want.

Maybe that's what the park are prepared to have.

But I'm going home.

-Take care, anyway.

-Thank you.

Bye.

-Hey, stop!

-He nearly knocked me down!

All you want to do is represent the Tories.

So they wanted us to give way to them.

60 ramblers do far more damage to the path than one motorbike.

-It's terrible what's happening.

-The police can't change the law, the people can.

Keep your neb out!

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