Why Lunesdale should be turbine free

The Lune Valley is an undiscovered gem of England’s North Country and represents one of the finest corners of our ‘green and pleasant land’.

Between the picturesque town of Kirkby Lonsdale and the historic city of Lancaster is one of the most attractive stretches of river where the silvery Lune meanders through a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.

Here you will find unspoilt and ancient villages, historic churches and winding lanes, tumbling streams and wooded valleys, wild moors and lowland pastures. Savour the beautiful surroundings and enjoy the sweeping views of the Forest of Bowland, Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. You will find a warm welcome in the Lune Valley’s hotels, bed & breakfasts and country pubs, plus your hosts will not be short of suggestions of where to walk and explore.

The idyllic Crook O’Lune in its wooded river setting, the waymarked Lune Valley Ramble and gritstone Clougha Pike provide some of the best views in the country. Historic villages such as Hornby,Wray and Melling lie waiting to be discovered.

William Wordsworth, in his popular ‘Guide to the Lakes’ recommended travellers not to miss the Lune Valley on their way to the Lakes.

Lancaster City Council

Economic Development & Tourism Services, 2007

This is how Lancaster City Council describes the Lune Valley in its 2007 tourist brochure

How long will they be able to say this if we do not fight to keep it this way?

...and in 2005

Travelling through the Lune Valley there are breathtaking views at every turn, and two of the best can only enjoyed on foot - such is their beauty, they were both painted by JMW Turner and William Wordsworth also urged travellers to seek them out: Ruskin's View can be enjoyed from the path behind the church in Kirkby Lonsdale, and near the delightful Crook o'Lune riverside picnic site at Caton, Gray's Seat has recently been restored and re-opened to enable people to enjoy a view first described in the 18th century by the poet Thomas Gray".

'... Here Ingleborough behind a variety of lesser mountains, makes the background of the prospect; on each hand of the middle distance, rise two sloping hills; the left clothed with thick woods, the right with variegated rock and herbage: between them in the richest of vallies, the Lune serpentizes for many a mile, and comes forth ample and clear, through a well wooded and richly pastured foreground. Every feature which constitutes a perfect landscape of the extensive sort, is here not only boldly marked, but also in its best position.' Thomas Gray 1769.

Is this the view that Gray, Turner, Wordsworth and Ruskin praised so highly?