Commons Stories

Commons Stories is a collection of stories from four upland common regions across England: Dartmoor, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and the Shropshire Hills.

You’ll find written and photographic portraits of people, short videos, audio clips, and reflections on events through the year, as well as reflections on some of the challenges of building sustainable futures for people and landscape in these special places.

The collection is put together by somewhere nowhere duo, writer Harriet Fraser and photographer Rob Fraser, with contributions from commoners using GoPro cameras to capture snippets of their day-to-day lives on the farm and in the hills.

 
 
Dartmoor Harriet Rob Fraser Dartmoor Harriet Rob Fraser

Natural Flood Management, Dartmoor Spring Mire Restoration

As part of a wider plan for natural flood management, the spring mires on Harford Common are being restored. It’s a process that helps the land hold water that flows from the springs, and encourages the recovery of a wetland habitat, with sphagnum mosses, and peat. Angelique McBride shares insights into the project, in conversation with Harriet Fraser.

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Funding

The Our Upland Commons project was a three-year, £3m, 25-partner project made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (thanks to National Lottery players) along with grants from Esmée Fairbairn and Garfield Weston Foundations.  

Local funders were Dartmoor: South West Water, the Duchy of Cornwall, the Dartmoor Preservation Association and Devon Wildlife Trust, amongst others. Shropshire: the Millichope Foundation, amongst others. Yorkshire Dales: Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, amongst others. Lake District: the Lake District National Park Authority, amongst others.