Countryside Service Volunteers

Derbyshire County Council’s Countryside Service welcomes volunteers to help them care for the countryside and the historic built environment.  There are a wide range of ways that volunteers can be involved, from helping to survey and improve public rights of way, to helping to manage Cromford Canal and the High Peak Trail, to assisting on guided walks and countryside events.  Conservation work covers a wide range of habitat management, including tree felling, reed pulling, grass cutting and vegetation clearance. Practical skills will be called upon with repairs of our numerous gates, fences and drystone walls.

In addition to volunteering with the Countryside Service, regular conservation work parties are also run by the Friends of Cromford Canal. There are also opportunities available to volunteer aboard ‘Birdswood’, the heritage canal boat that operates from Cromford Wharf.

If you are interested in the heritage aspects of the World Heritage Site, such as Leawood Pump House and Middleton Top Engine House, then the Leawood Pump House Group will welcome new volunteers.

If you are interested in volunteer work such as this within the World Heritage Site, please contact the Rangers at Middleton Top Visitor Centre on 01629 533298 to talk through the opportunities available or visit

www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/countryside/volunteering/countryside-volunteering.aspx