Berries galore

Nidderdale Moorland Group

Our managed moorlands were once busy places that were essential to those who lived on them or in the surrounding valleys.

They provided peat and turf for fuel with ling heather also used as kindling, in thatching buildings and for making besom brooms which could be sold.

Bracken and rushes were controlled by regular cutting as they were needed for bedding farm animals in winter.

The moors also provided an autumn harvest of wild berries which could be preserved for the leaner days of winter.

Bilberries, Cranberries, Crowberry, Cowberry, Cloudberry and Rowanberry were once important in the diet of those who lived and worked on or near our uplands, but today are seldom used but still a vital part of our upland flora as they provided autumn and winter food for many species and are part of the wide diversity of specialist moorland plants found on our managed moorlands.