CONSUMER WATCHDOG SET TO CHAMPION THE COUNTRYSIDE AS CHARITY’S NEW PRESIDENT

Countryside champions the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s Peak District & South Yorkshire Branch today announced Sheffield educated television presenter Julia Bradbury as the charity’s new president.

One of television’s most experienced and versatile presenters, she is well-known to audiences as the host of BBC One’s consumer affairs programme Watchdog and a familiar face to those with a love for landscapes and travel following her recently acclaimed series for BBC 4 & 2 Wainwright’s Walks and Channel 5’s new travel series The Rough Guide to…

She joins CPRE as the charity moves forward into its eighty-fifth year of campaigning to conserve and enhance the special qualities of the Peak District and South Yorkshire countryside.

Having travelled around the world it’s remarkable when I come back to Britain how breathtaking the landscapes closer to home are, she reveals on a walk down the Monsal Trail, for a new BBC series about the Beeching railway closures, where she met up with some of the CPRE team. I’m honoured to be asked to be involved with CPRE’s work to protect the Peak District and South Yorkshire countryside which is very close to my heart. The countryside played a huge part in my growing up and I hope I can help encourage more people to get out there and enjoy it, experience how beautiful these landscapes are and support the work of CPRE to help make sure it remains so for the future.

Julia was introduced to the Peak District as a schoolgirl by her father Michael who was born in Tideswell. Their regular outings to the Peak District fostered a great family bond and a life-long passion for the outdoor life which has now led to her new partnership with countryside champions CPRE.

Dad took me all over the Peak District, especially to the White Peak and I have great memories of walks along the Monsal Trail, up to Monsal Head and the amazing viaduct. I tickled my first trout at Shatton and love places like Cressbrook and Monks Dale. We went all over really, she recalls. My grandma lived in Buxton and I spent a lot of time by the streams and in the woods there too.

Sheffield based CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire has been working to ensure a sustainable an positive future for the countryside since 1926 and counts 1,000 Friends of the Peak District and 600 CPRE members amongst its supporters.

Covering a wide geographical area of the Peak District National Park, rural South Yorkshire, the Derbyshire High Peak and seven parishes of North East Derbyshire; the charity supports the efforts of local communities working to protect their valued local countryside by providing free training, technical expertise and campaigning advice. CPRE takes a positive lead on challenges facing the countryside and works for a living, working rural environment for everyone to enjoy.

Having Julia on board will help us to connect with more people who really care about our wonderful countryside in this area, explains CPRE Peak District & South Yorkshire Chief Executive Carol Robinson. She is a vibrant and passionate person who’s affection for the special qualities of our countryside reflects our organisation’s passion to ensure it is protected for the future. We are really looking forward to working with her and appreciate her generous support in helping to promote our work.