Photo: Terry Madeley
Ilkley Moor has won the prestigious Purdey Gold Award for game and conservation.
On 25 November the Duke of Wellington presented the award to Edward Bromet, chairman of the Bingley, Burley and Ilkley Moors Partnership, and to head keeper Simon Nelson and beat keepers Michael Smith and James Gott, for their role in protecting and restoring populations of red grouse on the moor.
The annual Purdey Awards recognise those gamekeepers and land managers who achieve outstanding results in shoot management and conservation. Red grouse had almost disappeared from Ilkley Moor when the Partnership took over its management in 2008, but the game bird is now thriving on the Yorkshire moorland, thanks to the tireless conservation efforts of those working across its 1,500 acres.
James Horne, chairman of James Purdey & Sons, said: “Well over two million people live in the towns and cities around Ilkley Moor, so restoring wild red grouse numbers, while balancing the diverse needs of all the different groups who enjoy the landscape, is a tremendous achievement and an example of how these things should be done across the country.”
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