Peter Simpson - Estate Warden

Peter Simpson

Estate Warden - Dunham Massey, Cheshire

"At school I was the one who was always looking out of the window. They say it's the time of your life, but for me the best two weeks were spent on work experience at the Lindisfarne Nature Reserve. It was wonderful... from then on, I knew what I wanted to do.

I wanted to find a way to work outdoors as soon as I finished my GCSEs, but my parents and teachers persuaded me to stay in education and do my A-levels. I even started out on a degree course in Countryside Management, but fairly soon I knew it wasn't right for me. Then I heard about the Careership Scheme. I thought about it: spend three more years gazing out of different windows, or three years learning real skills, out on the moors and fells. No contest...

It was fantastic when I secured a place. I'd be spending the next three years working in the heart of the Lake District. Protecting the limestone grassland from Arnside to Silverside really was a dream come true.

With only the Head Warden and myself managing the whole estate, I soon picked up all the essentials of being a Countryside Warden and I was finally learning the way I wanted: hands on. Managing and protecting the grassland meant there was a lot to do, but it was always interesting, involving project work like butterfly surveys and community programmes... being bored just wasn't an option.

I loved being up on the fells but college was good too, partly because I really had something in common with the other trainees. Though we worked in different locations around the country, we all really cared about being outdoors and preserving our natural environment.

But making good friends were only one side of my time at college. It was great to be learning something that I was really fascinated by: the theory and techniques I'd need to move on to a permanent position when my training came to a close. Every property the Trust owns is very different, with habitats that are unique and special. Just because you complete a Careership at one location, it doesn't mean you automatically get a job there when you're finished. Staying in the Lake District would have been great, but I knew I had to learn about other environments like woodland, heathland, dunes and wetland, so I could best protect wherever I might be working in the future.

I graduated in 2001, after three fantastic years. I'd learnt a lot of skills and theory, but most importantly, I'd learnt a lot about myself. Standing at the very top of Arnside Knott on a snowy morning, watching the sun warm the Lakes, I knew I'd done the right thing. The Trust must have thought so too... I was amazed to win the Student of the Year Award in 2000.

These days, I'm Estate Warden at Dunham Massey (opens in a new window) in Cheshire. It's a stunning Georgian property, with 3,500 acres of farmland and a 300-acre ancient deer park. I work in a team of three and am really enjoying the contrasts that forest management provides. It's inspiring to put something back into a landscape that has been home to so many plants, animals and people for so long. I look back over my career so far, and really think there isn't a better way to train. Given the choice, I'd do the same again."