GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 22

along the shores of Locheil and passing over the
impressive 21-arch viaduct at Glenfinnan. There
are wonderful snapshots of the Small Isles and
Skye as the train runs past the silver sands of
Morar before pulling in to Mallaig - a small
fishing town and ferry port that's the gateway to
the Outer Hebrides.

channel at the
southern end of
the lough.
Tidy up the
North Yorkshire
Moors Help clear
vegetation on
The Bridestones
Nature Reserve
and restore
footpaths along
the coast. The
North York Moors
National Park
covers an area
of almost 1500
square kilometres
and contains the
largest extent of
heather moorland
in England and
Wales. It's a
vast, beautiful
and quiet place,
with windswept
heather, towering
sea cliffs, protected
beaches and grassy dales. You'll stay at Lockton
Youth Hostel, one of the few accommodations in
the UK to have earned the EU Flower, an eco
label awarded to environmentally friendly places
to stay. From the hostel there are some lovely
walks in Cropton Forest and Levisham Beck, or
you could extend your stay and cycle along the
Moor to Sea cycle route - 130km of forest tracks,
green lanes, minor roads and dismantled railway
lines linking inland Pickering with the coastal
towns of Scarborough and Whitby ( W www.
moortoseacycle.net).

Need to know Single travellers share sleeping
berths only with passengers of the same sex.
The sleeper runs daily except Saturday nights,
year-round. Book early and you might be one of
the lucky few to snap up a “Bargain Berth” ticket,
from £19 single; otherwise tickets cost from £112
return. www.firstgroup.com/scotrail; tel: +44 (0)
845 755 0033.

026 voluNteeR oN a NatioNal
tRuSt woRkiNG holiday

Join a working holiday organized by the
National Trust and do your bit for conservation
while enjoying exclusive access to some of the
UK's most secluded, beautiful and historic
locations. These voluntary holidays are no longer
just about hedge-laying and dry-stone walling;
many of the Trust's four hundred working
weekends and week-long breaks include learning
a specific skill, from surfing to making cider,
building a yurt or running an outdoor concert.
Here are three of our favourites:
Work and Surf, Devon Spend five days
helping wardens repair the coastal footpaths
around Morte Coastal Estate, then receive two
days' surfing lessons from a professional surf
instructor on Woolacombe Beach.
Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland Explore
the shoreline and islands of the largest sea-
lake in Britain and Ireland, which is Northern
Ireland's first marine nature reserve and
home to some eighty islands. You'll help with
conservation projects on the estate - typically by
clearing scrub and planting trees - while staying
at Castle Ward, a former gamekeeper's cottage
in a wood alongside “the narrows”, an 8km-long

Volunteers repairing a dry-stone
wall on Exmoor, north Devon

Need to know Full information on all available
working holidays at W www.nationaltrust.org.
uk/volunteering; T [phone]. For
photos, interviews with volunteers and a useful
brochure that includes working holidays not on
the website, contact Alison Dalby (alison.dalby@
nationaltrust.org.uk; T [phone]).