News  »  Lighting of Eskdaleside Beacon

The Queen, Accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will light the Principal Beacon to Celebrate Her Majesty’s 90^th Birthday on Thursday 21^st April.

To celebrate The Queen’s 90^th Birthday, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will invite Her Majesty The Queen to light the Principal Beacon on 21^st April at Windsor Castle. This will be followed by the lighting of a number of Beacons along the Long Walk, Windsor Great Park, including one at the Copper Horse, and then over 1,000 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK overseas Territories and a Commonwealth Country to celebrate this landmark birthday.

Many different organisations are taking part from all areas of the local community by lighting Beacons, including Town, Parish and Community Councils and Youth Organisations. Beacons will be lit at churches, on farms, country parks, village greens and on country estates. Lighthouses, National Trust and English Heritage properties are also taking part.

The Army Cadet Force are taking special gas fuelled Beacons to the top of the Four Highest Peaks in the UK:

. Ben Nevis – Scotland (1^st Battalion Highlanders Army Cadet Force)

. Mount Snowdon – Wales (Clwyd and Gwynedd Army Cadet Force)

. Scafell Pike – England (Cumbria Army Cadet Force)

. Slieve Donard – Northern Ireland (2^nd NI Battalion Army Cadet Force)

Bruno Peek, LVO, OBE, OPR, Pageantmaster, The Queen’s 90^th Birthday Beacons said, “It has been a enormous privilege to be able to organise this amazing community event to celebrate the 90^th Birthday of Her Majesty The Queen. I am delighted to see so many different organisations playing their part.”

The Beacons on top of the Four Peaks will be lit at 7.15pm with all other Beacons being lit between 7.30 and 8.30pm that evening.

Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby Parish Council, with the kind permission of the landowner, Grosmont Estate, and help from the Sleights Grouse Moorkeepers, will be arranging for the Eskdaleside Beacon to be lit at 7.30pm.

Access to the beacon on Sleights Moor is on foot only via the rights of way (which are also hard tracks) between Fairhead and Blue Bank. Grosmont Estate has stressed it is a sensitive time of the year to visit the moorlands due to the ground bird nesting season and the access routes from Fairhead (past Lowther Crag) or Blue Bank all cross moorland which is SSSI, SPA and SAC. Therefore if you wish to attend and see the beacon being lit please keep to the tracks as mentioned above and please no dogs.  There will be no car parking available at the Fairhead access, but people may park in the car parks at the top of Blue Bank.