Declining church attendance figures are masking a boom in cathedral and abbey congregations as believers

Declining church attendance figures are masking a boom in cathedral and abbey congregations as believers abandon their parishes for up-market music and liturgy. Figures published last week showed that only 7.5 per cent of the population are worshippers compared with 12 per cent 20 years ago. Mr Waddilove said: “The companies, with the exception of North West Water, have left something to be desired, but they are still better for access than other local landlords. Mr Spray said: “There has been careful control of pesticides to protect the quality of water, so the impact on local areas was very good ecologically.”Their approach raises the question of why the MoD, so reluctant to open up its training areas, cannot do likewise Yorkshire Water appears, finally, to be yielding. Mr Beskine said: “When the Right to Roam becomes law, Yorkshire Water will have to open up its moorland, so it might as well do it sooner rather than later.”Others feel that the fact that the land was once publicly owned should weigh heavily.

“It’s a good way to meet customers that doesn’t involve rows over bills or blocked pipes. Instead of seeing the gates go up, we’ve had the opposite,” said Chris Spray, environment manager of Northumbrian Water.The moors and hills owned by the water companies are havens for wildlife. Thames Water won an award for a walk along the top of its northern outfall sewer in east London, and helped to open a wetland haven for birds in west London.An amendment in the 1989 Privatisation Act imposed a duty on companies to promote recreation and access for the public; they saw a simple way of gaining some much-needed positive public relations. The Duke of Westminster owns another third which is closed to the public and has few raptors.Other water companies have opened up land and are even making a modest profit from tourist facilities.

Kielder reservoir, owned by Northumbrian Water, attracts 300,000 people a year and provides marked walks, cycle trails, windsurfing and log cabins. But it can also be said that others have taken steps to balance these two forces. The stewardship record of North West Water, which owns 142,000 acres, is exemplary. A third of the Forest of Bowland is owned by the company and is home to 70 per cent of the UK’s hen-harrier population. “It irritates me because Yorkshire Water has a duty to open up its land.”Yorkshire Water points out that it has provided 18 miles of new paths around Howarth Moor in the past five years. “We reject the accusation that we are suspicious of the public,” said Miles Foulger, its environment and catchment manager.

“We welcome the clarity that the Right to Roam Bill will bring. In the meantime, we’re quietly making links for the public that go beyond legal requirements. We’ve made bunk barns in Nidderdale so walkers can break their hikes.”One obstacle Yorkshire Water faces is that its land is often surrounded by other estate owners who are hostile to granting access to the public. In the Peak District, it has cited opposition by tenant farmers as the reason for failing to provide promised access to stretches of moorland at Thurlstone and Snailsden.”They could have done more to open up the moors,” said Rodney Waddilove, chairman of the West Riding branch of the Ramblers’ Association. But the eastern flanks of the moor are owned by Yorkshire Water, a company described by campaigners for greater access as “permeated by dislike and fear of the public”.Yorkshire Water is the biggest landowner in the county, with 123,500 acres. “Yorkshire Water will always find a reason why something cannot happen.”Ramblers point to protracted disputes in Upper Nidderdale, where Yorkshire has denied access to the moorlands, opening up a path along the watershed and footpaths around Scar House reservoir only after tortuous negotiations. “It has been mean and unpleasant and has taken the minimalist approach,” said David Beskine, campaigns and policy director of the Ramblers’ Association.