Sir Martin Holdgate has known Westmorland from childhood. Growing up in Blackpool, the Eden Valley was his holiday home and the stimulus to his growing interest in the countryside. In 1956 he first wrote about the area with a History of Appleby as a digression from his work as an academic biologist. Since then he has been an Antarctic scientist, University Lecturer, Director of Conservation Research, Civil Servant, co-ordinator of national action to combat environmental pollution and Director General of the World Conservation Union. He has worked extensively with the United Nations and was co-Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Martin Holdgate was knighted in 1994 and in 2000 he and his wife Elizabeth retired to live in the Eden Valley.

Sir Martin Holdgate has known Westmorland from childhood. Growing up in Blackpool, the Eden Valley was his holiday home and the stimulus to his growing interest in the countryside. In 1956 he first wrote about the area with a History of Appleby as a digression from his work as an academic biologist. Since then he has been an Antarctic scientist, University Lecturer, Director of Conservation Research, Civil Servant, co-ordinator of national action to combat environmental pollution and Director General of the World Conservation Union. He has worked extensively with the United Nations and was co-Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Martin Holdgate was knighted in 1994 and in 2000 he and his wife Elizabeth retired to live in the Eden Valley.