Up hill and down dale (and can you fix the footpaths)

And a unique mountain biking break in the Yorkshire Dales – with helping to restore footpaths thrown in for free – is just one in a series of working holidays launched by the National Trust this year.

From harvesting apples and making cider to wild camping and fixing the fells, the National Trust is offering 280 breaks that provide the opportunity to get outdoors and play a part in conserving the country’s natural legacy.

Other breaks on offer include surfing while repairing footpaths in Devon, planting trees while photographing Snowdonia and dry-stone walling alongside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumbria.

In Yorkshire holidaymakers can choose from activities including clearing fallen branches at the deer park at Fountains Abbey and carrying out conservation work at two scheduled ancient monument sites – the peak Alumworks and the Brick Kilns at Ravenscar – while receiving a history lesson from rangers on the Yorkshire coast.

Now the National Trust is looking to expand the programme, which is in its 45th year, to capitalise on the boom in Britons choosing to holiday at home amid the economic downturn.

The trust’s head of holidays, Marianne Wanstall, said: “The working holidays not only ensure that the National Trust’s special places remain open, relevant and accessible, but they also provide amazing opportunities to get onto the land, to learn new skills, to meet new people and to engage with nature and the historic places cared for by the trust.

“From where we started, it has hugely grown. We first ran three in 1967 and had 45 people take part. Last year we had 400 holidays with over 3,000 people, which is a marked difference. I think it does reflect the economy, as well as what people want to do with their time. More people want to plan something new and do something worthwhile. They want to put something back into society and make a difference to people. It’s the Big Society in action – the feeling that they are taking as much from it as they are giving, which is fantastic.”

Mrs Wanstall said the trust had noticed a major growth in its family holiday packages – with more parents wanting to educate their children about the history on their doorstep, while holidaying more frugally.

Among the packages is the Family Conservation Challenge, in Pembrokeshire, which costs £485 for a family of four for three nights. The holiday offers an opportunity to cycle through woodland and take part in conservation tasks, before relaxing by a camp fire. Families then carry out further work on the Stackpole estate and end the week cleaning the famous Freshwater West beach where Harry Potter was filmed.“They are in huge demand. We haven’t got enough of these sorts of holidays and we need to set up more next year because they are so popular,” said Mrs Wanstall.

“Parents want to educate their children about the heritage of their country and that’s why people enjoy them, because they are discovering more about the area they live in.

“It’s a way of discovering places you had no idea existed, while meeting new people and spending time with them in a different way,”

With more than 250,000 hectares of countryside and 710 miles of coastline across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the National Trust views the scheme as a vital way to attract more volunteers to help conserve the landscape.

Mrs Wanstall said: “The trust has a huge tradition of volunteering and we currently have around 60,000 regular volunteers.

“We are working hard to keep it fresh and varied to bring more people in and evidence shows that the working holidays are a huge benefit to the trust, with people giving up their time and skills for us.

“It is a vital set-up for us as it is the thousands and thousands of man hours every year that help us maintain our vast portfolio.”

While the holidays show off stunning landscapes across vast stretches of the UK, Mrs Wanstall said breaks in Yorkshire were particularly popular.

“It’s a way of discovering Yorkshire and giving something back. Places like the Yorkshire Dales and Fountains Abbey really demonstrate the variety of what’s available and it’s just making people aware of what’s on their doorstep,” she added.

This year the National Trust has teamed up with sister organisations in other countries, including France and Slovakia, and has launched a small selection of overseas working holidays.

For more information on the scheme visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk