Visit Bittern initiative - Sustainable Tourism for the Arnside/Silverdale AONB
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Arnside Knott from Sandside access for all scheme winter woodland management by the AONB Volunteers


Visit Bittern

The "Visit Bittern Initiative" arose from the need to find a short, easy name for all those concerned with the conservation, enhancement and economic wellbeing of the Arnside and Silverdale AONB to work with.
The Bittern has been the logo for the AONB from its inception, just as long as the official name has been a source of difficulty. The AONB incorporates parts of the parishes of Beetham, Yealand Redmayne, Yealand Conyers and Warton as well as the whole of Silverdale and Arnside parishes - there was no prospect of a sensible name encompassing all!

When the AONB Sustainable Tourism and Recreation group started promoting the use of the Bittern logo as part of building a unifying identity for the AONB, the Bittern became the obvious choice and the Visit Bittern leaflet of 2006 was one of the first tangible products of that work!

For 2007 a new version of the leaflet is to be printed, this time complemented by this website. Visit Bittern was chosen light heartedly to sound not unlike the official UK Tourism website Visit Britain .

The Arnside/Silverdale AONB Service statutory role is to maintain and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB - a term which includes the landscape qualities, the flora, fauna, physiographical features, geology and cultural heritage of the area. It also seeks to encourage quiet recreational activities where these are not in conflict with the purpose of designation.


We are working with Tourism and Recreation businesses within the AONB to help deliver the vision for the AONB set out in the 2004 Management Plan.

The Vision for the AONB in 2029!
"The Arnside and Silverdale AONB is a distinctive and living landscape in which an intimate mosaic of low limestone hills, woodland, wetland, pastures and coastal scenery characterises much of the area. Important landscape and wildlife features, a diversified rural economy and vibrant local communities co-exist in harmony. Forces for change in the AONB, including demand for development, agricultural change, the threat posed by rising sea levels and other pressures are sensitively managed in ways that integrate the sustainable needs of local communities with the conservation and enhancement of this nationally important landscape."

You can download a copy of our guide to the AONB from here by clicking on the link to
The Bittern.

(Please note this is a large file in pdf format - 2.73 Mb)
You can download a copy of Acrobat Reader by clicking the link below.

Please Contact Us with questions and comments.

© Arnside/Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
November 2008.

Telephone: 01524 761034

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No part of this site - excepting downloadable documents - may be reproduced in any form (electronically or in print) without the written permission of the Arnside/Silverdale AONB Service. The AONB Service is not responsible for the content of any external websites connected from visitbittern.co.uk