The National Trust is still dealing with the after effects of Storm Desmond, but is beginning to look at potential solutions to the issue of flooding.

The general manager of the National Trust for the central and east Lake District is considering new schemes that could relieve the pressure on rivers and town centres during times of heavy rainfall.

The Trust has also reopened its historic Townend property at Troutbeck following a huge £150,000 renovation fixing wet rot in the walls.

Mr Barlow was speaking to in-Cumbria/inTheBay as part of our “10 minutes with” series.

So, who is Jeremy Barlow?

“I’m general manager for the National Trust for central and east Lake District.

“I have a dream job really, my job is to get all the things we care for and providing resources to tackle any problems and making sure the area is good for visitors.

“I’ve got teams of rangers out there working with our tenant farmers, maintaining footpaths, looking after the landscape and improving it for nature.

“We’ve got teams of visitor experience staff providing fabulous welcomes and giving some insight into what makes it all so special and of course looking after the fabulous historic buildings we’ve got around the Lakes.

“We have teams of highly skilled builders and building surveyors who care for these buildings and together we work with a great team of volunteers who do a wide variety of jobs right the way through from welcoming people to these historic houses to collecting litter on the fells.”

Dealing with the impact of Storm Desmond

“Keeping on top of all of that, particularly in the light of some of the impact the floods back in December, which we’re still dealing with, a lot of people will have forgotten about that.

“We’re still dealing with bridges that have been damaged, footpaths that have been washed away and now we’re looking more to the longer term things we can be doing to make the Lake District landscape more resilient and tougher and able to face up to the big flood events of the future.

“There is a real task out there now for us to try and restore these places, many of the rivers have been artificially managed for a very, very long time to protect pastures and meadows either side of them.

“The reality of that means that water is then channelled down those corridors and into villages and the effect is exacerbated all the faster.

“We’re involved in places where we can give the rivers a bit more space for them to meander naturally, provide better habitats for wildlife.”

Other challenges to Cumbrian nature and wildlife

“People come to the Lakes and see this beautiful chocolate box image and it really is beautiful and we work very hard to keep it like that.

“But one of the realities is that some of the important habitats, such as lakes and rivers and upland fells are not in the great condition for nature and wildlife that we’d like them to be.

“We are looking at schemes where we can to balance the needs of farming in the Lake District with the needs of the communities downstream and the needs of nature and wildlife.”

Tourism in the Lakes

“It’s important to remember that wildlife is a crucial part of why people visit the Lake District and why tourists come here.

“So many people and businesses are dependent on tourism so it’s important to look after nature and that’s a key priority.

“People when they’re looking at the landscape here, don’t appreciate that we look after around a quarter of the whole national park, the first land was given to the trust in the 1800s and since then we’ve been acquiring land and property and looking after it.

“For us looking after land, nature and getting the balance right between nature and farming is a top priority going forward.”

The recent redevelopment at Townend

“The work we’ve done at Townend is an example of the classic conservation work we’re known for, we look after some of the most precious buildings in the county, we’ve got over 1,500 buildings across the Lake District.

“People only think of us for the places that are open to the public like Hill Top Farm and many of the really important and iconic farm buildings across the Lake District are owned by the Trust.

“Looking after those and maintaining them and looking after the historic fabric of them is a hugely time consuming and costly business and that’s why the support of our members and the visitors that come to the lakes because without that we couldn't’ afford to do it.”