Ethel Haythornthwaite Heritage Plaque Appeal

We are raising money to purchase and install a 'blue heritage plaque' in Sheffield to mark the life and work of our founding spirits – the pioneering environmentalists Ethel and Gerald Haythornthwaite. Please support us.

 Ethel Mary Bassett Ward was born in Sheffield in 1894. Following the death of her first husband in the First World War, her family persuaded her to take walks in the countryside around the city for her health. Ethel became enamoured by the local countryside. She established a charity in 1924 (now known as CPRE Peak District and South Yorkshire  ) and dedicated the rest of her life to protecting the local countryside.

Gerald Haythornthwaite joined the charity in 1936. He and Ethel married in 1937. Together they became a tour de force of
environmentalism. The establishment of the first National Park (the Peak District), creating and protecting the Green Belt around
Sheffield, and campaigning to save the Longshaw Estate, are just a few of their major achievements.

 A collective of people and organisations in Sheffield (including CPRE PDSY, the Sheffield Star, Olivia Blake MP, University of Sheffield, and Councillor Anne Murphy) are hoping to mark the achievements of Ethel and Gerald Haythornthwaite by fundraising to purchase and erect a blue heritage plaque close to where the couple worked in Endcliffe.

Please donate as soon as possible to help us fund this tribute to them.

Any excess funds from the appeal will be donated to the ongoing work of the charity that Ethel founded.