Heritage Lottery Fund: 11 views to savour, saved

Croydon, regarded by many as a concrete wasteland, is to get lottery money to protect its "spectacular scenery" as part of a programme designed to conserve the nation's best-loved views.

It is one of Croydon's best-kept secrets – even to the people who live in the town – that the River Wandle starts there before winding its way, sometimes under concrete, to join the Thames at Wandsworth.

The Wandle's "green corridor" – much of which is in Croydon – is one of 11 glorious landscapes that has won a share of £18.3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Others on the list include Lindisfarne, the Gower Peninsula, and the Lomond Hills – landscapes traditionally more associated with the descriptions "beautiful", "stunning" and "worth protecting".

Dame Jenny Abramsky, chairman of the HLF, said: "Landscapes speak to the heart, inspiring people in all sorts of ways."

Lindisfarne

The exposed North Northumberland coastal landscape combines beauty and heritage. As the Cradle of Christianity in the UK, it boasts a unique place in history.

Stiperstones and Corndon Hill

Two ridges in Shropshire and Powys that are closely associated with a heritage of mining and quarrying. Among the projects created from £1.4m of Heritage Lottery Fund money will be a new apprenticeship scheme.

Morecambe Bay

A £2m grant will fund training, archaeological digs, oral history and address the potential of climate change in and around the vast and sometimes deadly inter-tidal sand and mudflats.

South Dorset Ridgeway

One of Europe's most diverse Neolisthic and Bronze Age landscapes will have grassland, heathlands and woodland wildlife habitats restored with a £1.9m grant. It lies between Dorchester and Weymouth.

Suffolk Heritage Coast

As one of the UK's fastest eroding coastlines, a three-year project is designed to conserve the area and its history, including the story of how the town of Dunwich was lost. It features low-lying shingle beaches and estuaries in a narrow coastal strip from Felixstowe to Kessingland.

Gower

The peninsula was one of the first places in the UK to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It attracts thousands of visitors every year and the £1.3m funding will help bring invasive species under control. ALAMY

Lower Derwent ValleyLegend has it that the valley was the inspiration for the nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye Baby". Its heritage as the birthplace of the factory system, will be explored using lottery money.

Lomond Hills

Two volcanic sills – sheets of ancient magma which once forced their way between layers of rock – make a distinctive natural landmark in an area associated with mining and limestone quarrying. The £1.8m grant will fund a project to promote the area's heritage.

The Glens of Antrim

Along the coast of Antrim are found nine spectacular glens. They are a popular destination for visitors and £1.5m of funding will help to promote sustainable tourism and restore or conserve natural and man-made features. ALAMY

River Tay

Funding of £1.5m will help conserve or restore a landscape that is recognised as internationally important. It has the UK's largest area of reedbeds and is the only place in Scotland where the rare bearded tit breeds.

Wandle Valley

Described as a "green corridor" running through four south London boroughs – Wandsworth, Merton, Sutton and Croydon. The river project will get £1.9m for urgent conservation work to restore the natural ecosystem.