Fix the Fells and Friends of the Lake District team up

As part of their ‘Great landscapes’ festival volunteers from the Friends of the Lake District recently joined Fix the Fells for three days on Martcrag Moor, high above the Langdale valley. There they worked together to repair a path built on sheep fleece across boggy ground which had been damaged by water run-off in heavy rain over the winter.

Maintenance of paths like this is crucially important to ensure the path continues to do its job of providing a sustainable surface for those following this route, thereby helping to protect the surrounding delicate upland landscape from erosion.

Over 3 days of very warm and sunny weather we dug a ‘borrow pit’ close to the path, removing the top turves and peat to get down to the stone and gravel below which could be mined out and used to resurface the path. Three stone cross drains were also installed in the path to prevent the water damaging it again in the future and when the work was complete the borrow pit was filled back in and landscaped.

Repairing paths is hard work, so we were very pleased to have had the extra help brought by the Friends of the Lake District volunteers on this job. They might have a different name to Fix the Fells but we’re both working towards similar aims to help look after the Lake District’s lovely landscapes!

 

Published: 30th August 2022