Repairing the footpath at Stone Arthur

Since our last update, we've been busy working on the footpath at Stone Arthur. We started collecting stone for the path repairs back in April at Tongue Gill, the next valley along from Stone Arthur. The rock was flown by helicopter to site in early May.

Getting ready to fill heli-bags in the snow at Tongue Gill

With the rock in position, we began work. We started on a lower section of path, which had previously been worked on but has since become badly eroded.

Bottom section after bags had been unloaded

As the path was so mobile, we decided to stone pitch roughly 40 metres through the steepest part of the path, until it started to level off.

Completed pitching on bottom section

You can see some of the older repairs in the following photograph. The steps would have originally been put in at ground level and were on the verge of dropping out.

Middle section showing earlier work that is now obsolete

The old steps were removed and the whole length of path was stone pitched to create a sustainable surface to walk on.

Middle section after repairs

As we got higher up the path, it started to level out but was still badly damaged and had got worse over recent years.

Upper section (before)

Upper section during work

At the top of the section we were working on, the erosion was at least a couple of metres wide and you can see in the photograph below how three separate tracks are starting to merge into one.

Eroded top section

By stone pitching the path, it can be narrowed down and the sides can then be revegetated.

Almost completed top section

This section of path is roughly half of the work we're doing up on Stone Arthur this year, as we're also working higher up the path above the work we carried out in 2018.