Fixing or ruining fells?

[shaunaneto]

No doubt there are areas in the lakes that do need "fixing" but the methods employed are more about "reinforcing". In places (Gt Gable) this is a benefit but in areas where there is a grassy alternative, I've noticed the grass is now starting to show wear as this is proving to be a preferable surface to walk or run on rather than the irregularly placed stone blocks. What will they do when this needs fixing too? More stone?

Some of these stone blockwork paths are truly awful and not worth running on tbh. Really hideous things.

[Mike T]

Some of these stone blockwork paths are truly awful and not worth running on tbh. Really hideous things.

These stone paths are clearly not built with runners in mind - some are not even built with walkers in mind - try descending from Red Tarn to Stool End between the Crinkles and 'Blisco - even walking down with decent boots on it is an accident waiting to happen - I prefer to go over 'Blisco and descend the other side.

[Fudge the Elf]

A friend of mine fell and broke his knee whilst running on one of these fixed fell pathways. Had to be MR'd. I tend to run off the slabs where possible for this very reason. Anyway can anyone explain the difference between erosion by human feet, erosion by water (some of the biggest gouges in the landscape are caused by streams and rivers), and to my mind worst of all (and I say this as a sheep keeper), erosion by sheep - not so much by their feet but by the fact they eat any new tree/shrub growth and this in itself results arguably in greater erosion than any effect human feet might have. Trees hold the landscape together, decrease water run off, act as carbon sinks, provide a more diverse habitat. Not saying get rid of all sheep but maybe a planned withdrawal over a period of years. I believe the NT have done this in parts of the Peak District and the result is a magnificent "blooming" of nature. Just thoughts and no pat answers!

[Peter Hayes]

Peat bogs are a special case. Erosion causes new water channels which carries acidic and brown tinted water into the reservoirs, which then has to be treated.

As long as there is money in it, and as long as the delusion is maintained that that the fells are being “fixed”, then this ruination of our paths will continue. The footway builders have long moved on from laying flags only on eroded sections of paths. They put them on non-eroded paths. They even put them where there are no paths at all (eg at CrummockWater below Mellbreak). As the claim that this is being done because of “erosion” wears thin they invent other reasons, as with justifications for putting footways through peat.
The idea that peat bogs are a ‘special case’ in which footways are justified by the risk of polluted drinking water is chilling. It seeks to legitimate the despoliation of paths in a vast swathe of upland Britain. The water companies managed to provide drinking water perfectly well for many years when rambling was a mass leisure pursuit but before the footway building began. And I strongly suspect that water running off a peat bog might be a bit peaty anyway, path or not.

[that_fjell_guy]

it does need more thought, and better alternates to paving slabs. I dare say many will fade back into the landscape and sit quite well but others are horrendous and unnecessary. Pen-y-Ghent one, Devils Kitchen in the Glyders being another.

[JohnK]

Our planet has been eroding from the very beginning of time, and is a perfectly normal evolutionary process that nature controls and there is no single element of nature (including Homo sapiens) that can control the collective power of nature, so just enjoy what we have and adapt to the evolutionary changes.

[TheReverand]

I wonder if they can improve the path over ill and broad crags

[DazTheSlug]

...and to my mind worst of all (and I say this as a sheep keeper), erosion by sheep - not so much by their feet but by the fact they eat any new tree/shrub growth and this in itself results arguably in greater erosion than any effect human feet might have. Trees hold the landscape together, decrease water run off, act as carbon sinks, provide a more diverse habitat. Not saying get rid of all sheep but maybe a planned withdrawal over a period of years. I believe the NT have done this in parts of the Peak District and the result is a magnificent "blooming" of nature...

the transformation in the western end of the Kinder plateau over the past few years is truly remarkable:
previously almost unbroken black peat desert (and hazardous to cross)
fence to keep sheep off
dam up a few groughs
scatter some seed
now effectively the biggest hay meadow I've ever seen (and a joy to cross)

[Ilkley Swimmer]

On a run on Ilkley Moor today, I came across another example of ruining a path under the pretence that is is being "fixed". Some time back, a horrid linear stone flagged path appeared running east to west over the summit. The remnants of the little, meandering and wholly innocuous original footpath can still be traced on the landscape. But in a cynical attempt to stop people using that lovely little path (in places where they have not flagged over it) the footway builders have scattered large rocks all over the path. I have seen this tactic elsewhere. It is all supposedly done to stop "erosion". But the reality is that having built their nasty unwanted stone flagged paths, the footway builders cannot cope with the idea that most people don't like using them. So they deliberately sabotage the original path in the process.

[Derby Tup]

On a run on Ilkley Moor today, I came across another example of ruining a path under the pretence that is is being "fixed". Some time back, a horrid linear stone flagged path appeared running east to west over the summit. The remnants of the little, meandering and wholly innocuous original footpath can still be traced on the landscape. But in a cynical attempt to stop people using that lovely little path (in places where they have not flagged over it) the footway builders have scattered large rocks all over the path. I have seen this tactic elsewhere. It is all supposedly done to stop "erosion". But the reality is that having built their nasty unwanted stone flagged paths, the footway builders cannot cope with the idea that most people don't like using them. So they deliberately sabotage the original path in the process.

Have you got grid ref for this please? I'm curious to have a run out to have a closer look