Fixing or ruining fells?

[IanDarkpeak]

Helped by the path?

and the reseeding....certainly the path lower down is hard to see now the grass has grown. Was on Bleaklow early this week on a navigation course and that is also looking green.

I've been on Howden edge (HPM Route) after outer edge twice this week and that's also been reseeded making the path much harder to see as it's greener...but no slabs thankfully

[Ilkley Swimmer]

This is the stone slabbed footway on Ilkley Moor. Note the simple and inoffensive footpath to the right of the picture. The footway builders just dumped a line of stone slabs down on the heather next to it. Why?

Cellar & Footway 024.jpg

[Ilkley Swimmer]

Then, after they built their stone pavement on top of the heather, the footway builders decided to impede people from walking/running on the lovely little footpath running next to it. So they dumped a load of stones all over it:

aaa blocked path.jpg.

It is this kind of behaviour that I find objectionable. What gives them the right to deliberately scatter stones over a footpath? And who asked them to lay down their stone slabs on the heather in the first place?

[brummievet]

It is this kind of behaviour that I find objectionable. What gives them the right to deliberately scatter stones over a footpath? And who asked them to lay down their stone slabs on the heather in the first place?

And what about the cost?!! There must be a few quid's worth of stone there!

[Graham Breeze]

And what about the cost?!! There must be a few quid's worth of stone there!

Maybe, but as a fell runner, mountain biker, Ilkley resident (and therefore paying for the slabs through my Council Tax) and one who does not consider Ilkley Moor to be his personal property, I consider it money well spent.

These slabs form part of the Jack Bloor Fell Race route and most runners are very happy to use them in the race even though they do not follow the direct line.

[Ilkley Swimmer]

The slabs have - indeed - been laid down on part of the Jack Bloor route. I'm not sure, however, about the claim that most runners are "happy" with them. I suppose some who also enjoy road running might be. But the Jack Bloor is a fell race (and a superb one at that). The little footpath that was there before was absolutely fine. I can recall no campaign for it to be paved over and no announcement warning that it would be. The helicopter just arrived one day in Ilkley, dropped a whole load of stones in bags and before we knew it we had a stone footway. There was no consultation at all. It just appeared and that was it. And what about the stones scattered deliberately to obstruct the old path (at the other end, beyond the Jack Bloor route, near to the 12 apostles)? Why is that acceptable?

[Toast_under_beans]

It's a difficult one. Stickle Ghyll gets c.250,000 visitors per year, that a lot of wear and tear plus the use by the farmer. If there was no footpath work then a path naturally gets wider and wider as use increases and erosion down the hill gets worse - which makes the footpath worse. The present system channels people in to the path and channels water off the path with a series of cross drains.

Not great for running but if done well then visually a better result and more hard wearing for all users.

[Derby Tup]

Maybe, but as a fell runner, mountain biker, Ilkley resident (and therefore paying for the slabs through my Council Tax) and one who does not consider Ilkley Moor to be his personal property, I consider it money well spent.

These slabs form part of the Jack Bloor Fell Race route and most runners are very happy to use them in the race even though they do not follow the direct line.

I am struggling to understand the strength of feeling raised by the slabbed footpaths. There are huge swathes of unpathed, wet, boggy runnable (and not really runnable) ground in this area of Wharfedale so why not run somewhere else?

[mr brightside]

There are huge swathes of unpathed, wet, boggy runnable (and not really runnable) ground in this area of Wharfedale so why not run somewhere else?

I can't say i've ever seen a single slab on any of my Wharfedale runs, my biggest problem is rabbit holes and those sunken grassed-over bog drains.

Edit: ...and heather, the curse of many feral routes.

[Peter Hayes]

You can walk or run around at random anywhere in upland Britain. But paths do not cross the countryside at random. They follow natural lines, visit summits, follow ridges etc. It is these natural lines that are being ruined by being turned into footways.