Path repairs on Little Ingleborough using reclaimed stone flags

A Yorkshire Dales quarry firm has put walkers on a firm footing on one of the area’s most visited fells.

The path from Gaping Gill to Little Ingleborough has benefited from the donation of 120 tonnes of gritstone from a company operating close-by. The gift was the first material donation to the recently launched Three Peaks Project.

More than 250,000 walkers pound the paths of the Yorkshire Three Peaks – Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent each year, creating a need for costly footpath maintenance. The project was created to try to create a source of both practical and financial support that will help protect and enhance the area and the rights-of-way network into the future.

A helicopter drops the stone at the site, between Gaping Gill and Little Ingleborough. Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Lafarge, which operates Dry Rigg Quarry, just 6km (3¾ miles) from the site, offered the stone to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which runs the Three Peaks Project and is responsible for maintaining the footpaths in the area. The stone was delivered by helicopter to the site, above one of the area’s biggest subterranean attractions, Gaping Gill.

The stone has been compacted to form a good walking surface on this section of path, on the route to the summit of the most popular of the Three Peaks, Ingleborough. Other work includes a section of reclaimed flagstones.

Three Peaks Project manager Steve Hastie said: “This is the first donation of materials to the project and we are very grateful to Lafarge for it.

“The stone is part of the underlying geology of the hill so it’s great to be using something local.

“We have a very limited budget to pay for the huge annual maintenance bill for the footpath network and a donation like this means we can spend what we have on other vital work needed to look after this fragile area.

Steve Hastie: 'Great to be using something local'

“We hope that, as the project grows, more and more local firms and communities will make donations, whether its materials, willing volunteers or money and by joining the friends of the Three Peaks.”

Dry Rigg Quarry manager Mick Lambert said: “We were happy to help out as partners of the Three Peaks Project. It was a natural decision for us to be involved in this section of the project, as our quarry is situated so close to the peaks.”

The Friends of the Three Peaks was launched in August by Angela Baker, one of the stars of the Rylstone Women’s Institute calendar which was depicted in the Hollywood film Calendar Girls.

Ms Baker’s late husband John was an officer with the park authority and helped launch the original Three Peaks Project in 1983.

The Three Peaks suffer more intense erosion than most other parts of the Yorkshire Dales, partly because of the number of walkers and runners tackling the Three Peaks challenge, which involves summiting the three fell tops in a 39km (24-mile) route in less than 12 hours.

The YDNPA hopes to attract individual and corporate support for the Friends. Details are on the authority’s website.