The newly constructed wall, with the the historic stone pitching in the foreground. Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Walkers on Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route will benefit from work carried out by volunteers on a footpath through the Yorkshire Dales.

Members of the Ragged Robin Conservation Group have built their own ‘great wall’ to stop a Swaledale path disappearing into the river.

The route, at Healaugh, has been shored up and restored using 30 tonnes of stone in a 40m section of wall. The path is used by thousands of walkers each year on their journey across England from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire.

The volunteer team has worked with the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority in the project at the site, west of the village of Reeth. A wire-link fence has also been built in to the wall to hold it in place, and soil and grass laid back into the path surface.

Ian Broadwith, area ranger for Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, said: “We were in imminent danger of losing the footpath to erosion by the river.

“This is a very popular walk along the banks of the River Swale and is used by many people who are doing the Coast to Coast.

“Paths in this part of the dale provide excellent walks along both banks of the river. To lose them to erosion would have a huge impact on people’s enjoyment of the area, so it is important that we try to hold on to them. The work also helped to protect the historic stone pitching on this section of riverbank that provides a solid surface leading down to the river’s edge.

“This type of work is a method of revetment and it was chosen because there is a huge population of rabbits in the area.

“The other option would have been willow spiling, which involves weaving and embedding willow shoots into the river bank, anchoring them with posts and allowing them to grow and form a natural defence wall. But I think the rabbits would have devoured the young willow shoots before they could establish themselves.

“Revetment work of this type is expensive and takes many hours to complete. In the current economic climate, funding for this kind of work by the YDNPA will be more difficult so it is important for landowners and farmers to keep on top of the rabbit population.

The path before the wall was built. Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

“The rabbit warrens up and down the river banks have a destabilising effect on the banks because flood water gets in to them and then the whole area collapses and is lost to the river.”

The Ragged Robin group, which includes some Dales Volunteers, works every week with Mr Broadwith and access ranger Paul Sheehan in Lower Wensleydale.

The volunteers were presented with an award in 2010 by the then Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.

Malcolm Petyt, the authority’s member champion for recreation management, said: “We can so easily underestimate the value of the work that volunteers can do to help preserve and improve this wonderful landscape for the enjoyment of others and this piece of work is a fitting tribute and testament to their skills and commitment to the work of the Yorkshire dales National Park Authority.”