The paths in the Three Peaks area take a pounding from 250,000 pairs of boots a year

An artist will donate part of her commission from an exhibition featuring the Yorkshire Three Peaks to a scheme to help their upkeep.

Ilkley pastel artist Lucia Smith will have some of her work on show at the Bainbridge offices of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority from Friday in a display lasting through July and August.

And she will donate 30 per cent of her commission from sales to the Three Peaks Project, set up to help the upkeep of the heavily used paths in the area and to improve the area around the fells, visited by 250,000 walkers each year.

The thousands of boots have taken a toll on Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough and the rights of way between them, and the project aims to enable walkers and outdoor enthusiasts to put something back into the Three Peaks countryside.

Ms Smith is a corporate member of the Friends of the Three Peaks, and has already donated one of her pictures for a raffle.

She uses a pastel technique on underpainted canvas in her work.

The artist said: “Living, working in, and walking on the Yorkshire moors is a constant pleasure – whatever the weather.

“In my search to find more moorland contours with which to play, in the last two years I’ve ‘rediscovered’ the Three Peaks area for myself, and revelled in their familiarity and grandeur.

“A recent 50th birthday was marked by climbing each of them individually, taking time to breathe in the scenery, with the resulting Three Peaks and Moor collection of work.”

Steve Hastie, the authority’s Three Peaks project manager, said: “The footpath network around the Three Peaks constantly needs work doing to it to keep it good shape, so donations from the Friends members – in the form of volunteers, materials or cash – are vital.

“Lucia has already donated a picture for a raffle and her generous offer to give up some of her commission from this exhibition is fantastic.”

The Friends of the Three Peaks group was created to provide a mechanism for individuals or organisations to commit to longer-term support for the authority’s work in the area through annual donations that are ring-fenced for work on and around the Three Peaks.