The bridge has been put back in position near Ravenstonedale. Photo: YDNPA
National park rangers have restored a footbridge in the Westmorland Dales after flood water lifted it from its supports earlier this year.
The work means a popular circular walk from the village of Ravenstonedale can again be enjoyed by the public.
Flood waters ripped the bridge from its abutments and left it languishing against a wall.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority ranger service carried out the work after Cumbria County Council consented to the scheme and an ecological impact assessment was carried out. A local contractor built stone and mortar walls either side of the stream, near Scandal Beck, and laid concrete pads, allowing the structure to be lifted into place.
The footbridge forms a key part of a circular route from the nearby village to Bowber Head, returning either via Ash Fell or Low Lane.
The work was funded through the Discovering the Westmorland Dales project, part of the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership scheme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Member champion for recreation management at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Nick Cotton, said: “Keeping public rights of way open, well maintained and easy to use on behalf of Cumbria County Council, and helping landowners with stiles and gates, is our bread and butter.
Storm water had ripped the bridge from its foundations. Photo: YDNPA
“It’s been just over four years now since the national park was extended to include the Westmorland Dales and it’s been great to see how rangers have gone about improving the state of the rights-of-way network and building relationships with local farmers and landowners.
“In the west area of the national park, reaching from Kirkby Lonsdale in the South to Sedbergh and beyond to the Westmorland Dales, there are 339 footbridges. This one crossed a tributary only a few metres away from Scandal Beck, just upstream from Ravenstonedale village.
“As is typical in the Dales, innocent little streams can become pretty vicious after heavy rainfall and the footbridge couldn’t withstand the force of the water. Rangers have put back the bridge slightly higher than before and carried out some landscaping. I’m glad to see it looking well again.
“Ravenstonedale is a beautiful part of the world and a quiet place to see wildlife such as red squirrels and kestrels.”
