Thanks to our members’ support, Friends of the Lake District has recently funded vital footpath repair work on a popular footpath on Place Fell (above).

Many of our members will be familiar with this well-walked fell in the northern Lake District. It is situated on the shores of Ullswater in Martindale. From the 657 metre high summit walkers are rewarded with panoramic views which include Patterdale and the top of Ullswater. It is one of the more accessible Wainwrights, making it popular with families too.    

Storm Desmond in 2015 caused significant damage to one of the most well-used footpaths on this fell, from Boredale Hause up to the summit. Although emergency government money in the aftermath of the storm funded some footpath repair in the Lake District, this footpath was not eligible for such funding. Friends of the Lake District stepped in by providing this much needed financial support.

The work took two solid weeks to complete and was carried out entirely by specialist fell path contractors using a 7 tonne excavator. Work included deepening side ditches and reinstating and increasing the number of cross drains (or more accurately, water dispersal features). The path surface was re-instated in places where necessary using the subsoil won from the drainage works.

Friends of the Lake District would like to thank our members for generously making this work possible and of course we encourage you to check out this footpath yourselves next time you are in the Lake District!

Image below shows repaired Place Fell footpath showing reinstated cross drain (water dispersal) feature