As part of our Great Landscapes Festival this year, our volunteers joined Fix the Fells for 3 days on Martcrag Moor, high above the Langdale valley. There they worked together to repair a path built on sheep fleece across boggy ground which had been damaged by water run-off in heavy rain over the winter. 

Friends of the Lake District is proud to be a partner of Fix the Fells who protect our spectacular Lakeland fells from erosion by repairing and maintaining its upland paths. Staffed largely by volunteers, Fix the Fells repairs and maintains 344 upland paths, covering 410 miles (661 km).

Maintenance of paths like this is crucially important to ensure the path continues to do its job of providing a sustainable surface for those following this route, thereby helping to protect the surrounding delicate upland landscape from erosion.

Pictured: Volunteers constructing a drain to take water from the path

Over 3 days of very warm and sunny weather, volunteers dug a ‘borrow pit’ close to the path, removing the top turves and peat to get down to the stone and gravel below which could be mined out and used to resurface the path. 3 stone cross drains were also installed in the path to prevent the water damaging it again in the future and when the work was complete the borrow pit was filled back in and landscaped.

Pictured: Volunteers filling the borrow pit back in

Repairing paths is hard work, so we were very pleased to be able to provide some extra help for the amazing Fix the Fells team on this job who work tirelessly to help look after the Lake District’s amazing landscapes and ensure that we can all access them.

Special thanks to Fix the Fells for providing us with this summary of the work carried out and the images of our volunteers working alongside those from Fix the Fells. You can find out more about this vital work via its website.

www.fixthefells.co.uk