A £58,000 project to repair the damage made by thousands of visitors to Penyghent has left walkers divided. Lesley Tate reports.

THE Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has just come to the end of a two month long, £58,000 project to repair damage made by thousands of feet to the north side of one of the national park's famous three peaks.

With an estimated 80,000 people every year climbing Penyghent, at 2,277ft the smallest of the three peaks, the constant battering had led to a scar equal to the size of a football pitch.

Now, more than 200 locally-quarried stone flags have been laid in an operation involving them being taken to the summit by a helicopter - often in driving rain and wind - and put into place by rangers operating diggers.

It is hoped walkers will stick to the new steps, and allow the area around them to return to its original condition.

It is however turned out to be a sensitive issue with dozens of people taking to the national park's Facebook page to comment.

And while some have welcomed the new stone flags, others have complained it has taken away the rugged beauty of the peak, suggesting the park authority install an elevator to the summit, or just simply lay a Tarmac road.

It was indeed only back in the mid 1950s when the Three Peaks Fell Race was held for the first time, that runners were left to find their own way up the peaks - there being no obvious routes.

Kate Hilditch, area manager for the park authority’s ranger service, said the project had drawn on decades of upland path management expertise:

“The sheer number of walkers enjoying Penyghent meant that we had to think very carefully, and put in a path that would not only last but mostly importantly be used. I think we’ve successfully balanced the long-term conservation needs of the area with the demands placed on it by walkers.”

Millions of pounds are raised each year by people scaling Penyghent, as well as Whernside and Ingleborough, as part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge.

The British Heart Foundation’s Fundraising Event Manager, Andy Coles, praised the work:

“For many years now British Heart Foundation walkers have enjoyed the Yorkshire Three Peaks experience, which is heightened by the quality of the paths and the ongoing work by the Yorkshire Dales National Park to prevent scars and erosion. The annual event is a very important fundraiser for us and this year alone, our walkers have raised in excess of £100,000 for our fight against heart and circulatory disease.”

A total of 206 ‘Whitworth Blue’ sandstone flags were supplied by Fairhurst Stone of Settle. The stone came from the company’s quarry in Whitworth in the south Pennines, and was dressed at its factory on Stainforth Road, near the foot of Penyghent.

Managing Director Edward Fairhurst said: “It was really nice to be involved in a local scheme that benefits both the visitors and those that live here. Most of the schemes we get involved in are for London and major towns and cities throughout the UK, so it made a great change and an interesting challenge to do something very different and for the local area."

He added: “We worked very closely with the park authority to supply what was needed and to now see the flags in situ and bringing so much pleasure to everyone visiting the area is very rewarding."

Pennine Way Ranger Colin Chick helped to create the 200 metre path and says every effort has been taken to make them walker friendly.

He said the new cut stone was the same as had been used in other places in the park, and would soon weather and blend in to the landscape.

“If you look closely, you can see lots of black bits. That’s coal. We had the surface of the flags heated with an industrial blow torch to ‘pop’ the coal seams and produce a really grippy effect.

“We have tried more traditional stone pitching in the past but people kept leaving the path, as they found it awkward to walk on and difficult to establish a stride pattern. We accept that these flags are perhaps more regular in appearance, but we’ve found that if you don’t make steps comfortable, people just won’t use them."

Penyghent steps factfile:

Each flag measures 100cm to 150cm long, is 100cm wide and 20cm deep.

The smallest weighed 561kg, while the heaviest was 765kg - more than three quarters of a tonne.

Each flag was carried on its own pallet separately the summit by helicopter.

Penyghent is the seventh most popular route for walkers in Britain, according to Ordnance Survey.

The project was funded by Natural England through the Pennine National Trails Partnership and the YDNPA.