Striding out on a crisp Sunday morning in glorious sunshine, optimistic of stunning views and photos on the summit, only to end up huddled against a rock as your lunch box fills with rainwater.
It's a familiar experience for many fell walkers in the Lake District, but not one that appears to dampen spirits or enthusiasm, with record visitor numbers arriving every year. The fell paths themselves face a similar battle with the elements and the added stress of 8 million pairs of eager feet every year can lead to considerable erosion.
It's not just your walking boots that get worn; the paths themselves also sustain considerable wear and tear. When vegetation becomes trampled, the soil is exposed and at the mercy of the weather. Rainfall washes soil away and gradually paths turn into channels for water to run down, becoming deeper over time. These muddy channels are difficult to walk in, so people walk to the side. The process is then repeated until several channels merge to form a large scar in the landscape, often visible from miles away.
It looks unsightly but this erosion can also have consequences for the environment. Peat and vegetation are great at storing carbon. With the erosion of soil and vegetation, it is released into the atmosphere and contributes to the build-up of greenhouse gases.
Lake District soils that have taken 10,000 years to accumulate can be washed away into the lakes and rivers in a single storm once the vegetation has been trampled and the silting-up of water bodies leads to further environmental problems. Thankfully, it's not an issue that's gone unnoticed and local organisations have been working together to address the issues that path erosion raises.
In 2002, The Lake District National Park Authority, National Trust and Natural England formed the partnership project 'Fix the Fells' to tackle to issues and help to repair and maintain upland paths. The project, funded by the partners, public donations, Friends of the Lake District, Nurture Lakeland, the Ramblers Association and match funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has already repaired over 160 paths with a further 60 earmarked for repair work. Repairing the paths can be far from simple as John Atkinson, National Trust Project Officer for Fix the Fells, explains:
"Many of the locations we work in are extremely remote and the only way to get there is on foot. We have to carry all the tools, equipment and, most importantly, our lunch with us. Sometimes it can take up to three hours just to walk to site, so in the summer we do five day's work in four to make the most of our time working on the paths.
"Each path is a completely different challenge. We employ both traditional and cutting edge techniques in our repairs, from stone pitching to 'floating' paths on sheep fleeces. We set out to do as little remedial work as possible to solve a problem. The aim is to keep paths looking as natural as we can. We don't touch natural erosion".
Thanks to the Fix the Fells teams, much of the major repair work has now been completed and the main challenge today is ensuring that regular maintenance and repair work is carried out and that visitor numbers can be sustained along with the landscape they come to see. With such a huge territory to care for, the project has relied heavily on the efforts of volunteers who have been instrumental in making the project a success.
Fix the Fells incorporates a voluntary lengthsman scheme whereby volunteers carry out much of the routine maintenance. Newly recruited volunteers will also undergo training in dealing with the public, first aid and navigation. In total, around 1,000 volunteer work days per year are carried out by lengthsmen.
The current project funded by the HLF will end after 2011, when around 180 paths and the corresponding landscapes will have been repaired. It's vital that repair and maintenance work carries on if we want to sustain visitor numbers along with the landscape that they come to enjoy.
So the next time you engage in battle with the elements and venture out for a day exploring the stunning Lake District fells, consider the fight against erosion and determine to give a little something back to the places you love by supporting Fix the Fells.
Stay on the paths - Walking along the side of worn paths widens them faster and damages slow-growing mountain plants vulnerable to trampling.
Avoid shortcuts - Water will soon follow your tracks and an erosion scar will form
Don't add to cairns - Paths need stones more than cairns do
Become a volunteer - Fix the Fells are recruiting for volunteer lengthsmen and events organisers in January 2011. For information please email: info@fixthefells.co.uk
Make a donation - You can donate online by clicking here, or set up a direct debit by phoning +44 (0) 1539 822622.
Photography by James Bell.
