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Raising the Standard
Kirkby Stephen
Aim
To improve a section of Wainwright's Coast to Coast footpath near Nine Standards Rigg, on the border between Cumbria and North Yorkshire.
About the Project
Voted the second best walk in the world by the readers of Country Walking magazine, Wainwright’s 190-mile Coast to Coast trail attracts thousands of walkers each year. The route from Kirkby Stephen, via Nine Standards Rigg, to Keld in the Yorkshire Dales National Park crosses large areas of blanket bog and takes in some of the most beautiful places in England.
But despite its beauty and popularity, or probably because of it, the route is suffering. The high amount of foot traffic along certain parts of the route is exacerbating the peat erosion and damaging the structure of the peat.
To combat this the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has set up alternate routes to be taken during the winter months in an attempt to re-direct walkers away from fragile parts. However, the area near Nine Standards Rigg is still extremely boggy with very little vegetation. With no clear route to follow, walkers have found themselves lost and some have even become stuck in the bog. Just last year a walker became immersed in the peat resulting in a team of five volunteers from Kirkby Stephen Mountain Rescue being called out to free him.
The Plan
From money raised through grants and this Crowdfunding campaign the North Pennines AONB Partnership, in collaboration with the Friends of the North Pennines*, are proposing to lay stone flags along a section of the route from Nine Standards Rigg, into North Yorkshire. The flags will ‘float’ on top of the peat giving walkers a stable surface to walk on, while encouraging them to stick to a dedicated route. This will run alongside a project to restore the bare peat adjacent to the route.
This section of the Coast to Coast is not a Public Right of Way but accessed as a permissive route and under the Open Access legislation. To ensure future maintenance of the route, Cumbria County Council has agreed to dedicate this as an official Right of Way once the improvements have been completed.
Crowdfunding
We need your help and support for this project to ensure it is successfull. Please donate as much as you can to make this project a success. We are working on this project with the Friends of the North Pennines. This mean your pledge will be eligible for Gift Aid, allowing us to increase our total.
Please share this campaign with friends, family, work colleagues and anyone else in your phone book. The more people we can reach the more funds we can raise to flag the entire section.
Incentives
A stunning photographic print of Nine Standards Rigg, from shortlisted Guardian World Photographer 2014, Paul Kingston
An A3 limited edition, unmounted print from local artist Ann Sandell. There are five images to chose from consisting of Nine Standards Rigg and the surrounding landscape. Prints will be available on a first come first served basis as there are only 2 prints per image.
A Coast to Coast Challenge book, published by The Wainwright's Society.
A beautiful limited edition print of Nine Standards Rigg, by local artist Anne Mason.
A stunning, limited edition print of Nine Standards Rigg, by local artist Simon Wilson. Or the original piece or artwork is also available.
'Boots' an amazing double mounted print from local artist Lesley Rowe. Lesley is a contemporary artist, living and working in Kirkby Stephen. Print is 18" x 10".
Support for the project
Julia Bradbury - "As someone who has tackled this trail a number of times, and actively extolled the virtues and delights of The Coast to Coast Walk on TV/DVD and in book form, I had mixed emotions when hearing about the serious trail erosion taking place.
Not only is this route one of the most iconic legacies of the great Alfred Wainwright, but for all sorts of other reasons more and more people are wanting to get out and "walk the walk". This trend must surely be encouraged and supported where necessary.
I am therefore delighted that the North Pennines AONB partnership is planning to start a crowd funding campaign to raise money for the renovation and ongoing maintenance of the trail itself. This type of fund raising tends to bring together like minded people-fellow travellers who will support this particularly wonderful walk in any way they can and are lovers of our great British countryside."
Amanda Owen - "It’s important on so many levels that we keep this path in good shape. Walking, getting out into the countryside, is one of the things that’s accessible to many people.
One of our worst case scenarios was when we had a man who had set off walking, on his own, an oldish chap who went into one of the bogs and got stuck up to his waist. I know it sounds comical but he said he’d given up; he didn’t have the strength to pull himself out. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to die. It was just his luck that a fell runner was passing that day and found him and brought him back to Ravenseat.”
Adrian Cottrell - "A walker literally got stuck in the bog... it was like being in quicksand."
The Wainwright Society - "The Wainwright Society fully supports the campaign to flag the Coast to Coast footpath along one of it's worst stretches at Nine Standards Rigg."
Friends of the North Pennines Charity number: 1137467. Working to keep the North Pennines special for tomorrow. www.friendsofthenorthpennines.org.uk
This project successfully funded on 25th April 2016