Loving the look on the left or am I missing the point??

are they trying to suggest that erosion will create a riverbed in our lifetime?
or that they can return the erosion back to natural grassland?
if it’s natural erosion then surely that’s just part of nature, or is that man-made erosion? in which case I would donate.
or is it a simpler – what do you prefer, if it is then i am not fussed either way, they both look great if it’s natural
be nice if they were a little clearer.

Prefer for walking on, cycling down, or looking at? Is there a path next to it?

I would prefer it if there was some trees growing there…

BMC footpath repair project

Watkin Path on Snowdon, North Wales
Ringing Roger on Kinder, Peak District
Waun Rydd in central Brecon Beacons
High Moor on Dartmoor
Swine Tail, Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales,
Scafell Pike in the Lake District
Lyke Wake Walk in the North York Moors
Long Chains Combe in Exmoor Forest

Fair point about use vs budgets, weather/flooding damage etc. 20p from every visitor to Snowdon said to be enough.

Funny that their idea of an ideal footpath on Ingleborough shows the only place where I’ve done myself real damage in the Dales due to path conditions. Those slabs down to Chapel-le-Dale can be bloody lethal in winter.

I’ve never walked past the Swine Tail and thought that it was a massive problem, TBH. There are worse sections on that path.

They’ve already ‘fixed’ half the path on Dartmoor last summer. Large parts of it have washed away already.

A few years ago no one was allowed on the Quantocks for several months due to foot and mouth.
The day the ban was lifted I rode home from a night shift across the hills and it was surprising to see the large gullies caused purely by water erosion.
As far as I could tell the constant disturbance of feet, wheels and hoofs changes the path of any water flow and prevents these gullies from occurring under normal conditions.

There is a whole article about the aim of the campaign/project in one of the recent Summit magazines (BMC inhouse mag) and big piece on the the BMC website. Most of it seems to be about reducing the motorway effect on some of the paths (where groups walk on the edge of paths making them ever wider) through restoration without returning to the incongruous repairs of the 80s and 90s. The aim is to keep the path but closer to its narrower original line, many of which started as ancient droveways, sheep tracks and even water erosion lines. The campaign recognises that funds are getting slashed for the national parks and are trying to give something back.
I think it is a laudable aim – we all cause erosion when we are in the hills, but the only thing I find a little frustrating is that the last paragraph of the original article had a snide little dig about mountain bikers causing damage when it could have been more inclusive in getting all parties involved. (unfortunately I can’t find the original article on their site – the web version is slightly different)

Both look grim. Needs trees.

If you want trees growing there then campaign against fell farming and the damage that sheep cause to the native flora.

As puddings says, it’s about the ever widening paths due to people avoiding awkward sections on the existing line. For instance the path up Brown Tongue from Wasdale towards Scafell Pike was 50m wide and took nearly five years to sort out. The current path now takes a different line up the gill to the right – this actually used to be the preferred way for those in the know. This shot http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2150134 shows the extent of the repair – basically the entire crest of the tongue.

To a large degree it’s about aesthetics rather than practicality, a scar caused by a flash flood or landslip is fine but one caused by thousands of boots or wheels is not. The ancient drovers ways and similar probably see more traffic in a weekend than they used to in a whole year, they just weren’t intended for such intense and persistent use.

Paradoxically the preferred method of visitor proofing paths these days is making them like trail centres! The path builders probably prefer to refer to it as doing it like the Romans did.

@martinhutch I too am trying to think of why the Swine Path down to Sulber Nick needs any attention: it’s well delineated, has a good hard surface and fits in with the landscape.

If you want trees growing there then campaign against fell farming and the damage that sheep cause to the native flora.

The fells only came out of an ice age approx 12K years ago. All the soil cover and subsequent fauna and flora has developed since then and changed several times as it has got warmer (and colder on occasions such as the Little Ice Age of the Middle Ages). The current vegetation of the fells are a direct result of human intervention from deforestation and sheep grazing pressure for many many centuries, at far, far greater numbers than we see today. It would be more accurate to say that the native fauna of the fells is the direct result of sheep grazing and by removing them you will damage it. Of course, what you really meant to say is that sheep are preventing the climax vegetation of the fells from ever developing. Whether that is desirable is debatable or even achievable given the pressure on the landscape from tourism.

That’s too detailed and nuanced an answer for STW 😆 Besides I was only winding up the trail centre hamsters 😉

During the F&M crisis of 2001 there were concerns that the local hefted fell flocks would be culled. Part of the concern was that many of these are Herdwick flocks which is a geographically concentrated breed so could impact its long term survival. Also of concern was what effect the lack of grazing animals would have on the Lakeland landscape (ignoring the fact that there are reasonably large numbers of deer around) and whether the upland areas would become scrubland. It’s unlikely that the very tops would become wooded (at least not for a long time, probably more than a human lifespan) but the sheltered gills and valleys would see increased growth of birch, alder and similar species. Think of a landscape a bit like the Quantocks or north Exmoor with wooded valleys and clear tops.

The highest altitude for a tree in Snowdonia for example is at 640m, it’s on an island in a tarn so the sheep haven’t been able to get to it, so something similar is likely to be the maximum altitude in the Lakes, a search throws up a figure of 600m.