A rutted, ankle-twisting ‘green lane’ west of Hawes is open for business again after being transformed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA).
The route at Cotter End – know locally as The Highway or the Lady Anne Highway – is ready for visitors at the end of a year-long project that has seen it stripped down to its basics and virtually rebuilt.
And, after years as a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT), access is now restricted to walkers, horse riders and mountain bikers.
Matt Neale, the YNDPA’s Area Ranger for Upper Wensleydale, said: “As a BOAT, it had been used a lot by off-road motor vehicles – mainly motorbikes – and it was in a terrible condition, with ruts across its width, some almost waist deep. The condition was made worse by poor drainage.
“It was dangerous for horses and we had a lot of complaints from walkers because you could easily twist your ankle.
“We have rebuilt the path and improved the drainage along the whole section, which is just over a kilometre long, and, due to the sensitive nature of the route, we have introduced a Traffic Regulation Order, which means recreational motor vehicles are banned from it.
“Now it is much easier to use and people will be able to enjoy the views as they travel along it instead of having to look down all the time and concentrate on where they put their feet.”
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Wow, rambler in twisted ankle shock horror! Why don’t they look where they’re going? Restricting BOAT’s to lower classes of right of way only puts further pressure on existing BOATS in the area. Maintain the route of course, but not down grade. And of course none of this erosion could be caused by farm vehicles?!
Agree that the down grading of routes puts pressure on other BOAT’s, so get rid of all BOAT’s. No pressure to use them if they are out of bounds. Farm vehicles my use them and do damage but it is the farmers work place after all, not just our place to play.
“And of course none of this erosion could be caused by farm vehicles?!”
Look at the top picture properly. None of the ruts are parallel, let alone the right spacing for a land rover. The ruts are far too narrow for a tractor or too deep for a quad bike
Think the’ve done a pretty good job.
Farm vehicles my use them and do damage but it is the farmers work place after all, not just our place to play.
male cattle effluent…. these are roads not paths and not farm land .. farmers have no right to farm on them and have historically been given deductions in financial liability for land taxes, right back to the Tithes, because they had no agricultural production value… if we are going to allow the farmers to treat them with the contempt they do we might as well let any one on them. Too often in Wales do you find unrideable county roads used by 4×4 to find they actually get useable after you pass the point that the farmer leaves it to get to a cattle feeder… and they have over half reduced the width of the way… when this track was used by carts and ponies it would have been a mud bath, this is gentrification. they could have made it to the right and left the left hand side for the motorbikes
imho the fewer row motor vehicles are permitted on the better for 2 reasons: they always tear them to pieces, and noise. how can it follow that because a route was once used for carts etc its now good for 4x4s and scramblers (other than its currently the law)? so v well done the npa for sorting what was clearly a mess / problem in 2 senses.
(and, yes, of course the current footpath / bridleway pickle is also an anachronism)