Making tracks

Two new bridges and a footpath on one of the most famous and popular walks in the country are set to benefit walkers and wildlife for years to come.

The path, between Butterworth Common at Redmires and Blackstone Edge, has been built to tackle serious peat erosion, damage by illegal motorbike use and surface water erosion.

Rochdale Borough Council managed the project in partnership with Natural England who proposed the scheme to protect the area which was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1994. The company who completed the work was Accrington based Terra Firma Environmental Ltd.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Rochdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Place and Regulation, said: “The pathway is already proving to be a great success and helping to protect this hugely popular and very special area. This work could not have been carried out without the support of Natural England who have found the best way to enable people to enjoy the this part of the Pennine Way without causing damage to the wetlands and wildlife that they are going to look at.”

The finished path replaces an old stone aggregate path which has been fully landscaped to assist with the re-wetting of the moor and designed to blend in with the scenery.

Costing £80,000, the scheme was funded by a Natural England grant and around 1000 stone flags were sourced from demolished stone mill floors. The stone flags were all sourced from one old weaving Mill in Blackburn and are Rossendale Stone. With some of the flags weighing in excess of ¾ of a tonne and the isolated location, the flagstones had to be flown in by helicopter.

The Pennine Way National Trail is 268 miles long and runs from the Peak District through the Yorkshire Dales and over Hadrian's Wall to the Cheviots.