RIGHTS OF WAY
Breasthigh Road closes for major repairs following grant of funding from National Grid
B
reasthigh Road, a hugely popular unsurfaced right of way in the east of the Lake District National Park, will be closed at least until the end of October while a major programme of repair and improvements is carried out. The trail, a spectacular mountain pass which stretches for just under two miles connecting Bretherdale and Borrowdale, is known for its loose, rocky surface and steep
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gradients – as well as the glorious views it provides in all directions. At its western end, it fords the sometimes deep Borrow Beck before joining the A6 midway between Shap and Kendal. The works proposed by the Lake District National Park Authority will include surface repairs, tree planting and the creation of new dry-stone walls, in addition to replacing culverts, reinstating drainage ditches and installing two new bridges. It’s
understood that the latter will be small culvert crossings and that the ford will remain as part of the route. The work is to be paid for by a package of funding from the National Grid’s Landscape Enhancement Initiative (LEI). This includes £154,000 for the repairs to the byway itself, along with a further £170,000 to create new tree plantations on the in the Borrowdale valley and on the lower flanks of Borrowdale Fell.
Repair projects in the recent past have seen a number of other green lanes in the Lake District turned from technically fascinating, near-natural routes into flat gravel tracks drivable in almost anything. Many vehicle users have expressed dismay at this apparent policy of destroying the routes’ character; it seems likely that the same may be set to happen when Breasthigh reopens, with the authority’s plan being to ‘restore the western section… to
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