Yorkshire Dales footpath used by thousands as part of Yorkshire Three Peaks route to be closed for six months

The path, known as High Lot, is a popular track from Chapel le Dale to the peak of Ingleborough, and is often used as part of a Yorkshire Three Peaks route.

However, high footfall, heavy rainfall, drainage issues and a steep incline has caused the existing stone pitched path, installed in the late 1980s, to slip.

During the past month, staff from contractors Terra Firma Environmental Ltd have collected 160 tonnes of large gritstone blocks from a nearby scree slope.

Later this week, the stone will be lifted by helicopter and dropped next to the path.

A total of 560ft of stone pitching will be removed, with the gritstone blocks then dug deep into the ground to make a 5ft-wide path. Drainage and landscaping work will also be undertaken.

An alternative route to the summit across open access land is being suggested during the path’s closure, which will run from Monday next week to January 25. But as the works are due to be finished by the end of October, the path could re-open earlier.

The repairs are part of the three-year Ingleborough Access Project which began last year and is being managed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority with £180,000 of funding from Natural England.

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