Bridleway repairs protect habitats

Staff from the North York Moors National Park Authority joined forces with a horse-riding group which was launched six years ago to reclaim bridleways in the area.

Members of the Danby District Bridleways Group have now helped restore 11 miles of routes which were becoming overgrown with heather and bracken.

The work has been carried out over the last year using funds from the national park authority’s annual £120,000 rights of way budget.

Once the vegetation was removed, the routes were then mown to make them more accessible for horse riders as well as walkers and cyclists.

It is also hoped that the cleared paths will act as a break to prevent the spread of wild fires.

One of the routes which has been improved runs across Moorsholm Moor, where deep bogs and narrow channels had formed on several wet areas of the bridleway.

A wide area of land designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest was being eroded as riders tried to pick their way around the wet patches.