A STONE path up one of England’s most visited mountains has been replaced in a complex repair project that involved flags being lifted to the summit by helicopter.

An estimated 80,000 people a year climb Pen-y-ghent in Ribblesdale. The peak is a favourite for charity fundraisers and is part of the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, but the high footfall has led to a scar the size of a football pitch opening up on the north side of the mountain.

The two-month, £58,000 repair project involved the flags being lifted to the summit by helicopter and put into place by rangers from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, often in the driving wind and rain.

The 200 stone flags were locally-quarried and it is said they will soon weather.

Pennine Way ranger Colin Chick helped to create the 200 metre path. He said the flags were from the same source as used elsewhere in the national park.

“If you look closely, you can see lots of black bits. That’s coal. We had the surface of the flags heated with an industrial blow torch to ‘pop’ the coal seams and produce a really grippy effect.

“We have tried more traditional stone pitching in the past but people kept leaving the path, as they found it awkward to walk on and difficult to establish a stride pattern.

“We accept that these flags are perhaps more ‘regular’ in appearance, but we’ve found that if you don’t make steps comfortable, people just won’t use them."

Kate Hilditch, area manager for the YDNPA’s ranger service, said the project had drawn on decades of upland path management expertise.

She said: “The sheer number of walkers enjoying Pen-y-ghent meant that we had to think very carefully, and put in a path that would not only last but mostly importantly be used.

“I think we’ve successfully balanced the long-term conservation needs of the area with the demands placed on it by walkers.”