Improving paths at Roseberry Topping

A specialist helicopter team have been safely manoeuvring tonnes of stone and aggregate required for the final phase of footpath restoration work.

Better surfaces and drainage are the primary aims, with a total of six footpaths over 1.4km to be improved this year after a recent planning application was approved by the North York Moors National Park.

We’re delighted to share that the initial works to improve the footpath through Cliff Ridge Wood at Roseberry Topping are now complete.

You may see our contractors and staff working on the path from time-to-time over the coming months. As the new path settles and dries out it will require tweaks, and our teams will ensure these are made to keep this path accessible for as many people as possible long into the future.

The snow and then heavy rainfall have made the conditions challenging for the team carrying out the work over the past few weeks, however they are now over halfway through the length of the path.

If you are venturing out along this path, please continue to take extra care due to the wet and slippery surfaces. The purpose of the work is to improve the surface, including adding better and more effective drainage, which will give walkers a much better experience in the future.

Contractors are now on-site at Cliff Ridge Wood. This path is often used by walkers from the nearby railway station at Great Ayton to the south of Roseberry Topping.

There will be no path closures or diversions during the work. However, there will be heavy equipment on-site and teams working, so please take extra care if using the path during your visit. There is clear signage to make walkers aware they’re approaching an area where work is being carried out.

The work will include widening the path, improving the surface and adding much better drainage.

We are delighted that the first path of the project has been completed on time and has now been fully reopened. The path is the most heavily used on Roseberry and, as a result, was the one that required the most work.

As the year draws to a close, we have created a short video to show you some of the work that has been carried out and to give you an idea of what will be happening next year during the next phase of the prioect.

A series of generous donations and grants from funding bodies totalling around £700,000 ensures all ten paths at Roseberry Topping can now be repaired. 

Around 50% of the total funding amount is thanks to grants from National Grid's Landscape Enhancement Initiative and Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes Scheme. Further sums were awarded by the HF Holidays Pathways Fund – which works to preserve the countryside and maintain special places - and the British Mountaineering Council’s ‘Mend our Mountains’ project. A generous legacy donation left to the National Trust will also go towards the restoration work, along with a grant from the North York Moors National Park Authority.

We're now into the fourth month of work on our pathways restoration project at Roseberry Topping and the contractors are continuing to make good progress. The good weather over the summer has meant they have been able to work on schedule, with a second airlift of materials for Path 1 happening later this month.

All being well, work will be completed before winter and we hope to officially reopen the path in November.

One hundred tonnes of stone has been airlifted to the summit of Roseberry Topping to help with the restoration work on the famous landmark. The stone will be used to repair paths up the iconic hill which can be seen for miles around Teesside and North Yorkshire.

The work was carried out by a large team of staff and volunteers from National Trust and North York Moors National Park, as well as the team of contractors carrying out the work and the specialist helicopter crew.

ITV produced a short piece covering the work on the day - https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2024-07-02/helicopters-to-carry-100-tonnes-of-stone-to-summit-of-roseberry-topping

The ambitious project of repairing ten walking route on Roseberry Topping announced.

The project, which is run by the National Trust and North York Moors National Park, urged visitors to keep to the marked diversion trails to allow reseeding to take place. The width of the main path to the summit (Path 1) will be increased in places, while all other routes will see improved drainage to prevent further erosion.

Repairs on the first path have been estimated to take four to six months.