Footpaths repaired using Roman road tactics

9:10am Friday 21st November 2008

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Roman road-building tactics have been used to repair Lake District footpaths.

The techniques the ancients used have been adopted by machine drivers to repair two popular paths in the Lake District National Park as part of the Fix the Fells path restoration project.

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Machines have been used on the lakeshore at Buttermere and from Mardale Ill Bell to High Street, to repair erosion. The machines dig down and bring material up to the top to create a hard-wearing surface and drainage is improved.

The well-used low level path at Buttermere was suffering from erosion caused by heavy use and water getting on to the path.

Now, after work by skilled national park authority staff with two diggers, a stable hard-wearing path suitable for a greater range of users has been created.

Richard Fox, project officer for Fix the Fells with the Lake District National Park Authority, said: “While it may have been a surprise for people to see a machine on High Street, we know that the technique that the machine drivers use is the same as that which the Romans used to originally surface routes such as those on High street.”