Elterwater Riverside Walk site visit

05/11/09

Regents Hotel, Lakes Lodge and Lakes House are all currently supporting our Miles without Stiles project at Elterwater. The popular riverside walk suffers badly from flooding and as a result the surface of the path has become damaged, uncomfortable to walk on and unsightly. Further more the areas of uneven surface proves problematic for wheelchair users or families with pushchairs.

On October the 14th staff from the 3 hotels, along with Amy and Christina from the Tourism and Conservation Partnership; Steve Gaskell of the National Park Authority; James Archer and Neil Winder of the National Trust and several dogs visited the site to learn more about the issues surrounding footpath erosion and the importance to fix the existing surface.

The National Park and National Trust will be using an innovative method to repair the path and provide a more permanent and sustainable surface, suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs, walkers, bikes and horses. A trial of new techniques for a new footpath that can withstand flooding will be put in place in Spring 2010 when new grass seeds will be able to grow. If their trial is successful and provides a sustainable solution to regular flooding, the technique will be repeated for the entire 110 metre surface.

The trial material for the path is made from recycled plastic. It is cellular in design and the internal areas will be sown with hard wearing grass. Not only is this method hoped to be able to survive harsh flooding but will fit in much better with the local aesthetics than the current gravel walkway.

(Photo donated by Fiona Chapman at the Regents Hotel L-R: Steve Gaskell, James Archer, Andrew and Christine Hewitt, Neil Winder, Amy McLoughlin and Christine Smith)