Mar Lodge Estate was purchased by the NTS,National Trust for Scotland in 1995. This outstandingly beautiful mountainous area, covers nearly 30,000 hectares, and has 15 munros within its borders. A significant section of the Cairngorm plateau lies in MLE and this is of the most valuable areas of wilderness remaining in Europe.
The NTS has spent a lot of money to preserve this wilderness, in character and in user experience. This conservation work includes restoration of bulldozed tracks to footpaths, in keeping with the principle of the "long walk in", again to emphasis the wilderness experience. This is a big commitment to mountain footpath repairs, mountain path repairs and construction and mountain path maintenance.
The Trust has a policy of open public access on foot and has spent a lot of money on construction and repair of its mountain footpaths, to keep hill users on the mountain paths helping conserve the mountain landscape from erosion by walkers.
This is where we come in. Mountain path repairs, construction and repairs .
Upland Access Ltd have constructed mountain footpaths here for 10 years, and have built up a good reputation within the NTS for quality mountain path repairs work, with sensitivity to what the Trust , NTS at Mar Lodge is trying to achieve.
Goatfell is the highest hill on Arran, and is one of a range of craggy, mountainous hills, on this small west coast island. There are many popular mountain footpaths up this iconic hill, and Upland Access Ltd have worked extensively on this hill building mountain footpaths , and also other paths that make up Goatfell Estate. We have worked on the island from 1997.
A lot of the mountain footpath repair work carried out need a helicopter lift, very similar to the Lake District Fix the Fells project, but without the huge publicity that “Repair work on one of the Lake District's most popular high-level paths which has been eroded by walkers.
The work, …on the rocky face leading from Striding Edge up to Helvellyn's summit” BBC website.
Forvie NNR, is a nature reserve located at Collieston, nr Newburgh on the North East coastline. We have had 2 projects here, and both have involved the removal of boardwalk that are coming to the end of their working life. The boardwalk has been replaced by gravel and stone paths and also 2 wooden bridges. To avoid trampling the fragile sand dunes, all the material was flown in by helicopter, and the old boardwalk was bundled up, and flown out on the reverse trip. The work was done by hand, with the gravel being carefully graded and compacted over a geotextile membrane. Still on the east coast, but further south, finds the dramatic cliffs and beaches of St Cyrus NNR, about 6 miles north of Montrose. This was a small, but tricky project involving the construction of a new drainage regime, to divert drain water from the cliff top car park, away to the neighbouring cliff. Before the project, the car park drain was outflowing onto the ground directly above the path. This had resulted in the erosion of the path, and also the path edge was becoming dangerous. By constructing and installing new brick and mortar manholes/drainage traps, and culvert pipes, the drain water was diverted away from the path, and the outflow was reinforced with a gabbion mattress. The path edge was also reinforced with gabbion mattresses and block stone revettment, and the path reinstated. The stone filled gabbions were then covered by the spoil from the excavations, and landscaped o. Cartland Craig is part of the Clyde Valley National Nature Reserve, and is found on the outskirts of Lanark, overlooking the Cartland Bridge, a dramatic Telford designed bridge. We were contracted to reprofile and resurface parts of the pathline that were soft and potentially dangerous. We also installed wooden steps and anchor bars and installed a natural viewpoint area. Although this was reasonably straightforward project, the problems lay in having difficult access to the site, so all material was imported to the site by use of our tracked Honda Power Carrier. We are not the only people to carry out footpath maintenance. The NTS has its own path team.’The Mountain Path Management (MPM) Team carries out essential maintenance and small-scale repairs over the extensive network of hill paths at four Trust properties: Glencoe, Ben Lawers, Goatfell and Ben Lomond. The team protects many kilometres of path to ensure that they do not fall into ruin, which would then require expensive repairs. They work in all weathers and all year round to unblock drains, clear ditches and patch up landscaping toc onserve these majestic landscapes. One of the most difficult elements of this work is to maintain morale and commitment in the team, especially when confronted with the Scottish weather and a significant mountain ascent ahead of them every day.. What is maintenance? Maintenance is the process by which a balance is sustained between use for public access and the condition of the route and the site that it crosses. If we wish to continue ‘taking out’ the benefits of public access to the site, we need to continue ‘putting in’ continued effort to maintain the site and paths in good condition. The level of effort needed to strike a balance between use and condition is the amount of maintenance that is required each year.
Maintenance work has several key features that distinguish it from path construction, improvement or upgrading. Some of the key features of maintenance are that it is:
• regular – carried out periodically and continuously, and usually several times each year;
• routine – work takes place because it is predicted that the route will require attention, rather than being reactive and waiting for the route to fall into poor condition;
• work is to a standard – a clear decision is made amongst site managers, owners, users and funders about the expected use of the route, the type of use intended and the quality of the route that needs to be maintained;
• sufficient – the level of effort each year is enough to keep the path in the desired condition long-term, and not allow it to deteriorate.
Maintenance usually entails relatively small-scale works, carried out on a regular basis, and is usually revenue funded. This contrasts with construction work, usually referring to larger scale, one-off activities that are usually capital funded. Maintenance work often requires a variety of different small tasks to be carried out and collectively; this effort keeps the route in good condition. Maintenance is not about changing the nature of the route through intensive work or widespread improvement.
Ideally, maintenance work takes place continually and at a level commensurate with the impacts of use. There are some routes that have been maintained continuously for many years, with effort increased as the levels of access has increased. On these routes the path condition is generally good, and the path has not required major rebuilding, as the level of maintenance has kept pace with the level of use and site change. Far more frequently, and on the vast majority of paths in Scotland at present, maintenance work takes place after the path has been rebuilt. The need to rebuild the path is due to the lack of long-term maintenance in the past, which has allowed the condition to deteriorate to such a stage that major rebuilding is required. As more paths are repaired, and new paths built or come into use, the total maintenance effort for access to Scotland’s countryside is rising steadily.
The NTS has spent a lot of money to preserve this wilderness, in character and in user experience. This conservation work includes restoration of bulldozed tracks to footpaths, in keeping with the principle of the "long walk in", again to emphasis the wilderness experience. This is a big commitment to mountain footpath repairs, mountain path repairs and construction and mountain path maintenance.
The Trust has a policy of open public access on foot and has spent a lot of money on construction and repair of its mountain footpaths, to keep hill users on the mountain paths helping conserve the mountain landscape from erosion by walkers.
This is where we come in. Mountain path repairs, construction and repairs .
Upland Access Ltd have constructed mountain footpaths here for 10 years, and have built up a good reputation within the NTS for quality mountain path repairs work, with sensitivity to what the Trust , NTS at Mar Lodge is trying to achieve.
Goatfell is the highest hill on Arran, and is one of a range of craggy, mountainous hills, on this small west coast island. There are many popular mountain footpaths up this iconic hill, and Upland Access Ltd have worked extensively on this hill building mountain footpaths , and also other paths that make up Goatfell Estate. We have worked on the island from 1997.
A lot of the mountain footpath repair work carried out need a helicopter lift, very similar to the Lake District Fix the Fells project, but without the huge publicity that “Repair work on one of the Lake District's most popular high-level paths which has been eroded by walkers.
The work, …on the rocky face leading from Striding Edge up to Helvellyn's summit” BBC website.
Forvie NNR, is a nature reserve located at Collieston, nr Newburgh on the North East coastline. We have had 2 projects here, and both have involved the removal of boardwalk that are coming to the end of their working life. The boardwalk has been replaced by gravel and stone paths and also 2 wooden bridges. To avoid trampling the fragile sand dunes, all the material was flown in by helicopter, and the old boardwalk was bundled up, and flown out on the reverse trip. The work was done by hand, with the gravel being carefully graded and compacted over a geotextile membrane. Still on the east coast, but further south, finds the dramatic cliffs and beaches of St Cyrus NNR, about 6 miles north of Montrose. This was a small, but tricky project involving the construction of a new drainage regime, to divert drain water from the cliff top car park, away to the neighbouring cliff. Before the project, the car park drain was outflowing onto the ground directly above the path. This had resulted in the erosion of the path, and also the path edge was becoming dangerous. By constructing and installing new brick and mortar manholes/drainage traps, and culvert pipes, the drain water was diverted away from the path, and the outflow was reinforced with a gabbion mattress. The path edge was also reinforced with gabbion mattresses and block stone revettment, and the path reinstated. The stone filled gabbions were then covered by the spoil from the excavations, and landscaped o. Cartland Craig is part of the Clyde Valley National Nature Reserve, and is found on the outskirts of Lanark, overlooking the Cartland Bridge, a dramatic Telford designed bridge. We were contracted to reprofile and resurface parts of the pathline that were soft and potentially dangerous. We also installed wooden steps and anchor bars and installed a natural viewpoint area. Although this was reasonably straightforward project, the problems lay in having difficult access to the site, so all material was imported to the site by use of our tracked Honda Power Carrier. We are not the only people to carry out footpath maintenance. The NTS has its own path team.’The Mountain Path Management (MPM) Team carries out essential maintenance and small-scale repairs over the extensive network of hill paths at four Trust properties: Glencoe, Ben Lawers, Goatfell and Ben Lomond. The team protects many kilometres of path to ensure that they do not fall into ruin, which would then require expensive repairs. They work in all weathers and all year round to unblock drains, clear ditches and patch up landscaping toc onserve these majestic landscapes. One of the most difficult elements of this work is to maintain morale and commitment in the team, especially when confronted with the Scottish weather and a significant mountain ascent ahead of them every day.. What is maintenance? Maintenance is the process by which a balance is sustained between use for public access and the condition of the route and the site that it crosses. If we wish to continue ‘taking out’ the benefits of public access to the site, we need to continue ‘putting in’ continued effort to maintain the site and paths in good condition. The level of effort needed to strike a balance between use and condition is the amount of maintenance that is required each year.
Maintenance work has several key features that distinguish it from path construction, improvement or upgrading. Some of the key features of maintenance are that it is:
• regular – carried out periodically and continuously, and usually several times each year;
• routine – work takes place because it is predicted that the route will require attention, rather than being reactive and waiting for the route to fall into poor condition;
• work is to a standard – a clear decision is made amongst site managers, owners, users and funders about the expected use of the route, the type of use intended and the quality of the route that needs to be maintained;
• sufficient – the level of effort each year is enough to keep the path in the desired condition long-term, and not allow it to deteriorate.
Maintenance usually entails relatively small-scale works, carried out on a regular basis, and is usually revenue funded. This contrasts with construction work, usually referring to larger scale, one-off activities that are usually capital funded. Maintenance work often requires a variety of different small tasks to be carried out and collectively; this effort keeps the route in good condition. Maintenance is not about changing the nature of the route through intensive work or widespread improvement.
Ideally, maintenance work takes place continually and at a level commensurate with the impacts of use. There are some routes that have been maintained continuously for many years, with effort increased as the levels of access has increased. On these routes the path condition is generally good, and the path has not required major rebuilding, as the level of maintenance has kept pace with the level of use and site change. Far more frequently, and on the vast majority of paths in Scotland at present, maintenance work takes place after the path has been rebuilt. The need to rebuild the path is due to the lack of long-term maintenance in the past, which has allowed the condition to deteriorate to such a stage that major rebuilding is required. As more paths are repaired, and new paths built or come into use, the total maintenance effort for access to Scotland’s countryside is rising steadily.
Construction of Countryside Paths
Erosional control, drainage, repair, and maintenance of all paths.
Removal of obstructions and windblown trees from paths.
Provision of full practical conservation service
Construction of drystane dykes, and wooden boardwalks
Working hard to provide access solutions for our
Mountains, Coasts and Countryside.
MMcC 2010 upland access ltd.
upland access ltd
hillside cottage
james street
blairgowrie
perthshire
PH10 6EZ
hillside cottage
james street
blairgowrie
perthshire
PH10 6EZ
company reg no.
sc 193011
sc 193011
