A shovel-ready project with a difference
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A huge amount of work goes into maintaining and repairing mountain paths in some of the Highlands’ most popular walking areas, as John Davidson learned in the Cairngorms
DEEP in the heart of the Cairngorms below a cloud-shrouded mountain, four men can be seen with picks, shovels and spades.
It has taken us a good two-and-a-half hours to trek to this point, eight miles from the road-end at Glenmore Lodge, where the path builders have been spending much of the summer.
The walk in is too far to contemplate each morning before a hard day’s work in the hills so here there’s an unusual, if not unique, set-up. Four cabins have been erected in the Lairig an Laoigh at 740m above sea level – officially named the Remote Accommodation System – for the workers to live in while they are on duty.
The men work in teams of four, spending seven days on shift with seven days off. They work, live, eat and sleep hand-in-hand in this remote spot.
It’s no wonder that when I ask path builder Ross Downes what it’s like living in the cabins, he nods to his workmate Alan Foote and says: “Ask me when he’s not here!” It’s all part of the banter and sense of humour that is necessary to work in such an environment.
But there’s a job to do while they’re here – and that job is part of a £2.1 million project to repair 94km of upland mountain paths across the west Cairngorms. The Cairngorms Mountain Heritage Project is coming to the end of a four-year stint and focuses on 16 paths which have become badly eroded.
Lizzie Cooper, the project co-ordinator, tells me: “The main aim of the project is to repair the paths and reduce erosion, allowing the surrounding vegetation to recover and regenerate. A side effect of the work is that the paths are much easier to walk on.
“We don’t encourage people to use particular paths; we just repair the ones that have become most damaged, which tend to be popular anyway.”
On our walk to the work site, the difference between the worked path and the eroded stretches is clearly defined; suddenly you step over a new cross drain and there’s a perfect walking surface. In some areas the team is essentially building a new path because the damage to the surface is so extreme, and that’s what they are doing when we meet in the Lairig an Laoigh.
Matt McConway has been running Upland Access, a mountain footpath business, for 17 years and still gets his hands dirty – literally. He’s on site as we arrive and, almost inevitably, the rain starts falling.
He shows me around the work site – a huge borrow pit has been dug to gather material for the path and turf cuttings and rocks lie around the edges, while drainage channels have been dug to divert water away from the path surface.
“We try to do it in a sympathetic way,” Matt says. “When we’ve finished, all these mounds and stuff will have gone, we’ll fill in the pit with the leftover rubble and turf and we’ll turf-line the drainage ditches.”
You can see from the finished stretches of path the difference their work makes – the route becomes well-defined and therefore more likely that walkers will stick to it, reducing the damage caused by people wandering further from the boggy line of the original path which causes ever-widening scars and braiding. The orangey colour of the new surface will fade over time and blend in with the surrounding landscape.
The work is slow and demanding. “It’s a really physical thing,” agrees Matt. “All the guys are into the outdoors or have a conservation background; some start out as volunteers and get into it that way.
“I’ve done the job for 17 years, so I only do exercise when people pay me now!”
We are joined on the walk by Gordon White, a project and survey supervisor, whose job is to liaise with the construction team and deal with any issues that arise during the course of the work. He’s done the walk to the site many times – including a few years ago when he worked on the paths on Bynack More, the Munro under which the cabins are situated. His experience shows as he marches along at a good pace despite the blustery wind.
The project is being run by the Cairngorms Outdoor Access Trust and, as Lizzie explains, being a charitable trust allows it not only to access funding but also to work across land with different owners.
“The landowners contribute to the work but for every pound they put in they get a lot more for their money because we can access funding that’s only available to charities,” she says. “It also means there’s a continuous quality the paths are built to, regardless of who owns the land.”
Matt takes us another kilometre up the path to their home from home, the cabins. The first is the bedroom – four beds in two bunks and little room for anything else; the second is a store room with a diminishing supply of food and, perhaps more importantly, beer; the third is the kitchen and the fourth is a composting toilet and sink – no shower.
As well as the cabins there are two generators and diesel tanks, a battery block and some containers. All of this was flown in by helicopter in May and everything will be flown out in October once the work is finished, leaving the site almost exactly as it was before they arrived.
There’s very little privacy and it’s sometimes a thankless task. Not long before our visit the teams had to replace 200 metres of path they had built the day before after a torrential overnight downpour washed it away. They went back and added more drains before resurfacing it.
It might be no easy life, but the outdoor work is clearly in the blood of these men. Ross and Alan agree – they’d take a dreich day on the hills ahead of any day in an office.
For those of us who enjoy walking in the mountains, usually between stints in the office, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the work of people such as Matt, Ross, Alan and Damian – the team on duty during my visit – as their work not only makes walking in the hills that little bit easier, but also reduces the damage to the landscape we go to appreciate and enjoy.
Next time you’re making your way along one of these upland paths, spare a thought for the guys who really put their backs into making it.
Cairngorms Mountain Heritage Project
A £2.1 million four-year project to repair upland mountain paths across the west Cairngorms and provide sustainable public access while protecting the fragile landscape. The project plans to repair 94km of mountain paths working in partnership with landowners and stakeholders to ensure consistent construction and maintenance standards.
The following paths are included in the project: Ben Macdui, Beinn Meadhoin, Braeriach, Bynack More, Cairngorm Plateau, Carn ban Mor, Coire an t’Sneachda, Coire Raibert, Fiacaill a Coire Cas, Lairig Ghru, Lairig an Laoigh, North Corries Rim, Strathnethy, Windy Ridge.
Funders: Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Scottish Natural Heritage, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Mountaineering Trust, RSPB.
Get involved
Donate to the Cairngorms Outdoor Access Trust at www.cairngormsoutdooraccess.org.uk/about/donations or text COAT00 £2 / £5 / £10 to 70070.
Volunteer for the adopt-a-path scheme and monitor upland paths so that problem areas are identified quickly and funding for maintenance can be directed to places in most need. Find out more at www.outdoorcairngorms.co.uk/upland-paths
Further information
Cairngorms Mountain Heritage Project:
www.cairngormsoutdooraccess.org.uk/upland-paths
Upland Access:
http://newsfromuplandaccess.blogspot.co.uk
Upland Path Conference:
“Sharing lessons learned from the Cairngorms Mountain Heritage Project”
October 6th to 8th 2014, Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore
