Mend Our Mountains
Help us to conserve and repair the places you love
Our paths, trails and bridleways form an iconic system that is the lifeblood of the Great British outdoors. Those honeypot routes that everyone walks – the paths most travelled – are at risk from the very same pairs of boots that love them.
And it’s not just about repairing paths. Our mission is to rethink the way the British public cares for rights of way and the delicate, beautiful landscapes they dissect. Through a diverse set of projects that cover the whole of the United Kingdom, from majestic wilderness in Scotland to outdoor education in the Cotswolds.
Path repair is a surprisingly costly business. Working in remote locations with complex equipment and adverse weather conditions makes rebuilding trails an enormous and expensive challenge. £150 could buy protective clothing for path repairers. £250 is normally equivalent to fixing one metre of footpath. £1000 would pay to fly one bag of stone to an inaccessible mountain location.
By supporting Mend Our Mountains, you’ll be directly helping paths and people around the UK. In 2024 we will be funding a range of projects that include:
Learn more about the invaluable work we are supporting across England and Wales. The BMC has raised over £1.4 million so far for the Mend Our Mountains Project. That's 50 miles of fragile footpath restored for future generations. 544 miles of upland repaired - the equivalent to over 67,000 double decker buses so far!
There are six MOM projects for 2024 including funding an Access Officer for the Cotswolds AONB; funding a Fix the Fells ranger in the Lake District; restoring paths on Roseberry Topping, North York Moors; fixing the footpath to Chanctonbury Ring, South Downs, and making it more accessible; the replacement of Cressbrook Mill footbridge in the Peak District and the popular Get Stuck In volunteering opportunities with the National Trust in the Lake District, Snowdonia and Peak District.
Mend Our Mountains will be funding a new role of an Access Officer to facilitate and unlock a wide range of work focused on access and removing barriers.
Mend Our Mountains will fund a ranger service to support the work of the 'Fix the Fells' teams in the Lake District National Park for a year. Money raised will be used directly for path repair and would allow the teams the flexibility to use the money when and where it is most needed.
Mend Our Mountains will be restoring the access routes on one of the North East’s most iconic peaks: Roseberry Topping. The Pathway Restoration project will focus on ten sections of path around and leading to the top of Roseberry Topping that need repair.
The South Downs Way National Trail climbs Washington Bostal (a sunken chalk trackway) up towards Chanctonbury Ring. The surface of the bostal, which is a public bridleway, has deteriorated with deep ruts making it difficult for walkers, cyclists and equestrians to negotiate. Mend Our Mountains will fund the regrading and repair of the 800m trackway.
Mend Our Mountains is helping fund a new footbridge at Cressbrook Mill that provides a crucial link across the River Wye linking the concession footpath from Cressbrook to Litton, to the open access land and on to the Monsal Trail and linking to climbing opportunities in Water-Cum-Jolly. It will bring back a vital access route which has been closed for some time due to the degradation of the bridge, increasing access to walkers and climbers.
Working with the National Trust in the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Peak District, often over two days, the BMC is arranging to fund conservation projects where they’re most needed. Works involve path maintenance, drainage projects, stepping stones, vegetation clearance or cairn-scattering, led by the local National Trust Rangers.
'Get Stuck In!' is a key part of helping repair our paths, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. By signing up to a volunteer session you have an opportunity to get out on the hillside, learn new skills and meet like-minded people whilst making a real difference to our wild places. Take a look at the upcoming footpath repair volunteer days we have available this year on our Mend our Mountains projects.
Get stuck in!
An interview with mountain path repairer Ryan Hamilton to find out more about the highs and lows involved in this vital job
