The helicopter in action on Simon's Seat. Photo: YDNPA

Walkers on a Yorkshire Dales hill will find themselves on firmer ground thanks to an import from a Lancashire mill.

The national park authority has flown in 30 tonnes of reclaimed stone flags that formed the floor of a mill in Lancashire, to improve the path leading to Simon’s Seat in Wharfedale.

The helicopter airlift was arranged by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority working with the Bolton Abbey Estate which owns and manages Barden Fell. The work included restoring the path from Simon’s Seat to Dalehead.

Phil Richards, the authority’s area ranger for Wharfedale and Littondale, said: “Over the years the paths leading to and from Simon’s Seat have increasingly become more popular, which, in turn, has impacted on the surrounding vegetation and underlying peat.

“In order to manage the erosion problems and protect the fragile landscape, which is important for ground nesting birds such as Golden Plover, Merlin and Red Grouse, measures have to be taken to minimise the impact.”

Bolton Abbey visitor manager Moira Smith said: “The stone flags provide an all-weather, low-maintenance path for people to use which, at the same time, fits in with the surrounding character of the uplands.

“The idea of using flags is nothing new; they were used centuries ago creating packhorse routes across the Pennines.’’

The airlift formed part of a larger programme of work undertaken by the authority that included flying about 360 tonnes of materials to various locations within the national park.