The suspension bridge at Milkingstead. Photo: Stephen Dawson CC-BY-SA-2.0
Walkers and cyclists can now legally use a bridge thought to have built by the Army, to avoid taking to roads in a busy Lakeland valley.
The suspension bridge at Milkingstead in Eskdale links the popular Fisherground Farm campsite with the Eskdale TRail, which runs from the terminus station of the dale’s narrow-gauge railway at Dalegarth to Ravenglass on the Cumbria coast.
The bridge has been recorded as a public footpath and the ford crossing the River Esk alongside is now a bridleway.
Access to the trail involved taking to the narrow roads but dedication of the bridge and ford as rights of way means walkers, cyclists and horse riders can now avoid using asphalt.
The bridleway was offered to the public by a local landowner. National Park Authority countryside access adviser Nick Thorne said: “We’re very happy to accept offers like this, which don’t come around very often.
“The link will be very useful to horse-riders and cyclists wishing to get to the Eskdale TRail.
“The recognition of the suspension bridge as a public footpath means that if it falls down sometime in the future, it will have to be replaced. We would like to thank the landowners for their kind offer.”
The bridge is reputed to have been built in the 1950s, probably by the Army and is one of two suspension bridges in the valley.
The order adding the paths, made by the Lake District National Park Authority, has been confirmed by the Secretary of State following an objection by a member of the public.
StephenDawson
23 November 2011I'm slightly confused as I thought that the bridge and path to it had been a public footpath for some time - certainly it is shown as such on my 15-year-old OS map (though I recognise that the OS map isn't the Definitive Map).
The conversion to a bridleway with addition of the ford would therefore be a change but that doesn't tie in with some of the quotes about the status of the bridge now being secure.
Trevor Littlewood
27 November 2011It's clearly good news that the bridge is to be given right of way status which means that walkers will now have a right to use it.
Just one point though; I came to this item via a link with wording telling that walkers could now use the route legally; that implies that to have used it previously would have been illegal. That's surely not so.
Many people have the idea that to use a route where you have no right to walk is illegal; I don't believe that to be the case - it's wrong to assume that because an act isn't directly allowed in law, that it's automatically forbidden and therefore illegal.
The same would apply generally of course and not just in the case of the bridge in question.
Bob
28 November 2011We asked the Lake District national park to clarify. Here's what Nick Thorne, countryside access adviser said: "I know that the OS map looks as though the footpath already goes across the bridge – but legally speaking the definitive footpath route actually goes through the ford adjacent to it.
The scheme we have just undertaken will make the bridge into a legal footpath and turn the ‘old’ footpath route through a ford into a bridleway."
Bob Smith
Editor