Upland Path Advisory Group site visit to Meall a’ Bhuachaille – 24th September 2024

Attendance:

Ewan Watson and Eva Kupska (OATS)        

Fiona Cuninghame (NatureScot) 

Adam Streeter-Smith (CNPA)                        

Nan Morris and David Allsop (NTS)   

Paul Masson (Cycle therapy)                         

Gilbert McNeill (LLTNPA)

Fee Wallace (Scottish cycling)                       

Davie Black (Mountaineering Scotland) 

Kirsty Pollard and Jess Tomes (RSPB)        

 Laura Nicoll (Forestry and Land Scotland)

Gordon Paxton-White and Andy Taylor (ACT Heritage ltd.)

Annie Duckworth and Martin Mikkleson-Barron (Lake District National Park/Fix the Fells)

Ryan Hamilton, David Boyle and Bradley Wright (Hamiltons Environmental) 

This year’s UPAG site visit started from the beautiful Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms, with a walk up Meall a' Bhuachaille to discuss path building issues. The weather, after several days of blazing sunshine, was dreich and wet, so, donned in full waterproofs and plenty of enthusiasm, about 20 of us set out.  

The beginning of the walk was along a vehicle track through the pinewoods and past An Lochan Uaine with its' stunning blue/green waters. We chatted on the way up about the use of volunteers. I feel that the NTS, which I work for, could better utilize volunteers by working with them in different ways, for example OATS run their 'Adopt a Path' scheme where people can effectively take ownership of a local path they love, keeping the drains clear and submitting regular reports flagging up any potential issues they notice. The volunteers organise themselves; OATS just provide tools and initial training. This way the volunteers feel they have a bit more agency in what happens to 'their' path and they feel personally motivated to care for it. I think this is a great way to work with potential volunteers that we at the NTS could utilise. Volunteers also play a major role in ‘Fix the Fells’ in the Lake District with volunteers committing to a minimum of 12 days per year with work including routine maintenance, monitoring previous work and attending ranger led work parties.  

We also talked about the benefits to the volunteers themselves, especially with a view to getting younger, disadvantaged members of society out. We talked about how giving kids a bit of trust and responsibility and showing them that you don't need to be academically minded to 'succeed' in life can do wonders for their self-confidence and outlook on life. Just knowing you can do a job you love even if you don't thrive in a classroom environment can be a changing point in a young person’s life.

Also, volunteers can only do so much. From a path maintenance point of view, they are great for large amounts of repetitive unskilled work but technical building, or work with a high risk of injury (working with big stones on loose ground for example), will always need a professional team. With volunteers as well, it's always a balance between getting some useful work done and making sure they enjoy themselves and want to come back - 8 hours of carrying buckets doesn't encourage a return visit! Of course, some regular volunteers do build up the skills to do more challenging work, and a few end up with a paid position.

 We soon reached Ryvoan Bothy, which has recently been renovated to a high standard by the Mountain Bothies Association.  We talked there about efforts to rejuvenate the heather scrubland around us. Cairngorms National Park and RSPB have been trialling ways to encourage new growth without the destructive moor burn traditionally used. They have been cutting back the old growth leggy heather with machinery and some use of cattle to break up the ground. It seems to be having positive results, with younger heather shoots and smaller plants like blaeberry getting a chance to grow through, which benefits the chicks of ground nesting birds like the capercaillie and other wildlife. 

We then followed a mountain path up Meall a' Bhuachaille, looking at water bars which stand proud of the path surface due to erosion of surfacing on the downhill side. 

To improve the longevity and effectiveness of the water bars, they need to be longer off path (a good foot or 2 either side ideally) with decent blocking to stop walkers, and especially bikers, from detouring around them. The water bar needs to be at ground level, with anchors below (and if steep ground, anchors and steps to create a flat platform leading up to the bar).

Also, a long 'skirt' extending the liners and angled towards the bar and down off the path, probably with a step at the end of the skirt (depending on the steepness of the ground) will help to keep the water bar from getting blocked too quickly. 

We discussed the idea that the best drainage features are often fords, if they can be sited where people aren’t tempted to go round them, as they are largely self-cleaning and you don't tend to get the same erosion issues (if built well). Unfortunately, fords take longer to build and use more stone than a water bar or cross drain so often just aren't feasible. 

Erosion problems are increasing across the country, in part due to climate change, changing use of the paths and in many cases a lack of maintenance. Paul Masson from Cycling therapy explained that mountain bikes can be an issue, particularly when paths haven’t been built considering mountain bikers, resulting in increased erosion on path and braiding off path. He explained that the rise in e-bikes is causing more damage as e-bikes are heavier, so dig up the surfacing more. Increasingly, the people on them also tend to be less fit and less experienced, making them more likely to avoid a 'gnarly' section, causing braiding, and more likely to use their brakes which digs up more surfacing, worsening erosion issues. Given the continuing predicted increase in e-bike use we have to work out how to mitigate the damage. Plenty of big blocking and uneven ground off path will help but improving e-bikers’ experience on paths is also key. Looking specifically at drainage features, one good idea is to incorporate a slanted stone, a bit like a ramp, at the top end of a water bar. It doesn't impede the water flow at all and gives the bikers an option to ride over the bar rather than looking for a way round it. The distance between a bar and its' uphill step (or the width of a cross drain) can be a foot or more wide and still not impede experienced riders, but for inexperienced riders 6'' should still be easy for them to ride over, while the drain can still take sufficient water. Ideally, bikers should be able to spy an obvious 'sight line' to aim for well in advance, without steep drop offs, to encourage them to stay on the path.

The issue of climate change probably means in the future we will need to be increasing the regularity of anchor bars and the number of drainage features in a given section. The combination of long dry spells loosening the ground, followed by heavy rainfall washing large quantities of material away, is only going to increase. 

We continued up the path to where a section of work is soon to start. Some old pitching has all slumped forward to create a slippery, dangerous walking surface which is awkward to walk on (demonstrated perfectly by 2 walkers coming down it as we stopped to talk, one of whom fell almost immediately on the pitching).

This pitching, and the section above, will all be replaced. They will bring in some larger boulders to create wider, more durable steps, using the smaller existing pitching stones for other purposes - revetment, blocking or drainage features, as some, while not being great pitching stones, would work well in a water bar. The aggregate surfacing between the two pitched sections will be widened and built up, with a revetment on the outer edge allowing for a good wide surface to be obtained. There isn't much braiding, due to the nature of the path edges (fairly steep and heather covered, not great to walk/cycle on) but the pitching has got to a point of being potentially dangerous, so work is definitely needed here. The idea is to do one small section to a high standard to demonstrate what is needed over the rest of the path. Hopefully, with it being such an obvious difference, it will make it easier to obtain funding for the rest of the path.

As always, funding is an issue, with new projects attracting more funding than the 'unsexy' but essential maintenance side of things. There was also pretty unanimous agreement among the contractors present that landowners/clients tend not to appreciate the work (and time and money!) necessary to build a high-quality path that will last. Jobs are regularly under spec’d, meaning not enough drainage/ditching/anchors are specified for. This leads to a situation where if one contractor is prepared to work to the inadequate spec, knowing it's not enough to create a lasting path, they can put in a lower price (and probably get the job) than a more conscientious contractor who insists that the job needs extra work to be done properly. They believe that this ethos is driving down prices and undermining standards across the industry, making it harder and harder for a contractor to stay in business and keep providing high quality work, which is to the detriment of everyone involved.

At the top of the section getting worked on, most of us turned around to return to Ryvoan Bothy for lunch in the dry - all being pretty wet and cold by then! A few brave souls went on up to the summit with Ewan and rejoined us at the bothy. 

After lunch we headed back to our vehicles at Glenmore Lodge; the weather wasn't really conducive to prolonged chats unfortunately, which was a shame as everyone there had some interesting things to say, coming from various different angles.

I'd like to thank Ewan and the whole team for organising our day out and making us all welcome. As always it was interesting and informative and a good chance to meet up with others in the industry as we are usually all off on different hillsides doing our own thing. It's always good to catch up with old faces, and to meet new ones! Also, of course, massive thanks to Fiona for arranging everything, without whom none of this would be possible! 

Author - Nan Morris – National Trust for Scotland

Photographs – CNPA, OATS, Fee Wallace and Lake District National Park Authority