Ramblers using North Yorkshire's newest long distance footpath will find the going easier and dryer thanks to bridge engineering work by North Yorkshire County Council. The Six Dales Trail, which runs for thirty eight miles from Otley on the banks of the Wharfe to Middleham in Wensleydale, opened in June.

It crosses the five watersheds which separate the six dales which give the trail its name. From Wharfedale it crosses into Washburndale, then into Nidderdale, Colsterdale, Coverdale, and finally Wensleydale.

Along its route, the Trail crosses the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and passes through quiet steep pastures, high heather moorland, eighteenth century parkland, and alongside fast flowing rivers.

But at two points, walkers would have had difficulty keeping to the trail, without the provision of new bridges by North Yorkshire County Council's Countryside and Public Rights of Way teams. The council's contractors, directed by its Bridges department, have erected a footbridge at Padside Beck, near Blubberhouses, and the Arthur Adamson Memorial Bridge near Swinsty Reservoir, between Otley and Fewston.

"This excellent long-distance trail gives walkers a chance to see some of the finest countryside North Yorkshire has to offer," said County Councillor Clare Wood, Executive Member for Business and Environmental Services.

"The County Council is very pleased to have made this important contribution to ensuring that the Trail can be enjoyed by everyone."