A RUTTED, ankle-twisting ‘green lane’ west of Hawes is open for business again after being transformed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA).

Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park
Authority

Photo: Yorkshire Dales National Park
Authority

The route at Cotter End – known locally as The Highway or the Lady Anne Highway – is ready for visitors at the end of a year-long project that has seen it stripped down to its basics and virtually rebuilt.

And, after years as a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT), access is now restricted to walkers, horse riders and mountain bikers.

Matt Neale, the YNDPA’s Area Ranger for Upper Wensleydale, said: “As a BOAT, it had been used a lot by off-road motor vehicles – mainly motorbikes – and it was in a terrible condition, with ruts across its width, some almost waist deep. The condition was made worse by poor drainage.

“It was dangerous for horses and we had a lot of complaints from walkers because you could easily twist your ankle.

“We have rebuilt the path and improved the drainage along the whole section, which is just over a kilometer long, and, due to the sensitive nature of the route, we have introduced a Traffic Regulation Order, which means recreational motor vehicles are banned from it.

“Now it is much easier to use and people will be able to enjoy the views as they travel along it instead of having to look down all the time and concentrate on where they put their feet.”

We have rebuilt the path and improved the drainage along the whole section, which is just over a kilometer long, and, due to the sensitive nature of the route,

Matt Neale - YNDPA

Landowner Sandra Facer said: “The work by the National Park Authority has transformed it completely. It’s a huge improvement on what it was a year ago and the TRO will mean it should stay in this condition for a long time.”

Historically the route was used by horses and carts for many years as the main road from Hawes to Kirkby Stephen and by Lady Anne Clifford on her regular travels between Skipton and Brough.

She was born at Skipton Castle in 1590, the third and only surviving child of George Clifford, third Earl of Cumberland, and his wife Margaret Russell.

She finally inherited the estate in 1643.and spent the next 26 years rebuilding almshouses, churches and castles including Skipton, Pendragon, Appleby, Brough and Brougham, where she finally died in 1676.