Lady Anne Highway

Restoration work has been carried out just north of Garsdale Head along a 3.3km section of the Lady Anne Highway which runs from from Hell Gill Bridge to Johnstone Bridge. Until the 1820s when the new turnpike road (now the B6259) was constructed the High Way was a major route from Hawes to Kirkby Stephen named after Lady Anne Clifford, one of the most renowned noblewomen of the Stuart era who used this route to travel between her Westmorland castles and estates*.

This section, which is right at the northern end of Yorkshire Dales National Park section of the proposed Pennine Bridleway route, had become badly damaged by recreational motor vehicles making it difficult to negotiate on foot, bike or horse.

Major restoration work took place in 2004 with over 1,700 tonnes of aggregate and all equipment being flown in by helicopter. Contractors used a technique called ‘Grass Gavel’, whereby aggregate is mixed with soil, seeded and rolled on top of a subsoil path and terram membrane.

The route is already showing good signs of recovery.

* From 'Yorkshire Dales: North & East' by Terry Marsh