With Covid restrictions easing in England, volunteers in the Yorkshire area took the opportunity to give the previously muddy approach path from the roadside parking to the crag at Almscliff some TLC.
The approach path, which runs through a farmer’s field, has been getting increasingly muddy over the past few years but plans to improve it unfortunately had to be put on hold due to Covid. Almscliff is one of Yorkshire’s finest crags, but as it’s not on open access land we’re reliant on our good relationship with the farmer who owns the crag for climbing access. Unfortunately, some inconsiderate visitors had been walking along the top of the dry stone wall to avoid the mud in the field. This would have damaged the wall and could have soured our relationship with the landowner, so installing a flagstone path to get visitors across the muddy field was the clear solution.
Mick Johnson (BMC Access Rep for Yorkshire Gritstone) took the lead in making the work day happen, with other local climbers helping to source suitable stone to use as materials for the new path. On the day, more than 40 volunteers turned up to lend a hand and with ages ranging from people in their twenties to their seventies, it was a great team effort across the generations of Yorkshire climbing community.
The end result is flagstone path that keeps you out of the mud, all the way across the field from the stile by the roadside parking to the stile at the other side where the boulders begin. Obviously, this is great for climbers but also for other visitors who come to Almscliff for the views, picnics and walking their dogs. The farmer was really impressed with the work done and pleased that this should stop any further damage to his walls.
All that remains is to say a huge thank you to Mick for organising the day and all the volunteers involved in getting the stone in place. It goes without saying - please use the path and have a great time at this amazing crag!
DOWNLOAD: the BMC RAD app
Get all the info on crags with the RAD (Regional Access Database) app from the BMC! Available now for Android and iOS, it's free and comes with a host of new features like navigation and parking, weather and tidal updates, and of course information on restrictions or notes on access advice. Get it here now!
RAD is community led and your comments help keep it up to date so don’t be afraid to add any relevant information after a crag visit which might be useful for other visitors – anything from conditions on the crag, favourite routes or reports of rockfall/other recent changes to the crag are all useful for other climbers visiting.
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