Latest news with #GetStuckIn
Wales Online
4 days ago
- General
- Wales Online
Sheep's wool used to make 'floating Roman footpaths' up Wales' highest mountain
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A path-building technique borrowed from the Romans has been used to rebuild a route on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). It's underpinned by hundreds of sheep fleeces which act as a base on which the path 'floats'. As the method is particularly good for crossing boggy areas, it was selected for the footpath in Cwm Llan on the south-eastern flanks of Yr Wyddfa. Nearby runs the popular but demanding Watkin Path to the mountain's summit. A 60-metre section of footpath was constructed, half of which used fleeces. The fleeces were taken from Welsh Mountain sheep grazed by the National Trust's Hafod Y Llan farm nearby, and flown to the site by helicopter. 'There were about 200-300 fleeces used, given to us for free from the farm,' said Ifan Parry, National Trust Cymru area ranger in Eryri (Snowdonia). 'Sadly, the price of wool is extremely low in the UK and it costs more to shear the sheep than you get from selling the wool.' From Bronze Age times, people have used a variety of natural methods for crossing wet ground including bundles of willow and hazel, woven hessian and flat stones. Traces of these techniques can still be found in submerged sections off the Welsh coast. Wool provides a good medium as it is durable and has good compressional strength. 'This sheep wool fleece technique in paths was used by the Romans,' said Ifan. 'Now, we tend to use this technique in wet boggy ground through peatland. 'The wool acts like a membrane to separate the path stone from the peat so it doesn't sink. It's a more eco-friendly alternative to using plastic membranes." Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community (Image: BMC) Ifan added: 'Once the wool is in and sealed, the peat is an anoxic environment so it won't rot – it will stay intact, acting like a barrier between the path and the peat. 'We try not to disrupt the peatland, so the wool allows water to flow through it underneath the path, preventing the surrounding peatland from drying out.' Fleeces were also used by Menter Môn to create bog-proof paths on Anglesey at Aberlleiniog Castle, near Penmon, and Rhos Llaniestyn, near Llanddona. It was part of the enterprise body's 'Made with Wool' project, which aims to find alternative uses for the versatile but under-valued fibre. In Cwm Llan, the 'walking on wool' path was laid over two days by British Mountaineering Council (BMC) volunteers and the National Trust's footpath team in Eryri. The work was for the BMC's latest 'Get Stuck In' event, part of the Mend Our Mountains campaign. Over the past two years, the initiative has seen volunteers clock up almost 500 man-hours of work in Eryri. Between them, they repaired more than 520 metres of footpath, laid 187 stepping stones and cleared five helicopter bags full of plastic tree guards. BMC hill walking rep Steve Charles said 30 metres of the "sheep" path were built just using stone – the other 30 metres used fleeces. 'Fleeces are used to build paths through boggy areas where stones would just sink into the mud,' he added. (Image: BMC) A trench was dug through peat about 1-2ft deep and the fleeces laid on at the bottom at least two bales deep. Larger stones were then used to weigh down the fleeces with aggregate added on top for the walking surface. Using wool does have drawbacks, said Ifan. 'Work-wise, fleece is easier in a way than stone-pitching or stepping stones because it's a lighter material and a less technical method that takes less time, skill and experience,' he said. 'But in other ways, it's harder than building a path with stone. Without a digger or a large group of people, it's quite a time-consuming task because of the sheer amount of material that needs to be dug out and then filled back in. 'The BMC Get Stuck In volunteers really helped us with this project and we did a lot more work than we thought we would do. Top job!' Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox With 10.5m visitor nights spent in Eryri in 2023-24, and more than 600,000 people climbing Yr Wyddfa every year, the national park's 1,497 miles of footpaths are seeing more footfall than ever before. It's left the BMC warning of a 'nightmarish downward spiral of footpath degradation', compounded by more extreme weather as the climate changes. One idea for combating these pressures is to appoint an apprentice ranger at the National Trust's Eryri footpath team. Fundraising for the two-year role is being led by the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust. So far £14,000 has been raised and another £53,000 is needed – there's more detail here. Find the weather forecast where you live
North Wales Live
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- North Wales Live
Sheep's wool used to make 'floating Roman footpaths' up Wales' highest mountain
A path-building technique borrowed from the Romans has been used to rebuild a route on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). It's underpinned by hundreds of sheep fleeces which act as a base on which the path 'floats'. As the method is particularly good for crossing boggy areas, it was selected for the footpath in Cwm Llan on the south-eastern flanks of Yr Wyddfa. Nearby runs the popular but demanding Watkin Path to the mountain's summit. A 60-metre section of footpath was constructed, half of which used fleeces. The fleeces were taken from Welsh Mountain sheep grazed by the National Trust's Hafod Y Llan farm nearby, and flown to the site by helicopter. 'There were about 200-300 fleeces used, given to us for free from the farm,' said Ifan Parry, National Trust Cymru area ranger in Eryri (Snowdonia). 'Sadly, the price of wool is extremely low in the UK and it costs more to shear the sheep than you get from selling the wool.' From Bronze Age times, people have used a variety of natural methods for crossing wet ground including bundles of willow and hazel, woven hessian and flat stones. Traces of these techniques can still be found in submerged sections off the Welsh coast. Wool provides a good medium as it is durable and has good compressional strength. 'This sheep wool fleece technique in paths was used by the Romans,' said Ifan. 'Now, we tend to use this technique in wet boggy ground through peatland. 'The wool acts like a membrane to separate the path stone from the peat so it doesn't sink. It's a more eco-friendly alternative to using plastic membranes." Ifan added: 'Once the wool is in and sealed, the peat is an anoxic environment so it won't rot – it will stay intact, acting like a barrier between the path and the peat. 'We try not to disrupt the peatland, so the wool allows water to flow through it underneath the path, preventing the surrounding peatland from drying out.' Fleeces were also used by Menter Môn to create bog-proof paths on Anglesey at Aberlleiniog Castle, near Penmon, and Rhos Llaniestyn, near Llanddona. It was part of the enterprise body's 'Made with Wool' project, which aims to find alternative uses for the versatile but under-valued fibre. In Cwm Llan, the 'walking on wool' path was laid over two days by British Mountaineering Council (BMC) volunteers and the National Trust's footpath team in Eryri. The work was for the BMC's latest 'Get Stuck In' event, part of the Mend Our Mountains campaign. Over the past two years, the initiative has seen volunteers clock up almost 500 man-hours of work in Eryri. Between them, they repaired more than 520 metres of footpath, laid 187 stepping stones and cleared five helicopter bags full of plastic tree guards. BMC hill walking rep Steve Charles said 30 metres of the "sheep" path were built just using stone – the other 30 metres used fleeces. 'Fleeces are used to build paths through boggy areas where stones would just sink into the mud,' he added. A trench was dug through peat about 1-2ft deep and the fleeces laid on at the bottom at least two bales deep. Larger stones were then used to weigh down the fleeces with aggregate added on top for the walking surface. Using wool does have drawbacks, said Ifan. 'Work-wise, fleece is easier in a way than stone-pitching or stepping stones because it's a lighter material and a less technical method that takes less time, skill and experience,' he said. 'But in other ways, it's harder than building a path with stone. Without a digger or a large group of people, it's quite a time-consuming task because of the sheer amount of material that needs to be dug out and then filled back in. 'The BMC Get Stuck In volunteers really helped us with this project and we did a lot more work than we thought we would do. Top job!' Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox With 10.5m visitor nights spent in Eryri in 2023-24, and more than 600,000 people climbing Yr Wyddfa every year, the national park's 1,497 miles of footpaths are seeing more footfall than ever before. It's left the BMC warning of a 'nightmarish downward spiral of footpath degradation', compounded by more extreme weather as the climate changes. One idea for combating these pressures is to appoint an apprentice ranger at the National Trust's Eryri footpath team. Fundraising for the two-year role is being led by the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust. So far £14,000 has been raised and another £53,000 is needed – there's more detail here.
