Mend Our Mountains: The South Downs
Chanctonbury Ring Improvements
The BMC's Mend Our Mountains campaign will be funding the trackway improvements at Chanctonbury Ring.
Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill. It forms part of an ensemble of associated historical features created over a span of more than 2,000 years.
The South Downs Way National Trail climbs Washington Bostal (a sunken chalk trackway) up towards Chanctonbury Ring. The surface of the bostal, which is a public bridleway, has deteriorated with deep ruts making it difficult for walkers, cyclists and equestrians to negotiate. Mend Our Mountains will fund the regrading and repair of the 800m trackway.
£25,000 needs to be raised to regrade and reform 800m of trackway
In order to repair the surface eight hundred metres of the track will need to be regraded and existing drainage grips redefined, as well as introducing several more to help manage surface water. Low levels will be built up with a mixture of compacted chalk and flint to maintain the rural character of the trackway.
Our MOM Projects
Learn more about the other invaluable work that we are supporting across England and Wales. The BMC has raised over £1.4 million so far for the Mend Our Mountains Project. That's 50 miles of fragile footpath restored for future generations. 544 miles of upland repaired - the equivalent to over 67,000 double decker buses so far!
Cotswolds AONB
Mend Our Mountains will be funding a new role of an Access Officer to facilitate and unlock a wide range of work focused on access and removing barriers.
Fix The Fells
Mend Our Mountains will fund a ranger service to support the work of the 'Fix the Fells' teams in the Lake District National Park for a year. Money raised will be used directly for path repair and would allow the teams the flexibility to use the money when and where it is most needed.
North York Moors
Mend Our Mountains will be restoring the access routes on one of the North East’s most iconic peaks: Roseberry Topping. The Pathway Restoration project will focus on ten sections of path around and leading to the top of Roseberry Topping that need repair.
Get Stuck In! Volunteer Days
'Get Stuck In!' is a key part of helping repair our paths, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. By signing up to a volunteer session you have an opportunity to get out on the hillside, learn new skills and meet like-minded people whilst making a real difference to our wild places. Take a look at the upcoming footpath repair volunteer days we have available this year on our Mend our Mountains projects. Get stuck in!
