Traffic decision over popular fell route
Three years of legal argument over one of the Lake District’s most popular fell passes are finally over, after a Government appointed inspector decided that the route should be open to all traffic except motorised vehicles.
This means that any motorist or motor cyclist using Garburn Pass, between Troutbeck and Kentmere ’ which has been the subject of debate since 1717 - could face serious legal consequences.
And now thanks to around ’55,000 of Government funding after the floods in 2009 the pass - especially the Troutbeck side - is probably in better condition than it has been for hundreds of years.
National Park Countryside Access Adviser Nick Thorne said Garburn had always been difficult to maintain because of its gradient, turns and rainfall.
’As long ago as 1719 the High Constable of Kendal ordered that the route be put in to repair because part of it was not passable for any man or horse to travel without danger of being bogged in the moss or lamed amongst the stones’.
Now after years of debate, arguments and counter arguments - with hundreds of pages of documents ranging from maps of 1822, guide books of the 1880s, and photographs of motorbikes using the pass in the 1920s - the Secretary of State has finally concluded that the correct legal status of the route is a ’Restricted Byway’.
This means the route will be open to all traffic, except motorised vehicles. Motorists and motor cyclists who use the route will be committing a criminal offence.
’The storms of November 2009 badly damaged both sides of the pass, especially the western side where the track effectively became a river, and most of the surface ended up on the main road.
’We were able to obtain significant funding under the Paths for the Public Project, funded by Defra, the Rural Development Programme for England, and Cumbria County Council. And we have now completely rebuilt the worst affected areas in three stages with the work being carried out by our own staff, the National Trust, and a local contractor,’ Nick added.
