Quaker trail offers new route for walkers

A VITAL part of the public rights of way network in the Yorkshire Dales has been officially reopened, providing a new route for walkers to enjoy.

The newly restored Fisherman’s Bridge over the River Lune near Sedbergh carries the Sedbergh Quaker Trail, a newly devised route established by the Sedbergh Area Walking and Cycling Group with support from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund.

The circular walk starts and finishes in Sedbergh and takes in a number of sites of relevance to early Quakerism. The route is described in full in a leaflet that is now available at the Sedbergh Information Centre in Main Street.

Fisherman’s Bridge is the only crossing in a five-mile stretch of the Lune. Its original structure was swept away by Storm Desmond two years ago. The new crossing spans 35m and was installed at a cost of £110,000 with the help of a £12,500 donation from a number of local community group and individuals.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority worked with Cumbria County Council to restore the crossing.

Park authority member and county councillor Nick Cotton, who officially opened the new bridge, said: “It was designed with only one pier, to create less obstruction to flow during flood events. A total of 22 steel beams, each weighing 130kg, were bolted together to span the river and support a wooden walkway.”

Connecting the communities of Firbank and Howgill, it is the only publicly accessible footbridge over the Lune between Kirkby Lonsdale and Tebay.