A CROWDFUNDING appeal has been launched to repair a popular mountain biking and walking route through the Dartmoor landscape which inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Mend Our Mountains appeal has a target of raising £3,000 to repair Nun’s Cross Path, part of urgent work to halt erosion on the circular Princetown to Burrator loop.
It is close to Nun’s Cross Farm, which is reputed to have inspired the haunted house in his famous Dartmoor mystery ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’. Nun’s Cross itself is one of the Dartmoor’s best loved granite crosses.
Winter storms in 2014 destroyed several miles worth of the trail on the route and erosion has been caused by heavy use of the path by some 30,000 walkers and 10,000 mountain bikers every year.
Moorland rangers and contractors plan to work together to build cross drains to stop paths being washed away or damaged at times of heavy rainfall.
Proper drainage will also stop the ground nearby from becoming waterlogged. The path will be resurfaced using locally sourced materials to provide a durable surface and at the same time erosion scars; associated damage will also be cleaned up and restored.
The high-quality path will provide a circuit for walking and off-road cycling from Princetown, which will be easy to use even in poor weather.
Once complete, this will provide a high quality, sustainable and resilient route enabling a 12-mile (20 kilometre) circuit for walking and off road cycling from Princetown, boosting tourism and the local economy, as well as providing a high quality experience across remote moorland.