THE Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is set to take over management of the whole of the 268-mile Pennine Way, from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, in a bid to assure the future of the national trail.

The authority has secured a £350,000 annual grant from Natural England, current managers of the 15 national trails in England and Wales, to maintain and improve both the walking route and the 205-mile Pennine Bridleway, which runs from Derbyshire to Cumbria.

David Butterworth, chief executive of the national park authority, said the move represented a great challenge and a unique opportunity to bring together for the first time all 18 organisations which have rights of way over the Pennine trails and currently share responsibility for maintenance and control.

“It is a big undertaking for us but after a year of shadow-managing the trails in partnership with local authorities, other national parks, charitable trusts and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, we are confident we can not only manage this great national asset successfully but enhance and improve it for everyone,” he said.

At present individual local authorities are responsible for their own sections of the Pennine Way and Bridleway: from April they will pay a fee to the national park authority.

Mr Butterworth says the deal is not only a good one for the Pennine Way and its thousands of visitors, the organisations currently responsible for it, and Natural England, but for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority itself.

Like other public sector bodies the authority has faced stringent cuts in the past five years: from 140 staff in 2010 it now employs fewer than 100, and the future is, as for all public bodies, uncertain.

“Whoever is governing the country after May the word on everyone’s lips is austerity. I happen to believe it’s not the only way to balance the books but realistically that’s what we face. No matter who wins the election the public sector will not be spared,” he says.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s budget is currently just under £5 million - “about the size of a small secondary school’s,” says Mr Butterworth – but nobody knows what cuts will come in the future.

“In times like this, you can do one of two things: you can sit and moan and take everything they throw at you, or you can get off your backside and do something about it. We’re doing the latter, and leading this partnership is part of our go-getting, proactive strategy. We have a lot of expertise in landscape management and conservation and we are putting it to good use,” he added.

The authority expects to appoint a manager for the project in March.

The Pennine Way was the first national trail to open, on April 24, 1965. Among the events marking this year’s 50th anniversary is a major exhibition of art, photography, sculpture and memorabilia at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes. It opens at the end of February and runs until the end of April.

  • The Pennine Way runs from the Peak District in Derbyshire, through the Yorkshire Dales, across the North Pennines and over Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland to the Cheviots. The Yorkshire Dales National Park sits at the mid-point of the trail.
  • The Pennine Bridleway runs through the Pennines from Derbyshire to Cumbria. It is designed for horse-riders, mountain bikers and walkers. The route was opened in stages with the full 205-mile route opened in June 2012.