Skip to content

'Spider' used to help fix Lake District fells

Fix the Fells Spider diggerFix the Fells
The digger has legs instead of tracks

A specialist "spider" digger is being used to repair paths in the Lake District damaged by Storm Desmond.

This machine has legs instead of tracks, allowing it to access and work on steep and remote areas of the fells.

Fix the Fells - which maintains about 200 upland paths - normally undertakes repair work by hand using stones.

The digger helps it tackle larger problems by moving soil and gravel, and is being used on Blencathra above Scales and Maiden Moor near Keswick.

Fix the Fells Spider diggerFix the Fells
It can create paths of soil and gravel of a greater length and volume than can easily be produced by hand

The project is part of the Lake District National Park's "Routes to Resilience" project funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.