Thirty Years of Flying Stones and Gravel

The upgrading of the Public Bridleway that climbs the steep eastern flank of Roseberry Topping appears to be finished, though those boulders need time to settle before local lads discover a bowling alley. Overhead, a helicopter carries tubs of gravel from the Aireyholme Lane dump to a clearing in Newton Woods, ready for the next stage of repairs to the lower paths there and the deep holloway known as Bridle Gill Road.

One of the contractors told me that today’s pilot would have welcomed a bit more wind, since it gives extra lift and helps with control. The cable was an unusual 100 feet, a long-line in helicopter lifting terminology, against the standard 30 feet short-line, so that it could clear the tree canopy. Every day’s a school day.

Airlifting stone here is a tradition of some 30 years¹“‘Copters take Stones Back up the Mountain.” Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 25 Oct. 1994, p. 12.. More than 100,000 hikers a year have scarred this “mini-Matterhorn”, and since 1993 helicopters have ferried hundreds of tonnes of sandstone to mend it²“A Topping idea.” Middlesbrough Herald & Post, 28 Apr. 1999, p. 27.³Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project. “Looking after footpaths.” Roseberry Topping, 2007, pp. 176–180.. In 1994 it was suggested that the new paths then would last 100 years and that erosion on the old paths had been successfully halted⁴“Now it is the tops.” East Cleveland Herald & Post. 9 February 1994. Page 1..

No such bold claim has reached me about today’s £700,000 restoration of ten paths⁵“Roseberry Topping – More path repairs underway thanks to BMC Mend Our Mountains.” The British Mountaineering Council, 13 Jan. 2026. URL: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/en/roseberry-topping-path-8-jan26. But I hope it allows these ancient routes to survive their popularity.

• 1
  “‘Copters take Stones Back up the Mountain.” Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 25 Oct. 1994, p. 12. ↩︎
• 2
  “A Topping idea.” Middlesbrough Herald & Post, 28 Apr. 1999, p. 27. ↩︎
• 3
  Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project. “Looking after footpaths.” Roseberry Topping, 2007, pp. 176–180. ↩︎
• 4
  “Now it is the tops.” East Cleveland Herald & Post. 9 February 1994. Page 1. ↩︎
• 5
  “Roseberry Topping – More path repairs underway thanks to BMC Mend Our Mountains.” The British Mountaineering Council, 13 Jan. 2026. URL: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/en/roseberry-topping-path-8-jan26 ↩︎