On Tuesday 30 July 2019 extreme rainfall caused flash flooding in the Arkengarthdale, Fremington and Grinton areas of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Information for visitors
Arkengarthdale and Swaledale are very much open for business! People planning trips to these iconic areas of the National Park should still come. Pubs, ice cream shops, cafes and bakeries are open. Those planning to stay overnight are advised to talk to their accommodation provider first, to check everything is OK.
Some public rights of way (PROW) were damaged by the flood waters. Click here for a map of Arkengarthdale and here for a map of Swaledale; the red stars indicate the 23 points where a public right of way is closed. These points are either at missing bridges, stepping stones, landslips or severe path surface erosion. There is no safe public access at these locations. More details are on our latest blog.
The Coast to Coast walk, which runs the length of Swaledale, was unaffected by the flooding, except at Ellers footbridge (the eastern most red star on the Swaledale map). There are straightforward ways round the closure. The suggested alternative is to follow the C2C to Marrick, then turn east through Marrick Park to join the road at Sour Nook and then turn north on the road to Marske.
Visit the Reeth National Park Centre for more information.
Information for residents
** A £2 million fund to help farmers affected by summer flooding has opened for applications today (Friday 20 September). Up to £25k available for farms affected by the floods in Arkengarthdale and Swaledale. The YDNPA farm team is available to help with completing applications. Call us on 01756 7531611 to book a time for us to come out to the farm.
** On Thurs 8 August, the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP) announced it had a £50,000 fund to help affect Richmondshire business owners: https://www.businessinspiredgrowth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/York-North-Yorkshire-Business-Flood-Recovery-Scheme-Claim-Form-final.pdf
** On Thurs 1 August, the TwoRidings Community Partnership opened a fund for residents and small businesses within the flooded area: https://www.tworidingscf.org.uk/north-yorkshire-recovery-fund-to-support-people-affected-by-dales-flash-floods/
It is that estimated around 60 farmers and up to 200 people have been affected by the flash flooding of buildings and land. National Park Authority rangers and volunteers are continuing to assistin the recovery effort. The Authority is in touch with partners including the Environment Agency, North Yorkshire County Council, Richmondshire District Council (RDC), the NFU and the Farmer Network. RDC is leading the co-ordination of the recovery work.
The NFU, as the lead body for farm assistance, is offering advice to farmers and has a list of all the main telephone numbers and organisations that could be needed. The Farmer Network has key information here.
Please see the note above (‘Information for visitors’) on temporary public rights of way closures.
Fundraising
The Ard Rock event team, which runs a major annual mountain biking festival in Fremington, has organised a crowdfunding appeal. There is another local fundraising appeal here.
