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In its 1922 book 'Military Mining' the Royal Engineers (RE) estimated the height of the rim of the Crater soon after the explosion at 15 feet (4.6 Metres).

All the chalk that the rim is formed from and that people walk on today came from inside the Crater. Over the years the chalk has settled and compacted down. People, when visiting the Crater like to walk around the rim, and this has resulted in a very distinctly defined 300 yard (275 Metre) path.

Until the early 1980s very few people went to the Crater, but since then the number of visitors has increased dramatically. The 2010 estimate of visitors to the Crater was about 250,000. That so many people make the pilgrimage to this, now quiet and peaceful sanctuary that once saw so much suffering can only be regarded as a good thing. But (isn't there always a 'but'!) so many footfalls are causing severe erosion to the path that so many people are drawn to walk round.

Four pictures clearly showing the erosion to the path around the Crater caused
by the estimated 250,000 people who walk around the Crater each year.
Image courtesy of Clive Gilbert, © 2011.

If the Crater is to remain in as near original condition as possible something must be done to reinforce the path and stop any further erosion. One suggestion is to provide 'duckboarding', similar to that laid near the entrance to the Crater.

Duckboards would certainly stop any further erosion, and as many Great War trenches were provided with duckboards, it could be argued that this would be a sympathetic way to stop any further degradation of the path.

The Friends of Lochnagar have consulted professionals who specialise in sympathetically landscaping historic sites with plenty of traffic (i.e. Hadrian's Wall) and they have strongly recommended excavating the top 3 inches of 'degraded' chalk (reconstituted and compacted chalk that will always turn to 'glue' the moment it gets saturated) around the rim to 1.5m in width, then shuttering with wood then filling with special impact absorbing stones. That is what should be done, given the amount of footfalls per year but of course it is also the most expensive.

There are no doubt other solutions, but whichever is ultimately chosen will needs funds to carry it out. If you feel able to assist please send a cheque, made payable to 'The Friends of Lochnagar', to :

The Friends of Lochnagar (Path)
Little Down
Hogs Back
Seale
FARNHAM
GU10 1HD
United Kingdom

Thank you