‘Such a shame’: Disappointment felt across Northamptonshire as Salcey Forest’s Tree Top Walkway closed for good

An outpouring of disappointment has been shared after it was announced that the Tree Top Walkway at Salcey Forest is shut for good.

Forestry England - responsible for the Northamptonshire park - announced on Tuesday (September 27) that it did not have the funding to restore the walkway, and that if it did it would cost more than £1 million - money the organisation says could be better spent.

The popular walkway has been closed since 2018 due to safety concerns, but there was always hope that funds would be found to restore the attraction.

Following the announcement, many ramblers have shared their upset and frustration, including the founder of Northamptonshire Walks who says it is “such a shame”.

Dave Askew said: “I’m disappointed. I remember when it first opened whenever we had new friends down we’d take them to show them it.

“The main thing about it was the accessibility. Everyone could get up including wheelchairs and pushchairs. You see young kids, babies, grandparents, anyone up there.

“It was also great the sheer number of people and happy faces you saw when you were going up and coming down.

“It’s just such a shame.”

There is nothing else even remotely similar in the county, there is however a similar model at Kew Gardens.

The tree top walkway there - according to the attraction’s website – closes for around two weeks every winter for planned maintenance.

Dave added: “I’d never seen any maintenance going on there [at the Salcey walkway], but maintenance was the only thing that needed paying for as it was built with National Lottery funding.

“They are looking to do new things there, like the pathway underneath and the Gruffalo, but the Grufallo aims at one dynamic - kids. It is not serving the purpose it was.

“It is a huge loss for everybody and not just for people in the county. It was a huge draw to bring people to the county.

“I do think they’ve missed a trick with keeping it going to get people to the forest. A lot of people are saying the car parking is expensive, which it is and they feel like they have less to go there for now.”

Current parking charges at Salcey are: £2 for up to an hour, £4 for up to two hours and £6 all day.

Readers’ views

Readers have also shared their memories of the walkway and their disappointment of the closure.

One reader said: “It was the only reason to visit that forest. Due to [the] ridiculously high fee for parking, [there is] no point to visit to walk around. Shame as it attract[ed] visitors before.”

Another added: “This is very sad. [It] was a wonderful attraction. Again Northamptonshire Another added: “Absolute shame... I am terrified of heights but managed to get to the top for the views!”

One reader was even involved in creating the walkway.

He said: “Gutted. Set this out back in 2005. Was a nice little claim to fame when people said ‘what have you worked on locally’.”

Another reader shared their memory: “I took friends on visits to the Treetop walk and they loved it but always mentioned nobody else was there. Such a shame.”

Read the full Forestry England statement about the closure here.