TODMORDEN - the cutting back continues

 Duncan and Kasher returned to Stile Lane (Tod 028) and Tod 029 (off Ashenhurst Road) to cut back the rampant vegetation and, on Stile Lane, to secure the fence at the top of the ginnel/snicket as it enters the field. The entrance to the field is through the gap stile at the side of the fence. We hope to work with the landowner to improve the access from the ginnel to the field whilst preventing the landowner's cattle from coming down from the field.

We also took the opportunity to look at some of the willows which we planted earlier in the year, many of which seem to have taken well. We also returned to the drainage issues in this area and will need to work with the Council to try to sort out some of these problems before the winter storms.

Many thanks to the person/people who have cut back some of the vegetation on Tod 029. Your work was really appreciated and made our job slightly easier.

Today's work has been funded by Todmorden Town Council. Many thanks for your continuing support.

The blue "pin" marks the area off Ashenhust Road where we were cutting back
vegetation . . . and admiring our planted willows!

The gate which is at the end of the ginnel off Stile Road. The entrance 
to the field is through the narrow gap stile on the LHS of the gate.

Vegetation taking over the path.

Duncan cutting back brambles, roses and bamboo; escapees
from the adjacent garden.

We have tied the gate into position but will try
to replace it as a matter of urgency.

The path should be easier to walk now!

The sign which we put up in April
about the planting of the willow.

The path . . . in desperate need of a haircut!

Brambles and bracken now cut back.

Many of the willow planted in April seem to be thriving.

Ryburn - Tidying up above Cotton Stones.

Today was the day for finishing some outstanding jobs. Jak and Jerry headed up to Ogden Farm to complete the cutting-back and to fit a couple of support bars on the stile CROWS had built previously. They also surveyed a couple of other paths in the area - some more work for for the future. 

Today's work has been funded through donations to CROWS via the website. Many thanks to all who contributed.

Jerry - testing stile stability.

Meanwhile, Linda, Richard (now a fully fledged CROW) and Angus headed up to Upper Burnt Moor Farm to work on the path that goes from Noah Dale Farm to Back Lane and down to the Alma Inn. 

The work to be done was a combination of cutting-back and way-marking (several of the original way-marks were missing or badly faded).

The red highlight shows the path we worked on.

The path from Upper Burnt Moor Farm before . . .

. . . and after.

Before picture: The nettle patch looking towards Noah Dale Farm  . . .

. . . and after: the path now nettle-free!

 

Path at Noah Dale (before and after) cleared and the wall rebuilt.

The cutting-back complete, we walked the path along its route to Back Lane. There were several junctions where the walker, even with a map, would be uncertain as which route to take! 

Extra, new way-marks were fitted and old ones replaced so as to clarify path directions.

 

i) Linda replacing an old way-mark and ii) a 'personalised' way-mark at Upper Burnt Moor.

The final task was to stabilise a wobbly step at Upper Burnt Moor. 

Can you spot the wedge stone?

COLDEN: A tricky stile!

Colden: Mixed weather stile building!

In Colden, between Jack Bridge and Scotland, a path (Blackshaw 005) runs approximately North-West off New Road. (See map).

1. Blue 'pin' marks the worksite.

Access is via a stile which has some structural issues:

2. View from field side: Rotten treadboard, broken
 side-post and a gigantic step down into the field.

3. View from road side: Rampant foliage.
broken side-post and rotten step leg.

To complicate matters, an adjacent, partly collapsed squeeze gap that had been incorporated into a drystone wall construction had suffered from users damaging the walled section to (presumably) allow a safer passage. The stile's wobbly step-leg and the precipitous step down into the field were challenges for even the most agile of walker or canine companion!

The detail:

The stile needed reconfiguring and a rapidly changing plan ended up as follows:

i)   cut back all overgrowth

ii)  dismantle the whole stile and dig out the side-posts and step-legs.

iii) construct a new stile with two steps on the road side and three on the field side.

iv)  cross-brace the legs and add five cross-rails.

v)   install a dog-gate between one side-post and a stone pillar of the old squeeze gap.

It was a day of lots of digging, hauling out of posts, cutting timbers, checking levels and hoping everything could be squeezed into the narrowest of gaps. An additional factor was the weather. After a fine start, a succession of rain clouds soaked us in sharp showers before we dried out in the afternoon sunshine.

4. The discussion: "It's all much more rotten than we thought!"

5. Leg removal: Textbook stuff - prise it out with two spades!

6. More open than usual! The old strainer posts
- one is rotten - are buried too deeply to dig out.

7. One side-post in place.
Rain clouds are rolling in.

8. Cutting to length. "Good technique, Frank
despite the pouring rain!"

9. Progress: Uprights firmly in place.
Leg-holes being created.
 .

10. More progress: legs in place for a two-steps
then three-steps stile.

11. Leg bracing completed.

12. Dog-gate: "Will it fit here Mmm! Just!"

13. Dog-gate: brackets being positioned.

     

14. End result: Neat and complete!

15. Testing! Testing! Never in doubt
and all under blue skies!

16. "Oh! A stile. Mmm! It'll be here longer than we will!"

This was a long working session for Nic, Kasher and Frank. Nic had the bonus of living nearby so set off walking home. Kasher and Frank finished loading the vehicles and would have set off . . . if only Kasher's battery hadn't been 'flat'. Mmm! Not the best scenario at 4.30 in the afternoon on a narrow remote track.

Fortunately, Frank had a set of jump leads (last used about 20 years ago!) in his car toolkit so, after dredging up the memory (and checking on google) as how to best use them, calamity was averted.

We were pleased with the result of the day's work. Although a few compromises had to be made and we ended up on Plan D rather than Plan A, the stile is safe, secure, aesthetically pleasing and user friendly. Some further signage may be added at a later date.

Jumble Hole - Stone steps

 With an original team of four depleted to two by summer viruses, our original plan to install revetment on an exposed bit of Midgely Moor was postponed (thankfully, in view of the prolonged downpour in the middle of the day).

Instead, Ian S & Stella went to the shelter of the woods in Jumble Hole to finish clearing the fantastic long flight of stone steps on path Tod 001.   Today, we tidied up the lower two sections which were cleared earlier in the year (blue on the map), and cleared the top section (red on the map) above the "crossroads" with  Tod 003 on a Calderdale Way Link Path.

The path

Above the "crossroads" - fairytale, and overgrown.

The squeeze to the "crossroads"....

....which you can now get through

Above the "crossroads" when we'd finished.

 Hopefully this will keep the steps clear enough for another year or two, although ferns, brambles and falling leaves have a way of covering our tracks through woodland pretty quickly.

Today's work was funded by individual donations to CROWS.  Your support is very much appreciated, thank you.

RYBURN - Helm Lane

Today saw Jerry, Rich D and Jak working on a stile near Helm Farm off Helm Lane. 

Location of stile

There was a jumble of boundaries consisting of several lines of old fencing, a broken down wall and a thick hedgerow. The first job was to clear the site and we opted to remove anything that wasn't useful so as to eventually leave a tidy site.

Existing stile

Existing stile

During the clearing, we found a number of interesting things. Firstly a "dead man", used by some stile builders in the past to secure the posts in the ground. Usually such posts are very hard to extract from the ground!

A "dead man"

The archaeology continued! Rich found a piece of ironwork which could have been part of a gate.

Ironwork . . .  modelled by Rich!

We had a small amount of very welcome rain too but it did little to soften the dusty and extremely stony ground we were digging into.

Synchronised hole digging

After some time we got one post in the ground and the next one ready for firming up.

Stile starting to take shape

A short break and then we completed the stile and tidied up the site.

Rich performing the walk test

Working for CROWS means we get to see beautiful countryside and extensive views . . . and sometimes animal life. Today we had two frogs who hopped in to say hello.

Rich's new friend

Do frogs eat cake!?

We're very grateful to Ian for giving us access to the site and also for his hospitality. Top notch!

This work was funded by donations to CROWS for which we are also very grateful. Many thanks.