TODMORDEN - Grey Stone Lane and Bottomley

 On a grey day, which became progressively wetter, there were two groups out from Todmorden:

a) Catherine and Kasher revisited Grey Stone Lane (Todmorden 011) near Great Rock to try to sort out the perpetual drainage problems. We will need to return to this lane to complete the task!

b) David and Mick worked on the final (or possibly penultimate) session attempting to control the water flowing down Todmorden 144 between Rough Stones and Clunter Clough.

A heavy shower of rain forced Catherine and Kasher off the hill as we thought we should rescue David and Mick . . . . unfortunately, by the time we arrived in Bottomley the rain had abated (a little) so we were put to work assisting in the installation of the final two pieces of revetment. All we have to do now is wait to see whether the trackway will dry out a little. We will return to this in a few days time to add additional pins to the revetment, to monitor the water flow and to clear the main drain. In the Spring we will work on the access to the footpath up the hillside towards Allescholes Rd.

Today's work on Todmorden 144 has been paid for by the residents of the adjacent house. Many thanks. The work on Grey Stone Lane has been paid for by Little Box Consulting Ltd. Thank you!

Ditches cleared on Grey Stone Lane.

Catherine in the rain . . . again!

Additional revetments added to control
the water flowing down Tod 144.

Nearly there.....

Three very wet CROWS . . . and a not
quite so wet house owner!

CRAGG VALE: Castle Gate Dam another session!

 Castle Gate Dam steps

On a calm, still day that never got warm enough to disperse the surface frost, Jan, Ian S and Frank H worked on the steps that lead down from Castle Gate to the short footbridge over the dam leat.

The task was to renovate a series of unevenly spaced steps that were not only showing signs of decay but were also starting to tilt.

Today's work was funded by Hebden Royd Town Council.  Many thanks.

The Detail

1. The original steps:

This was taken during some preparatory work that CROWS did last month. The perspective is tricky. At a glance the flight appears to be adequate but . . . some of the risers are leaning forwards, some stobs and risers are rotten or loose, and several sections of the tread areas have a gradient that is too steep. 

2 Work in progress

The sequence for the day was:-  hammer-in more stobs to firmly anchor the revetment, replace the old risers with new, ensure each riser has a vertical face and a horizontal top, add extra steps to allow the tread area to be graded less steeply and landscape the down-slope side of the whole flight.

Ian providing a colourful contrast to the surrounding frost!
Dig or freeze was the order of the day!

For once, the ground was amenable so
construction could proceed reasonably
swiftly . . . although there was a lot
of digging and shovelling!

3. End of Session

End of the day and it's still frosty but . . .
. . . eight steps in place and  . . . probably
eight more to go!

We also installed a grab post (no photo) at the New Bridge end of the path. This will provide an extra aid for walkers descending the stone steps that lead from the the lane to reach the new flight constructed by CROWS last month.

More in a week or two . . . depending on weather!

CRAGG VALE

 CRAGG VALE - GREEN BANK

Jak and Paul ventured out on a frosty morning to Cragg Vale, parking by Green Bank Terrace where we unloaded materials in preparation to finish the repair of some steps in the field below. Considerable repair work had already been done on this site where two flights of wooden steps descend through fields to meet a further walled section of steep stone-steps that lead to the riverside walk below.

Our job today was to repair / replace two rotten risers and install one new step at a particularly steep location. In addition, we cleaned the flight of stone steps removing leaf mulch to create a  better tread and we cut back hawthorn growth from around the fingerpost on the main road opposite Green Bank Terrace.

The work was funded by Hebden Royd Town Council. Many thanks

The Detail

A fine example of a rotten riser!

One repaired!

Jak getting stuck in!

Top one repaired, second one new!

Cleaned stone steps

TODMORDEN and ERRINGDEN

Various Tasks!

Today's trio from Todmorden (RJ, Gareth and Kasher) tackled a number of small outstanding jobs on Todmorden 034 (the TCW near Stock Hey) and on Erringden 014 (above Height Wood):

a) Reinstating the finger post at the top of Erringden 14 which points along the top of Height Wood towards Burnt Acre and Cruttonstalls.

b) Further improvements to protect the Erringden 014 footpath from being washed away by the water flowing from a hillside drainage pipe.

c) Replacement of the top cross-rail on the stile half-way along Erringden 014.

d) Reinstating marker posts below Burnt Acre and at the junction with Erringden 024.

e) Clearing debris from near the stepping stones across Stoodley Clough below Stock Hey. Hopefully the removal of some large rocks and clearance of the shingle will allow the water to flow more easily and allow people to cross this clough on the stepping stones.

f) Repositioning of the finger post near the canal at Stoodley Glen, way marking and adding staples to the treadboards of the two stiles here.

Today's work was funded by Little Box Consulting Ltd.

The Pictures:

Gareth reinstating the finger post on Erringden 014.

Improvements to the drainage
issue on Erringden 014.

A new top rail added.

Reinstating marker posts at the junction
of Erringden  014 and Erringden 024.

RJ improving the stability of the stepping stones
below Stock Hey.

Below HEPTONSTALL

Another cracking Wednesday - frost, blue skies, good views. Ray and Stella went back to the path running from Heptonstall Road up to Hell Hole Rocks.  We completed the work started last week putting in some drainage channels to take storm water off the path and reduce the resultant scouring.

After that a visit to Lee Mill Wood to replace a fallen waymark post on the Calderdale Way.

Todays work was funded by Heptonstall Parish Council and donations to CROWS.  Thank you.

The Heptonstall path

A few of today's tools

Last weeks temporary job...

.....fettled to something a bit more permanent

And another one dug

Perks of the job 1

Perks of the job 2

Location of the fallen waymark

Replaced