TODMORDEN - Parkin Lane and Stones

 There was a team of five out from Todmorden today.

Team 1: Catherine, Dunstan (on his first work party with CROWS) and Ken rebuilt the stile on a Todmorden Centenary Way link path below Stones Farm.

Team 2: Gareth and Kasher rebuilt the stile on Parkin Lane for Tod 104. They then went down to Stones to help the other team complete their rebuild.

Today was a long day but we were working in very pleasant conditions (ie no hail or rain) and with stunning views.

Today's work has been kindly funded by Todmorden Town Council. We would like to extend our thanks to them for their continuing support.

The TCW link path below Stones Farm.

Tod 104 off Parkin Lane.

Team 1:

The TCW link path at the start of the day. Both steps were extremely 
loose and the uprights were rotten.

OK, so now we have removed the old stile what do we do next???

Ken and Dunstan with the two main uprights in position
and the bracing cross rail in place. Note the metal closure post
which created lots of problems!

Dunstan getting used to the idea that there are
many holes to be dug for a stile!

Catherine and Dunstan getting the stile
legs sorted out.

What would we have done without Ken to sort 
out the challenge of this post and the gate closure
system?

Dunstan trying out the new stile.

Team 2:

The stile on Tod 104 at the start of the day.

Gareth sorting out one of the new stile legs. The new
upright pole is in place and the hole for the other
stile leg has been dug.

It's a very narrow stile.....

Kasher adding in the cross rails before the treadboard 
is put into place.

The finished stile. We may return to reduce the height of the new post 
but only after we have agreed with the landowner 
that the rails are high enough to prevent his sheep getting
over the stile!

LUDDENDEN FOOT - Willow Wood

 On a typical April shower-type day (albeit in the middle of May!) Jan and Paul sought refuge by the stream in Willow Woods to avoid the hail and rain in order to work on a delightful path (Hebden Royd 056) from Booth House Road towards Wheatley Royd Farm.

There was waymarking, step repair, cutting back and path scraping to be done . . . in-between the rainstorms and the beautiful sunshine! 

The original waymark post was rotten and broken and needed to be replaced.

The new post was professionally and accurately installed.

Spirit level expertly used...

Paul was clearly impressed with the end result!

The path was overgrown with Beech and Holly...

...but Paul made short work of it.

The steps up from the stream were cleared.

The path above the steps was also scraped and levelled to prevent puddling.

On closer inspection, several of the risers and stobs on the flight of steps need to be replaced and the revetment needs to be reinforced - this will mean a return visit.

This work was funded by CROWS funds.  Thank you to everyone who has donated to CROWS!

TODMORDEN - Greenhurst Hey Clough

On a day which seemed to have all four seasons in one morning, the team of Kasher and RJ returned to Greenhurst Hey Clough to continue the step work (on Tod 017) started last Friday. We constructed one further box step and installed side timbers. We then infilled all of the steps and widening the pathway. We will need another session to reduce the mud on the steps by adding more shale.

We will return in the near future to put in a bridge over the clough and to further improve the route by repairing one stile and constructing a couple of steps.

This is a great location in which to work, but it doesn't offer many places to shelter when hailstones are hammering down . . . . which they did today!

Today's work has been generously funded by Todmorden Harriers. Many thanks.

Many thanks also to the occupants of West Hey Head Farm who allowed us to park in their yard - the shorter the distance we have to carry tools and timbers, the better!

The blue pin marks the location of today's tasks.

The steps at the start of the day.

RJ putting in one of the supporting stobs for the 
final step.

Manoeuvring the step side timbers into place.

Hail and sunshine . . . a day of contrasts!

Gathering stone and shale from the clough.

The view from near today's worksite.

The steps at the end of the day.

BLACKSHAW HEAD - Kissing gate at Land Farm (Colden)

 Land Farm.

On a day when slow-moving weather fronts delivered light rain, heavy rain, stinging hail and brief interludes of sunshine, Neil D and Frank H tackled the repair of a semi-collapsed kissing gate on a right-of-way (Blackshaw 005) that goes behind the impressive grounds and house of Land Farm (see map).

1. Worksite marked with blue 'pin'.

The Details.

This is the original state of the kissing-gate:

2.  Old gate: sagging because lower hinge is missing.

The original gate is heavy and, because it hangs on lightweight, incorrectly fitted hinges, has sagged to jam against the ground. There is some (but not fatal !) decay in the strainer post which doubles as a hinge-post. The closure spring is ineffective because it is not working in torsion and non-optimally links a flat surface (the gate) to a curved surface (the strainer post) . . . time for some remedial work!

The task involved several compromises:- basically . . . 

i) Firmly embedding a new hinge-post (2.0 m x 100 mm x 100 mm) which could be screw-bolted to the existing strainer.

ii) Face mounting robust hinges to the old gate and re-hanging it on the new hinge-post.

iii) Reducing the width (and hence weight) of the old gate by one paling so it closed effectively against the end posts of the kissing-gate 'cage'. 

iv) Fitting a closure spring that worked in torsion and (as back-up security) adding a chain closure-loop.

Mmm! Lots of digging, double-check measuring, vertical trimming of top of strainer and matching old alignments with the new . .  . all to the rattle of hail and the occasional soaking!

3. More open than usual!

4. New hinges being fitted (face-mounted). All tools
and fittings not in use are kept dry under a groundsheet.

5. New hinge-post being screw-bolted to old strainer.

6. End result: new, narrower gate, re-hinged and 'spring loaded'
with Neil testing the chain closure-loop.

Despite getting wet, cold and muddy we were pleased with the outcome. Careful preparation work and some ingenious construction ploys produced a stable, secure, neatly operating gate. The strainer has some decay but is in better condition than the adjacent fencework much of which will need stabilising and re-tensioning to be fully stock-proof!

Today's work was funded by donations from Calderdale Ramblers and from Cragg Runners' 'Moors the Merrier' event. Many thanks for your support.

RYBURN - railway path off Elland Road

A damp and chilly start to the day saw Lynda, Jerry, Graham and Jak on a permissive path next to the old railway line.

Location of today's work

There were two jobs to do, cutting back the first section of path from the road and sorting out the steps which were in a bad way and needed to be better supported to help people and dogs up and down.

Lynda set to on the cutting back.

The path up before any cutting back

The path after cutting back

Meanwhile, the other three looked at the jumble of stone. Quite a lot of thinking took place as to how to manoeuvre the very large stones so as to make them safe and more easily usable.

Before we started

We moved the very large stones using levers and taking great care. Once we had got them into a better position, we were able to pack them out.

Stones moved and starting to be packed in place

Next we formed a long step around the base of the stone steps which we then filled with large stone.

Forming the new step

The final stage was to fill the new step with aggregate in order to fix it in place. This will bed in when it rains and will eventually look a bit darker as the path is used.

With aggregate to fill the gaps

The last job was to test the steps and make sure they are solid and safe for all users.

All OK!

Today's work was funded by Ripponden Parish Council for whose support we are very grateful. We used recycled timber and donated aggregate.