TODMORDEN - Stones and Hartley Royd

A team of three (Andrew, Kasher and Neil Mc) were out today from Todmorden. Our task was to complete two stiles built by the teams over the last couple of weeks. 

We started at the stile on Tod 102 on the footpath which runs parallel to Stones Lane and the Bacup Road. We were tasked with adding in a box step on the western side of the stile and then finishing off the treadboards with some staples. The box step should make it much easier for people to access the stile step, via the stone steps which are already in place. The use of MOT to infill the box step does make the area seem a little harsh but this will rapidly weather.

We then moved on to the stile below Hartley Royd on the footpath Tod 197. Previous teams have built the stile and thus our task was to "just" add in the dog-gate, sort out the upright round posts holding the sheep netting in place and then make sense of the sheep netting on either side of the stile. All would have been well except that a trip back to base was necessitated because we (well . . .  I) forgot the bits for the drill. 

When the word "just" is used for a work party it is a well known fact that the task will take much longer than expected! However, by the end of the session we have a dog-gate in place, treadboards with a random arrangement of staples and, thanks to the perseverance of Neil, sheep netting that works!

Many thanks to the landowner who allowed us to walk to the first work site through his fields and not on the RoW (which would have taken considerably longer).

Thanks too to Todmorden Town Council for funding today's work. We appreciate your continuing support to maintain the footpaths and bridleways in this area.

The blue "pin" marks the location of the new stile below Stones.

The blue "pin" is the location of the stile below Hartley Royd.

Stile at Stones:

The Stones stile before...

Neil and Andrew working on the new box step.

The completed stile with its new box step.

Stile at Hartley Royd:

The original stile being demolished by RJ and Duncan
a couple of work sessions ago.

Andrew and Neil removing generations of sheep netting.

Andrew and Neil working on the next section
of the stile.

Dog-gate in position and now the team are working
on sorting out and attaching the sheep netting.

Dog-gate in position and bracing structure for the
stile now in place.

Andrew and Neil getting to grips with the
sheep netting.

The stile now completed and ready for use . . .  where are the dogs when you
need them to test out the dog-gate?

TODMORDEN - Below Hartley Royd (session 2)

 Catherine, Duncan and RJ returned to the partially-built stile below Hartley Royd (on Tod 197) to install the step-legs and to finish the task.

Regular readers of this Blog/FB post will know that last week a team of four took a full CROWS' day to dismantle the previous stile and to put in two stile uprights. More progress was made today with a two-step stile taking shape.

The team still had to battle through the surface remnants of the old roadway leading up to Hartley Royd from the valley below. Thankfully step-legs do not have to be dug down quite as deeply as stile uprights.

Today's team have installed the legs and have attached the treadboards. The cross-rails have been added as well. Apologies to a mountain biker who thought that we had completed the task last week and who was very pleased that the rails were not too high. We think that today's outcome is a suitable compromise! (and should perhaps mention that this route is a designated as a public footpath and not a bridleway).

We will need to return (hopefully on Friday) to add in a dog-gate, sort out the poles in the fence line, and tidy up the sheep netting. 

Many thanks to the residents of Hartley Royd for allowing us to park in their yard and for storing our timber there. Thanks too to Todmorden Town Council for funding today's task. Your continued support is much appreciated.

The blue "pin" marks the location of today's stile build.

RJ at the stile at the beginning of the day. It's an exposed site
and the weather forecast was not positive!
(Looking towards Orchan Rocks).

RJ and Duncan trying to create holes for the step-legs.
The two recently sharpened bars are put to good use.

Dig deeper!

RJ with two step-legs in place and
the legs cross-braced.

The legs and treadboards now in place and
firmly packed . . .  and the sun is out!

The stile at the end of the day. Still a few things to 
finish at our next work session. There is a trick
of perspective - the stile uprights are vertical!

Duncan and Catherine (who did lots of the work and 
took all of the photos (except this one!)).

RJ and the rainbow at the start of the day.

TODMORDEN: below Stones Lane; Stile tlc

 Middle of Nowhere!

Right-of-way Todmorden 102 traverses the hillside and runs approximately parallel to and between Stones Lane and the Bacup Road (see map). It's a longish walk from either end to reach the worksite but fortunately we had the landowner's permission to access the stile by walking directly down from Stones Lane.

1. The worksite: East of Stones Wood

The task, on an ever-improving day, was to replace a rickety, partly collapsed stile by installing new side-posts, constructing a stone and treadboard combination of steps, and adding parallel cross-rails with some side-rail extensions. Phew! Lots of digging and careful alignment for Kasher, Kris and Frank on the Autumn Equinox (the first day of Astronomical Autumn).

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

The detail:

The existing stile was in a sorry state:

2. Before view from East: 
Old, wobbly and awkward

3. View from West:
Multiple posts and collapsing cross-rails.

Despite the early rain, it was a pleasure to work in a pasture and woodland setting with:

4. . . . a rainbow overhead (just visible in picture!) . . . and

 

5. . . .  a spooky tree guarding the woodland.

The work begins:

6. Overview before:

7. More open than usual:

8. "Lots of digging to do" . . . "starting now!"

9. Team work? Frank puzzling over a stile leg.
Kris excavating for a side-post

10. Progress: Side-posts in place and cross-rails
being positioned over stone steps.

11. Rails: Four main cross-rails in place.
Side 'stubs' being fitted to block a slight gap.

12. Overview after: (compare with picture 6)
. . . but will it take a load? . . . 

13. . .  . never in doubt!

This stile is secure, safe and a massive improvement on its predecessor, but there are a few finishing touches needed - staples on the treadboard and a low box step on the West side to improve the existing final step-down. CROWS will do these when they work on other wall crossings (stiles or pedestrian gates) along this route.

More next week!

Wadsworth Keelham Edge

 Stile repair and rainbow delight on Keelham Edge

Ian S and Paul were out today in the mizzle repairing a stile on the Calderdale Way near Claytons Farm. It's a long walk to this stile from the nearest parking place - the quarries at Little Moor - but fortunately we had Rich and Steve to help carry the tools and materials from our vehicle to the stile site. Thankfully, only one journey was required. Once delivery duties were done, Rich and Steve then scarpered off to a job they had earmarked. 

Blue Arrow marks the work site.

Thanks to Wadsworth Parish Council for part payment towards this job and to the landowner for paying for the materials. Also a big thanks to the Keelham landowner for allowing us to park above Mount Skip quarries.

The stile leads off the Calderdale Way on the right-of-way (Wadsworth 071) downfield to Dike Lane. The two lower legs and treadboard had rotted and needed replacing. 

Low leg on left rotted at the bottom.

In addition, two cross-rails adjacent to the stile needed replacing.

View toward Old Town 

Luck would have it the two rotted stile legs were lifted out of the ground in good time.

Ian working other side of the stile.

We faced cloudy, blustery weather with the threat of rain which thankfully didn't materialise. Instead we had a fine view of a rainbow!

Rainbow over Heptonstall.

New stile legs were dug in and a treadboard nailed in place.

Voila! New leg in place and cross-braced.

The two broken cross-rails were removed and replaced

Job completed.

It was an easier walk back to the car with only the tools to carry!

PENNINE WAY - Colden - day 2

Steve and Rich finished off the work started on Monday - path clearance, cutting-back and some waymarking. 

Before and after photo at the top.