RYBURN - Path 62 and a bridleway between Stony Lane and Kebroyd

Two main jobs today for a team comprising Stella, Jerry, Graham and Jak.

The first was a stile on Footpath 62 which runs from Ripponden Old Bank across to Longley Lane. We've done a fair bit on this path recently trying to sort out the drainage issues. The stile is an awkward one and we aimed to assist people over and through a squeeze stile while at the same time protecting stock.

Map showing location of stile on Ripponden 62 path

The stile prior to work

Stile prior to work

We improved access to the stile so that's it's not so far to step up to it. It is a tight gap and is still awkward however.

Not so far to step up or down

Easier to step up and down now

The second job was a bridleway which runs from Stony Lane down to Kebroyd crossing the Calderdale Way. This is an lovely old walled path.

Map of bridleway

We cut back overhanging vegetation and brambles to make this a more pleasant route for horse riders and walkers. We will return to install waymarks.

Jerry with Graham and Stella behind

Working on the lower end of the path

Leading down to Kebroyd

From Stony Lane

Just in the nick of time so we avoided the worst of the rain.

Today's work has been funded by donations to CROWS for which we are very grateful.

PENNINE WAY - survey

Every two years Natural England surveys the Pennine Way. Our job is to inspect the problems they have identified in Calderdale to see how CROWS can help sort them. 

Rich, Andy, Kash, Neil, Ian S and Steve walked out four sections with clipboards, tape measures, pointed instruments and cameras. On the three days we did this, there was hardly any rain and not too much wind - a miracle! 

1. Blackstone Edge to Callis (Todmorden and Erringden paths). Several bad drainage problems, some waymarking issues. 

2. Callis to Colden (Blackshaw and Heptonstall paths). Fettling need on a number of steps, gates, stiles and brambles!

3. Colden to Widdop Road (Heptonstall paths). Several drainage problems, waymarking, and some cutting back needed 

4. Widdop Road to Withins Height (Wadsworth paths).  Mostly in good condition, but some issues that contractors need to deal with. 

A classic Pennine Way drainage issue!

So what is the problem here?

 The resulting schedule will be submitted to Calderdale Highways and Natural England. Fingers crossed the funding will be available to deal with at least some of the problems. 

After thought 

The Montane Spine race went up the Pennine Way in the wet in January. Some of the issues we identified indicated the damage that these large winter events can cause. We are lucky that most of our local running and walking event organisers work with us (and donate) to limit damage on the routes they use. We wonder whether the big national events organisers contribute in the same way? Just asking. 

 

TODMORDEN and BLACKSHAW HEAD - Various

 There were two teams out from Todmorden today. It was an extremely wet day but at least it was above 0 Celsius and with no snow . . . a bonus!

Team 1: David and Neil Mc: completed the stile on BS 051. This was started on 23 January and we have been trying to complete it every Friday since then! This stile is a long, long way from a road and there was rather a lot of timber and tools to carry today.

Team 2: Duncan and Kasher: 

i)  completed the steps off Carriage Drive in Walsden on Tod 212 by installing one additional step, laying and pinning some geotextile, and infilling part of the slope with MOT. 

ii)  removed from the hillside the plastic tree guards and wooden stakes which we took from trees on Tod 216 a few weeks ago; 

iii) planted willow cuttings in the wet hillside above Tod 029 which we worked on a couple of weeks ago to improve the drainage on Tod 213. 

Unfortunately, we missed the wise counsel of RJ who unavailable to assist.

Funding for today's work in Blackshaw Head has come from the  friends and family of Sheena McKerrel, a keen walker who lived in BSH.  

The work completed by Team 2 has been funded by individual donations to CROWS. Many thanks.

We would like to thank the residents of Inchfield Manor who allowed us to park our vehicle near to the worksite.

Details:

Team 1:

Stile to be repaired: just off Cow Side Lane.

Neil Mc dismantling the cross rails so that
he can access the old legs and treadboards.
Easy to do as hex-head screws had been used.

The new legs and treadboards in place.

Staples being added to the treadboards.

The completed stile.

Our neighbours on Cow Side Lane (!).

Team 2:

Willow cuttings were planted above Tod 029.

The final session on the steps between Walsden 'Rec' and Inchfield Rd.

The start of the session.

The final step installed and the geotextile being pinned
in place.

The geotextile being cut to size and then filled
with MOT. We were glad we bought sufficient MOT for 
this although we will return in the Spring to
top up the MOT.

Duncan perfecting his rain dance on the MOT.

Slightly fewer trip hazards and not as slippery.

Duncan collecting up the tree guards . . . 

. . . . to be transported off site.

Planting willow into a very wet hillside.

Let's hope the the willow roots. We may
need to come back to plant more.

Ryburn - Rough Hey woods - a bit of fettling

Following an observation by a local walker, Jak, Linda and Angus headed to the footpath where it enters the wood from Highlee Lane. After crossing a couple of grass fields, the path slopes down into the wood underneath a canopy of large holly trees. The persistent rain over the last few weeks has turned the last few metres into a slippery mess, with less grip than the bobsleigh run in Cortina! 

Again, a big thankyou to the Russel family who's kind donation has made this work possible.

The blue circle shows the location of today's work.

On arrival we were greeted by an expectant flock looking for their breakfast.

Linda keeping clear of the slippery section.

Followers of the blog may remember that we had previously put several steps/stepping stones into this path and, along the last section, installed a number of grab posts. Today we improved the situation by repositioning the posts and linking them with a 'grab-rope'. Many thanks to Jak for donating this rope.

Linda and Angus position the rope hand hold.

Once the posts had been knocked in, the rope was fixed to provide a handhold away from the barbed wire fence bordering the path. We also put in several stepping stones to improve underfoot conditions.

The finished job:  hopefully making this section easier to traverse.

BREARLEY, Mytholmroyd

 The footpath from the A646 up to Lower Ewood needed some TLC and today, in dry weather with a sharp wind, Jerry & Stella went to replace a rotting stile.  It had been reported to us by the Highways Department and also by a local walker.  

The stile is in a stock fence so it is important to maintain tension in the fence and make sure to leave no gaps a lamb might wriggle through.

The stile is under the red arrow

First job is always carrying tools and materials to the site, and we had a lot of both.

This lot had to go up the steps and across a field

.

Then we dismantled the existing stile............

Stile to be replaced

Removed

Old timber

........before digging six post holes into rocky ground and heavy clay.  An old rotting post we had to remove had been so well installed back in the day that it took Jerry the best part of an hour to dig it out.

A regular CROWS working position

Digging six of these takes a while

And this is the recalcitrant stump

 looking so innocuous!

But we managed to make the stile safe and stock-proof before stopping for the day.  We'll be back in a couple of weeks to tension the fence a little better, add some waymarks, and build up the ground to make the first step-up easier.  We also need to add two more steps up from the road above the seven Frank H & Ian S put in last week.

Stella modelling the new stile and dog-gate

And the downhill view.

Today's work, and the work on the steps below is being funded by Calderdale Council Highways Department.  We are grateful.