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.

LUMB FALLS - both sides of the river

Nick, Andrew, Howard (first session) and Rich went to deal with several problems:- two streams overflowing the path, a fallen tree and water flowing down the path. While in the area we looked at two other reported problems. Today's work was funded by donations to CROWS.

 The first job was to deal with a birch tree that had fallen across the path. 

All clear

At the same time we cut back several dead larch branches and some invasive brambles.

The next job was to stop the water running down the path by digging out a channel alongside the path. 

 Water on the path has forced people (some with unsuitable footwear!) to walk on the uneven, slippery bank next to a very steep drop. 

Getting down to the job!

 

We found the source of the water and managed to channel it down to the bottom. 

Good to see the water flowing down the channel. 

By the time we left, there were signs that the path was starting to dry out, but we will need a second visit to widen the path and to check that the channel is still working. 

Assuming the water management remains successful, we will need to come back to deal with the water damage at the bottom (we have a draft plan).  

The overflow from two streams was sorted. 

Two of us went up to look at a reported drainage issue above Nook. Water is pouring down the track, with several ditches choked. We will need to check with landowners before we can deal with this. 

Brambles snipped on the path leading to Haworth Old Road.  

The final job, further along the road. was to check a waymarking issue reported by Calderdale Highways. 

Ryburn - Woodhead down to Hey Lane, continued.

Today was a completion of the work started a couple of weeks ago in Banquet House Clough:- installing revetment to prevent path collapse into the clough; replacing a stile tread-board and further drainage work. 

Jak, Jerry, Graham and Angus headed out to complete these tasks which have been funded by Ripponden Parish Council. Many thanks.

The blue circles identify the location of the revetment and the stile.

The section of path starting to erode into the clough.

Section of revetment secured and backfilled.

The finished job: looking up the clough.

The stile below the revetment also received attention as the tread-board, whilst in good order, had become extremely slippery. Jak set-to with hammer and staples to give some grip to the surface. 

At the bottom of the path was a second stile which CROWS had rebuilt but now needed a wider tread-board. Previously, as a temporary measure, we had recycled a length of decking from the original structure, but this had become slippery and was narrower than we would like to ensure a safe crossing the drainage channel we had to excavate on the field side of the stile. 

 Wider tread-board being fitted.

Back in 1970, the lower section of this path would have formed the site boundary to the ill-fated Krumlin Festival which occupied several fields along the side of the valley (see image below). 

For those interested in this event, there is an excellent book written by Ben Graham, entitled, "Pink Floyd are fogbound in Paris: The story of the 1970 Krumlin Festival". Alternatively, CROWS members can ask Frank H (who was there!) for his version of events!

Weekend entry ticket for Krumlin Festival

 

Krumlin Festival in 1970. Banquet House Clough (highlighted in blue on the map at the beginning of the blog) forms the boundary to the left of the festival fields.

Having completed this work we headed to a couple of other locations in the area to survey issues identified by Calderdale Highways and members of the public. Look-out for updates on these tasks.