'PANGRAM' FOR SPRING.

A few CROWS are combining 'taking exercise' with spotting jobs for when 'Lockdown' is unlocked! The job sheets pile up, but under current social distancing measures, not much work is possible. Nature, however, continues to flourish!

CROW in Halifax!

Goose and heroic brood of
goslings in Mytholmroyd.

Fast-fading bluebells in Nutclough.

For your entertainment (or otherwise) here's a 'pangram' for Spring. (A pangram is a piece of prose or verse made up of 26 words. The initial letters of the words are in alphabetical order. X, Y & Z can be particularly tricky! In the following, xenogamous means cross-fertilization)


SPRING

Apple blossom circles down,

Effortlessly finding grace.

Hurrying insects journey,

Kissing lonely moors -

Now on pollen quest,

Resting seldom.

Trees undulate, vibrant with

Xenogamous, yearly zeal.

It will soon be summer. If CROWS are not out working by then, It'll have to be another 'pangram'!

DANGEROUS PATH AT HEBBLE HOLE

Part of the path on the north side of Colden Clough, just before the clapper bridge at Hebble Hole, had been severely washed away and undercut, making the path quite dangerous for walkers.  This was reported to Calderdale and Rich and Ian did a bit of socially distanced working to cut back and widen the path and erect some warning tape on the dangerous section. Hopefully this will now keep walkers away from the edge until something more permanent can be done.

Signs to warn walkers of work being carried out

After path had been widened and warning tape installed

Showing damaged section from opposite bank

  

WE WILL BE BACK SOON, HOPEFULLY

Last week we developed some ways of working that we were happy that satisfied the need to distance.
In the light of the new anti virus arrangements, we have decided we need to cease all working

Nearly all CROWS love walking so will be taking our daily exercise and might use the walks to survey paths that need work done in the future.

KNOTT WOOD

On this gloriously sunny day, Lynda and Stella went (in separate cars) to Knott Wood to test out what can be done (and not done) safely and effectively at a distance of 2+ metres apart.
A delightful path; but it required scraping and removal of mulch  as well as widening and levelling. There is still more to do! These sorts of jobs can readily be done in pairs at the required distance, without sharing tools. Putting in a waymark post can not!

Work funded by donations to CROWS

Spring!

Mulch removed to reveal a stone path 6 inches beneath

Narrow path with a down-slope camber - not great in rain

This should make it easier

SLACK, path down into the Crags

Virus warnings and other emergencies led to a smaller team out today.  Ken preserved his distance by working alone in the depot and Paul and Ian S. took to the hills and continued work on steps at Stephenson House.
Mo and Ginny worked on the path from Slack (at junction of Widdop turnoff) down into the Crags.
First task was to put in a waymark post at the top of the woodland.

Heading downwards, we appreciated the work Paul and Stella had already done on this path as the start of it was now almost dry.  Not so further down, however; there was a lot of mulch to clear and holly to cut back.

(The clean stones are actually the top of the wall where people had been walking)

After much hard labour the stone path was uncovered. Hopefully this will now dry out, but there is more still to be done!

LINK PATH from OLD LAITHE HOUSE above Old Town

Paul and Ian cut new path alongside existing path that had been severely damaged by floodwater erosion. More work to be done on this...(funded by Wadsworth Camera Club).

STEPHENSON HOUSE

Paul and Ian completed repair work to a stile at the bottom of the steps on a permissive path that runs adjacent to Stephenson House: