Luckily for us Kathleen, a concerned walker, had been working to uncover the steps for the past few weeks and was already half way up.
She helped us continue the job - made easier when whole sections come away with one pull.
After 4 of us had worked on them all day a whole staircase, which presumably took workers down to work in the mill, was exposed.
Bernard also put in posts which will support the unsteady stile (once Mick has nailed them together).
The other job was to measure a ravine which had opened up at the bottom of the path. Water had scoured it out before being diverted to its proper course and a 2 metre boardwalk is now needed to cross it!
Meanwhile, in border country, Mick, Ian, Frank S and Frank H ventured once again into the depths of Noah Dale to continue with construction work on a footbridge.
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| The very start of Noah Dale, some 150 m beyond Hoof Stones Height. |
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| Even more of Noah Dale. It is a long carry for timber and tools into a remote part of Calderdale. |
The footbridge was needed to cross a gully. Today's work was made easier because stream and mud levels were low . . . but only temporarily!
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| Difficult to spot here, but the gully drops about 1.5 m into mud. |
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| Platform excavated, bearers put in place, stringers hauled across the gully, cross-treads fixed at both ends, the whole structure levelled-up and pinned with long stobs. |
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| Towards the end of the day. The cross-treads are in place but the rain has already started and it's a long, wet walk back to the vehicles! |
There is still some work to do on the footbridge. It is safe, secure and usable but some side stobs would be useful and the 'landing/take-off points' at either end need some thought. There is also the lower bridge (made mainly from remnants of the old) to finish, so walkers have a shorter, but often wetter, alternative. We should get back to this task in a week or two.
The Noah Dale Anthem may be familiar to some but I had to look up the words. It is a 4-verse ditty about a swain plying his troth, the first verse of which bears a close resemblance to 'Will you come to the Bower?' (Thomas Moore 1792-1852). Usually such bucolic encounters wander through a tedious multitude of verses; so 4 is quite snappy. The couple's outdoor dalliance was doubtless speeded-up by the relentlessly wet, chilly, bleak conditions of upper Noah Dale which, (it has to be said) is a most unlikely location for the 'bower' and 'bed of roses' mentioned in verse 1. Additionally the young lady in question seems a lot more interested in the 'gold ring' than in any other attributes of her suitor - it probably all ended in tears!
Full details of the anthem and other more interesting information can be found on local websites. A search under 'Blackshaw 2010 Parish Plan' is a useful start.
