Charlestown (Pennine Way at Winters).
Bernard and Dick worked on The Pennine Way installing a flight of steps which needed to be boxed in. Firstly vegetation needed clearing.
Work in progress with another 7/8 steps and left hand side panel still to do next week, followed by landscaping.
Gaddings
Meanwhile Richard J, Stella, Gerald, Stuart and Rich made a start on this big project. Luckily there was good weather for this exposed site. The first part of the project is to improve the old quarry track up to Jail Hole.
Stella's gang (Stuart and Gerald) put in a pipe to channel the water from drains above.
Satisfyingly, water appeared at the end of the pipe before we left!
The two Richards walked the whole route to Gaddings to check our estimates for the work involved.
Then they got stuck into the side drain.
Blackshaw (Brown Hill Lane)
Meanwhile, further North, in a distinctly chillier location, Fred and Frank H started on the construction of a stile off Brown Hill Lane.
Stile construction is relatively straightforward:- two uprights, one low step, one high step, treadboards, cross-rails and a few nails!
Here's a 'before' picture:
Mmm! This was a two-step stile (roughly where the gate is) and is about as derelict as a stile can be!
The 'straightforward' task contained a few hidden problems, viz: a water hose-line just behind the uprights; wall footings exactly where the uprights and half the legs needed to be, a layer of compacted shale where the other half of the legs were to be embedded and rusty, filigree-like stock fencing that crumbled at a touch! However, several hours later we have:
All CROWS' construction work undergoes field tests using highly trained (but probably under-insured) human volunteers! So here we go . . .
There's a minor amount of 'tidying-up' to do, but the stile is safe, rock-solid secure and easy to negotiate, despite the difference in ground levels. All we can offer now is:
Part 2. The correct 'style'
Bernard and Dick worked on The Pennine Way installing a flight of steps which needed to be boxed in. Firstly vegetation needed clearing.
Work in progress with another 7/8 steps and left hand side panel still to do next week, followed by landscaping.
Gaddings
Meanwhile Richard J, Stella, Gerald, Stuart and Rich made a start on this big project. Luckily there was good weather for this exposed site. The first part of the project is to improve the old quarry track up to Jail Hole.
Stella's gang (Stuart and Gerald) put in a pipe to channel the water from drains above.
 |
| Digging out the channel |
 |
| Pipe in with a gradient |
 |
| A good sump created |
 |
| Initial filling in (more to do) |
The two Richards walked the whole route to Gaddings to check our estimates for the work involved.
Then they got stuck into the side drain.
 |
| The drain is there, but clogged and overflowing in several places |
 |
| Now flowing nicely into the sump |
Meanwhile, further North, in a distinctly chillier location, Fred and Frank H started on the construction of a stile off Brown Hill Lane.
Stile construction is relatively straightforward:- two uprights, one low step, one high step, treadboards, cross-rails and a few nails!
Here's a 'before' picture:
 |
| Stile: before any work! |
Mmm! This was a two-step stile (roughly where the gate is) and is about as derelict as a stile can be!
The 'straightforward' task contained a few hidden problems, viz: a water hose-line just behind the uprights; wall footings exactly where the uprights and half the legs needed to be, a layer of compacted shale where the other half of the legs were to be embedded and rusty, filigree-like stock fencing that crumbled at a touch! However, several hours later we have:
 |
| New stile! |
All CROWS' construction work undergoes field tests using highly trained (but probably under-insured) human volunteers! So here we go . . .
 |
| New stile: tested by Fred. Not the hair-raising experience a first glance would suggest! |
There's a minor amount of 'tidying-up' to do, but the stile is safe, rock-solid secure and easy to negotiate, despite the difference in ground levels. All we can offer now is:
Cautionary Haiku for CROWS
Part 2. The correct 'style'
Stile sides, short and long
Are best perpendicular!
. . . And in the same plane.
Hammer blows hit nails;
Dry timber splits near the end.
Should have drilled pilot holes.
Hand-saw jams in cut.
There's rust and dirt on blade.
Was not cleaned last time!
The work on this stile was funded by a donation from Blackshaw Head Fete Fell Runners.
