Team 3: Ray and Frank H.
It was Blue Skies over the Blue Pig, so no prizes for guessing that we were working on the Calderdale Way near Midgehole. The tasks were interesting;- a collapsed section of banking, a washed away path and a less-than-vertical fingerpost.
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| Path washed away towards the river. |
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| Path washed away below the original stone step |
The plan was to add revetment to support the banking and to put steps in place to 'ease' the slope.
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| Work in progress:- Revetment secured, one wooden step in place and some in-fill work completed. |
Before further steps could be added, a pipe had to be installed to help drain the path.
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| Work in progress at inlet end of pipe. A sump is being created where water runs off the main track. |
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| Work in progress:- Pipe in place so water is diverted from the path into the river. |
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| Work in progress at outlet end of pipe. A 'splash plate' (the stone) has been added. This will reduce erosion of the bank as water runs to the river. |
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| Work nearing completion. This is the same area (but shot from below) as the picture above left! Two wooden steps, with filled-in treads, lead up to the original stone step which Frank H is using as a kneeler! |
This work proceeded remarkably smoothly. Solution to problems seemed to work first time:- a rare event!
The final task was to re-bed a fingerpost. It had not been inserted deeply enough and the position of the nails used as 'deadmen' had prevented the bottom layer of in-fill from being rammed down tightly. Unsurprisingly the post was loose! Here's a before and after comparison:
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| Before: Loose and a long way from vertical. |
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| After: Firmly in place and vertical. |
This section of path is now much improved and is safer for walkers. It is a very popular route:- more than fifty walkers passed us during the day as well as a couple of mountain bikers who must have been confused over the distinction between footpath and bridleway!
Today's work was funded by the National Trust (Hardcastle Crags).
