Four teams out today:
Team 1: Path clearance at Cross Stone.
A crack squad of Gerald, Dave (welcome back), RJ, Dick and Ray and Bernard went into strimmer and trimmer mode, as the following pictures show:
Gerald gets to work with the very useful hedge trimmer.
Dave returns.
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First path cleared.
Ray working on second path.
Path 3 & 4.
This work was funded from CROWS donations
Team 2: Marker posts and general clearing at Turn Hill
Fred and Stella finished off last week's work at Turn Hill. No pictures, but markerposts were firmed-up and tops painted as needed, a boardwalk was cleared, some undergrowth was cut back, debris was removed and unused timbers were taken back to the depot at Mytholmroyd.
This concludes the Turn Hill tasks which were funded by a donation from the Heptonstall Fell Race.
Team 3: Surveying of walks near Mytholmroyd.
Alastair carried out this essential survey work for future jobs. Again, no pictures - survey sheets are not particularly photogenic!
Team 4: Steps and stiles at Wicken Hill
Paul and Frank H made a slightly delayed return (blame Paul's nautical adventures!) to the Wicken Hill/Mount Skip Golf Course area.
Task 1: Adding a lower step to a stile.
A good quality two-step stile had suffered from so much erosion at the 'take-off' point that it gave the sort of problem that Gulliver faced in Brobdingnag:- everything too big! No 'before' picture, but the following was the end result:
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| Additional 'platform' at bottom right makes 'stepping-up' possible for mere mortals! |
Task 2: Final step on the path leading up Wicken Hill.
Here's what we started with last month and what we have now:
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| State of the area several weeks ago. |
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| Same area today. The right-hand path goes up Wicken Hill. The left-hand path leads towards Mount Skip Golf Course. |
Task 3: Stile and fence refurbishment by the Mount Skip Golf Course.
Here's the situation before work began:
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| Before: View from the moor side. The stile side-upright has collapsed. |
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| Before: View from the golf course side. Stock-fence and barbed-wire in disarray |
The broken upright meant that to negotiate the stile, walkers had been forcing the stock-fence down and the barbed-wire up so they could make a gap to squeeze through.
The stile cross-rails and the side-post were removed so the task of digging out the 'stump' of the old post could begin. Mmm! Easier said than done! The original installer of the stile certainly knew his or her job! However, more than three hours later:-
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| After: View from the moor side. New post vertical and very firm, with cross- rails notched in place as per the original. |
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| After: View from the golf course side. New post vertical, stock-fence secure, barbed-wire taut (with protective sleeve) |
Happy golfers (above left), can now easily negotiate the fence to retrieve their ball from the rough and an even happier Paul (above right) is already beating a quick retreat for a gratefully received cup of tea, courtesy of Marilyn, at Wicken Farm!
