Todmorden and district.
Frank H out today with Mick on an Upper Calder Valley safari. On a beautiful autumn day with stunning views across both sides of the valley a series of minor tasks were 'ticked off' the list.
The morning jobs involved sorting out signage on the Calderdale Way above Mankinholes. This was followed by drainage work above the canal near Woodhouse Road before a move to Knott Wood (Lydgate) to re-instate a markerpost.
In the afternoon, on the Todmorden Centenary Way to the west of Great Rock, Mick enthusiastically 'rod-ed' the exit pipe from a stone trough in an attempt to reduce the amount of water spilling towards the path. A significant length of rod disappeared, with ease, down the pipe but in a direction that seemed at odds with both gravity and basic laws of fluid flow! The outcome was inconclusive - at least 5 m of the pipe was totally clear ... but not leading anywhere useful. Solving the overflow problem may need significant excavation and drainage work - not a viable task, in these Covid-threatened times, for our 'working-in-pairs' system.
Installation of two more marker posts followed. Textbook stuff - a deep enough hole, heavy-duty ramming of stone and soil by Frank, delicate wielding of the spirit-level by Mick, then further ramming before top soil and turf. End result - a rock-solid set of posts.
No photographs were taken due to the camera being left in the car! Instead, here is an 'abecedarian' in praise of Autumn which definitely begins with the equinox next Tuesday.
(An 'abecedarian' is a 26 word piece of prose or verse with the words in alphabetical order. They can be quite tricky to create, especially when x, y and z are reached ... but you've got to think of something while digging a hole!)
Autumn
Apple bough curling down,
Encircling fruit's golden harvest,
Invokes joyful karma.
Looming mist nudges orchard pathways.
Quiet rain soaks the unbound
Vetch's wandering, xylemless,
Yawing zigzag.
Fortunately there are only four seasons!
Today's work was funded by Todmorden Town Council.
Blackshaw Head
Ken and Frank S were at Hippins Bridge on the path that leads upstream to a little footbridge. There were seven broken or rotting slats that needed to be replaced. Work funded by individual donations to CROWS.
and finally the end result - good for a few more years.
Then back to Hippins Bridge where we cleared the stile by the road and the lovely old causey stones just upstream. Here's the view looking back towards Hippins Bridge.
And finally we cleared some of the drains, ready to keep down the mud during the winter. Here's an example.
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