Crow Nest Wood is criss-crossed with old tracks that over the years have become footpaths. In 2015 the paths became very scoured and this process has continued after every rain storm. It seems to be impossible to take the water off the path so our strategy is to create a path alongside the scouring, leaving that to act as a drain. It won't be possible to do this in every section but it should make walking this popular route a lot easier.
Judging by what we managed to do today (either side where the paths cross in the map), we suspect it will need several sessions to complete the work.
Ian and Mo worked on the section of path that comes up from Fairfield. The scouring had created holes two foot deep or more. They widened the path to the wall and used some of the soil and stones to reduce the size of the holes.
Billie and Rich worked at the junction of paths.
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| A badly scoured section near the junction - difficult to walk on |
We started by cutting back the self-seeded Beech saplings next to the path and then levelled a section until we reached the old surface of the track
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| A good wide path alongside the 'drain' |
The next job was to reinstate a drain that had been blocked - as a result the water had stripped off the path surface (hidden by grass in this photo).
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| Doesn't show much, but you can just see part of the line of the choked drain. |
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| New drain dug next to the path |
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| This should keep water off the path |
A hard day but we are hoping we have made a difference.
This work is partly funded by Hebden Royd Town Council Mayor's fund and partly by local donations to CROWS. Given the amount of work involved in this project, we would welcome any extra donations from local walkers via Just Giving on our website.
