Stile at Moorside Farm: Part 2
This was the original sate of affairs:
Stile totally trashed!
Two side uprights broken off at ground level.
Stile steps irrepairably damaged
Two cross-rails missing
Straining post for barbed-wire fence rotted off at base and remaining wires tangled.
Last week we managed to put-in the long side-post, the short side-post, the straining post and to refix all but one of the fence wires. Today the work continued such that, near the end of the session, we have:
Stile steps have been added to make this a two-step stile.
Cross-rails are in place.
A simple dog-gate has been added
Take-off slabs have been embedded in the muddy ground.
Dog-gate fitted with brackets. This is a quicker method but the brackets are made by modifying a slip-rail fitting so are relatively expensive.
CROWS are investigating how we can make our own brackets to custom fit a wider 'lift' rail.
Overall it was a fine and occasionally sunny day's work for Ian S and Frank H. The ground near the stile is muddy so the area around the take-off'slabs was consolidated with a mix of pebbles and road- scrapings.
Towards the end of the session a few walkers with dogs came along the path. We are pleased to report that the stile met with universal approval as did the dog-gate which, as the picture shows, works perfectly! (N.B. larger dogs also fit easily through the 'gate')
Today's construction task was funded by the very helpful landowner.
