MIDGLEY: Stile near Moorside Farm

 Midgley: stile

A magnificent day with June-like conditions, for Heidi and Frank H to renovate the steps of a stile.

Here's the problem. The steps of  this stile seem to be OK but there are several structural weaknesses.

The lower, badly sloping step (front of picture) is a short length of treadboard on two stubby legs which are not attached to anything and not embedded in the ground.

The right-hand section of the upper step has legs which are not in the ground and a treadboard that has been screwed to the cross-rail. In consequence as contact with ground has loosened, the treadboard acts as a see-saw lever to destabilise the whole stile.

The very narrow left hand section of upper treadboard nailed to the cross-rail and to the two deeply embedded fence poles, is the only part of the structure that is preventing collapse.

Here's the solution:

Leave the stile cross-rails and side-posts as they are but remove all the steps. Some of these, as an energetic and enthusiastic Heidi is demonstrating, will have to be cut to get them free of the cross-rail.

Replace the old step(s) to make a two-step stile.

Firm-up the yellow-topped side-post and add to it a bracing strut. 

Add a basic dog-gate between the yellow-topped post and the drystone wall.

Here's the outcome with all the above done.

For what is usually a straightforward job, it proved to be a day of minor glitches and high energy demands. The fence poles that acted as legs for the narrow section of the original stile were very deeply embedded and took a disproportionate amount of time and effort to remove. 

Getting the new step legs embedded and aligned was hindered by very resistant ground conditions.

However the day was sunny, cheerfulness abounded and several passing walkers expressed interest in our work, praised what we were doing and promised a donation. Many thanks.

Today's work was funded by local donations to CROWS