CROWS (Community Rights Of Way Service): CRAGG VALE

Billie and Paul did a good job allocating jobs which had been waiting a long time.

Ian S and Ginny worked around Cragg Vale. We had a slow start as not all landowners are helpful and, after a long carry of marker post and tools, we discovered that the job had already been done!

Moving on, we found a finger post which had been leaning against a wall for a long time and dug a new hole for it.

A bit shorter now, but more secure.

We then cleaned information boards which were no longer easy to read.

After Before

and met a very helpful landowner who came to our assistance with his power washer!

Work funded by Hebden Royd Parish.

SMALL JOBS - BLACKSHAW HEAD AND JUMBLE HOLE

Billie and Paul the other half of the small jobs gang had an entertaining day tracking jobs in the fields and cloughs of the Upper Valley. Following old job sheets can be tricky particularly when you turn up and find you haven't got the right materials or you cant find the site intended. This was one of those days when a stile repair at Blackshaw Head become an exercise in problem surveying which involved a lot of measuring and puzzling. We did however manage to move a rotted stile post that the local farmer had difficulties manoeuvring his grass cutter around! Not to be outdone we successfully managed our time by fixing a loose finger post and surveying another stile across the field that on the best days was only surmountable by an Olympic hurdle jumper.

We moved on to pastures new at Jumble Hole where out task was to install a new marker post. With maps in hand we explored the area and after consulting with anyone who made themselves available and a phone call to our illustrious secretary we managed to locate the right spot. Lunch was calling and basking in the golden sunlight Paul shared a story about a hiker and a skull shaped rock. Following this Paul walked from the parked cars to the worksite carrying the marker post on his shoulder when an old transit van pulled up with three men sitting in the front. "Are you the man who puts in the posts?" they enquired. "You could say that," he replied. "There's a rotten post up the road by the graveyard that needs replacing," they said as they drove off!

Heartened by this we chose our spot for the post carefully and dug the hole only to find the extension of the road surface two feet down. Patience was called for and another spot chosen on other side of the track where jubilant scenes were in evidence as the post was installed. We finished the day adding some marker posts to a footpath further down the track. As the Crow flies we returned to the depot...