Purprise: Stile 1
It's mop-up Monday; a day when CROWS were trying to clear a backlog of tasks. Stella and Frank H worked from a jobsheet that was not only a masterpiece of understatement but also a fine illustration of minimalism! Fortunately there was a plan B.
The stile below the group of buildings at Purprise was in a sorry state. It was on a sloping site, there were no steps, one cross-rail was detached and the other two only loosely in place. Barbed wire presented a hazard, one side-upright was slightly loose and the other side-upright (doubling as a straining post) was very firm but not upright!
Part way though the morning this was the progress:
Old cross-rails and tangle of barbed wire removed. Right-hand side-upright left untouched (problem with detaching fencing, digging out post, re-bedding, bracing and re-straining!). Left-hand side-upright now hammered in more firmly - luckily its lean to the left provides symmetry.
Legs for new steps are in place. The land in the foreground drops away such that the stile is two-step on one side but virtually a one-step on the other.
Not sure why Stella is looking so glum. It was a beautiful day and her construction work was 'spot-on'.
At the end of the session:
Two-step stile on stock side of fence giving plenty of height to deter cattle.
Left hand side-upright (the one that will be grabbed by walkers) braced with a diagonal.
Dog-gap (for trapezoid-shaped dogs) on right.
Three cross-rails in place and right-of-way disc attached.
Barbed wire for stockfence de-barbed for the section around the straining post and re-fixed correctly.
It is safe, secure, durable, functional and sufficiently pleasing for Stella to stand back and admire.
Today's work was funded partly from National Trust money and partly from donations to CROWS.
