Ferney Lee Farm
A fair, fine and increasingly sunny day for Paul and Frank H to reconstruct a stile on the right-of-way that passes through Ferney Lee.
Here's the situation shortly after work had started:
Right-hand upright is completely rotten at the base so the stock fence and barbed wire lack tension!
Left-hand upright is out of alignment and doubling as a straining post. Unfortunately, it is unbraced so the stock fence and barbed wire are slack.
Some time and one brew of tea with biscuits later, we have:
View from down-slope side of stile:
Stile side-uprights are in place - one short (lhs) and one taller (rhs).
Straining posts for stock fence are in place. Left-hand straining post has diagonal brace. Right-hand straining post will have brace fitted once Paul has finished his lunch!
At the end of the session this was how the work had progressed:
Two-step stile with dog gap to lower right.
Both straining posts are now braced with diagonals.
It is not possible to see in the picture, but on both sides of the fence, the long and short step legs are tethered together with a strip of 25 mm thickness rail. This adds significant strength to the whole structure but requires painstaking alignment.
Three of the cross-rails are nailed to the straining posts and to the side-uprights. This also improves structural stability.
This was a long day but Paul and Frank were pleased that the job met the criteria of being - safe, secure, functional, durable and aesthetically pleasing. The stock fence and barbed wire have yet to be tensioned and fixed but that will be done when CROWS tackle other jobs on this delightful path.
Today's work was funded by the landowner who also provided a second brew of tea with biscuits . . . we will be back!
