Old Chamber Farm: stiles!
On a day that started fine but became increasingly wet, Paul and Frank H were renovating two stiles on the path (Erringden 004) that leads down from Old Chamber Farm to Crow Nest Wood.
Stile 1
Here the treadboard and the lower rail have been removed and excavation has started on a hole for a leg on the down-slope side of the stile.
We hope also to fit a dog-gate . . . although with such a narrow gap some ingenuity will be needed!
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| Down-slope view: Stile now has two legs and a level treadboard. The dog-gate lift-rail is just visible to the right of the treadboard. |
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| Up-slope view: Dog-gate lift more visible. Top of lift flush with upper rail because the stile gap is so narrow. Bottom cross-rail now in place. |
Almost deja vu! The stile has a treadboard fixed to a leg on the up-slope side but resting on a precariously balanced jumble of stones on the down-slope side. A tangle of damaged stock fence fills the gap between the left-hand stile upright and a fence post.
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| Start of work. |
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| End of session |
A stable, stone platform for the down-slope end of the treadboard has been constructed. An anchoring stob (not visible) has been squeezed into a minuscule patch of soft ground and nailed into the edge of the treadboard. The tangle of stockfence has been removed, new cross-rails added and a dog-gate installed. The approach path up to the stile has been cleared of mud and stabilised.
Retro-fitting items to an existing stile is often tricky and this was the case for both these tasks. However, we were happy with the outcome . . . although there are some minor adjustments to make to the dog-gates. These will be done next week (conditions permitting) before we move on to Stile 3 - a much more technical and demanding task!
Many thanks to the landowner who not only supplied us with a mid-morning brew but offered to transport timbers down the steep field in preparation for next session.
