There were two teams out today. Ken and Fred returned to a stile we had worked on a few months ago in Mankinholes to carry out a partial rebuild. Catherine, RJ and Kasher went to the plantation above Bearnshaw Tower to sort out marker posts, obstructions to the footpaths, and a dog-gate adjacent to the stile onto the moor at the top of the plantation.
Stile at Mankinholes:
A few months ago we had worked on this stile but although we had replaced the legs and the tread-board we realised that the uprights also needed replacing. This return visit was to replace the uprights and the rails. This well-used stile is a small, one-step stile in a field corner coming out onto a track and then leading to the road running through Mankinholes.
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| A small stile in need of TLC |
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| The rebuilt stile |
The second team went to the plantation above Bearnshaw Tower, where, until very recently, there was a mountain bike course operated by Havok. As in previous weeks, this was a long uphill carry, from the quarry area above Bearnshaw Tower.
There are two main footpaths through the plantation although the one towards Greens Clough is a permissive path.
The team:
- Replaced a marker post above the quarry and overlooking Greens Clough
- Cleared the footpath of four trees which had come down in recent storms
- Reinstated a number of yellow topped posts which had been broken/damaged/come adrift
- Put in yellow topped posts to better indicate the routes
- Reinstalled a dog-gate adjacent to the stile at the top of the plantation. The previous one had been damaged. Let's hope that this one lasts longer!
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| Catherine sorting out the new marker post |
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| The path through the trees now cleared |
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| Another yellow topped post to be installed |
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| RJ and Catherine finalising the dog gate |
