The story so far: This CROWS rookie was invited along with Frank and Ray last week to learn
how to put in a complete new stile by working alongside the 'Masters'. Now read on...
Neil D (the rookie) and Ray returning to the outer limits of Calderdale at Portsmouth on the road to Burnley. Our task? To boldly go and repair a dodgy stile, but this time without Frank!
Ray had called in at the depot the day before to pick up the required timber and tools, etc, and we once again negotiated the new-fangled, push-button-controlled rail-line barrier to reach our location.
Our target was looking very dodgy indeed, but we were soon digging post holes, thankful that this time there were no large lumps of bedrock or watery springs to negotiate. The same group of gentleman walkers we met the previous week came by just as we dismantled the old stile. Ray and I agreed it was nice to be working on a stile repair in a place where folk are actually walking . . . and expressing their appreciation of our efforts.
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| 1. Stile has seen better days |
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| 2. Few safety issues as well |
Once we'd got the posts in, it was relatively plain sailing (compared to last week's endeavors) to put in the new cross-rails and the dog-gate . . . and all before lunch!
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| 3. Work in progress |
It wasn't till after we'd eaten, with one last task remaining, that we realised that we had forgotten one thing: - to bring some staples to secure the adjacent barbed wire fence to the new gate post we had just installed. Whoops! Fortunately, there were enough staples in the old gatepost that we could re-cycle to finish the job.
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| 4. Good job done! |
After an overcast morning, the sun came out during the afternoon to add to that glow of satisfaction for a tricky job well done.
This work was funded by Todmorden Town Council.
