Stile and steps repairs near Mellings Clough:
Mmm! Probably not the best day to be out, but Mick, Catherine and Kasher thought that we should tackle the third of three stiles (near Mellings Clough) that had been reported to CROWS. There was also the small matter of a series of steps which appear to have been 'disturbed' by cows trying to get into the clough for water.
Thankfully, it was not a long walk with the timber and equipment, and the jobs were, in theory, protected from the worst of the elements.
i) The stile:The one-step stile on Todmorden 102, above the Bacup Road, "just" needed a new leg ..... ! Again, the "just" says it all!
Here are some pictures of work in progress:
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| 1. The leg which needs to be replaced. |
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| 2. The initial inspection. |
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| 3. We will get that stone out! |
After a lot of blood, sweat and tears we managed to get the new leg installed and the treadboard levelled (nearly) so the stile was functional again. Hooray!
The steps.
Here are some 'before' pictures:
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| 4. There used to be a flight of steps near the clough! |
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| 5. Mmm! Looks like a set of ex-steps! |
We tried to sort out the worst of the damage to the steps. However, the mud and the heavy downpour made effective working too difficult. We will come back on Monday to tidy this up and to replace another couple of steps. We will also add a short boardwalk to facilitate access to the steps.
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| 6. Just too muddy to make much sense of this but we do have . . . |
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| 7 . . . a colour-coordinated CROW trying to blend in with the background. |
Today's work (but not the sartorial elegance) was funded by Todmorden Council. Many thanks.
