There was a large team out today from Todmorden. The day started with dense fog and ended in beautiful dappled light coming through the autumn leaves. The team of Ray, Andrew, Paul, Ian S, Jerry, Angus and Kasher were working on the footpath that follows Ramsden Clough (Todmorden 133). The jobs were to:
- Replace damaged/rotten slats on the bridge
- Replace missing and broken risers and revetments for the existing steps
- Create a new flight of steps near the top of the slope (near to the gate close to Ragby Bridge)
- Cut back the banking in preparation for revetments to be added
- Clear out the stream, which crosses the path, and cut back the bank slightly in preparation for a possible boardwalk.
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| Reflections in the fishing lake. |
We will be returning next week to continue the improvements by replacing more of the steps, adding three additional steps to the newly created flight, replacing more bridge slats and, if time permits, sorting out the pathway near to the stream crossing.
The work is being funded by a donation from the Todmorden Wind Farm Fund accessed through the 'Community Foundation for Calderdale'. Many thanks.
Details:
1. Near the top of the path, one short section needed steps inserting to make getting up the slope slightly easier. We thought that this would prove to be difficult with large numbers of tree roots and large embedded stones present, however Ian S and Paul made light work of the job and negotiating this slippery slope is now much easier.
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| Ian S sorting out the first step. |
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| Towards the end of the session. |
2. The bridge over the clough needed some TLC with slats to be replaced and the handrail to be sorted out. Initial investigations for the number of slats needed and the reality differed! We will need to replace more slats next week. We will also need to keep an eye on the stringers for this bridge.
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| The slats to be sorted on the bridge. |
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| It's a bit like the Forth Road Bridge.... |
3. The flight of steps from the bridge needed some risers and stobs to be replaced. Discussions on whether all should be replaced continued throughout the day! However, for the moment we have just reinstated missing steps and renewed the risers and stobs from the worst of the remainder. We also replaced the revetment for the lower flight of steps. These steps are close to the water, and under trees. They rarely dry out and consequently are more susceptible to rot. Regular monitoring is essential.
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| The start of the day. |
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Infilling the steps towards the
end of the session. |
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| The team working just beyond the weir. |
