TODMORDEN: Cornholme - Shore Green

 Shore Green - an escalating task!

Kasher and Frank H went to the triple junction of footpath Todmoden 060 for the straightforward task of replacing the closure-post of an existing gate.

The arrow marks the spot! 

Blue skies, a light breeze and swallows swooping overhead provided idyllic conditions for the simple job of replacing a post. Mmm! Closer inspection revealed that Plan A had to be modified in favour of Plan B  . . .  then Plan C . . . then Plan D because:

*the hinge-post was loose and tilting too far out of the vertical.

*the closure-post had collapsed and the attached stock fence would have to be de-stapled.

*the gap between hinge-post and a wall needed a series of short cross-rails.

*the remnants of the closure-post needed digging out and its replacement re-positioning to be in line with the hinge-post.

*digging post holes would be seriously hampered by remnants of a drystone wall.

*a gate paling (of cross-section no longer available!) needed replacing

Wow! It was going to be a long, hard session . . . and had we got enough equipment?

The work was funded by the landowner. Many thanks.

The detail

Work commenced with much discussion but after few false starts we pitched into a repair task that seemed to double as the sort of upper body workout only available in the more exclusive type of gym!

1. Misaligned gate and hinge-post; missing
closure-post . . . and a lot of drystone wall.

2. A start being made on excavating the hole
for the new closure-post - the deeper, the better!

3. The painstaking job of de-stapling
the old stock fence.

4. New closure post in place. Old hinge post
(with gate attached) has been dug out and
re-packed. Both post are vertical. Frank is
refitting and re-tensioning the stock fence.

 

5. Old gate, new closure-post and drilling
taking place to refit the old closure hook.

6. End of session: old gate and posts 
refurbished and re-positioned.

There is still some work to do. More cross-rails (to right of picture) are needed, the closure-post requires a 'top cap', the central paling needs replacing, a closure loop might be useful, some 'landscaping'/tidying is needed and a coat of timber preservative would also be useful . . .

                                             *************************************

. . . Here's how the continuation session went (done on the following day):

7. Damaged paling being removed

8. New paling being fitted.

9. Extra side-rails being prepared.
One rail was anchored to the wall
to act as a 'tie' for the hinge-post.

10. Gate and posts structurally completed
with a difficult to miss closure loop .

11. One coat of timber preservative

12. More of the same but a good view
(from the down-slope side) of the
(nearly) finished structure.

It's always good to have a reminder of the state that this gate was in yesterday morning . . . and here it is . . . !

13. Old gate with multiple structural
issues seen from up-slope side.

The timber preservative should dry fairly quickly especially on a dry, sunny, breezy day . . .  but just in case . . . 

Very obvious  . . .  'WET PAINT' 'signs'.