Blackshaw Royd: Stile and fence realignment.
On a session that started misty but rapidly evolved as a delightfully warm, sunny, Spring day, Jan, Frank H and Steve (new volunteer on second session) worked on the repair and transformation of an awkward stile below Blackshaw Royd.
The original stile was cramped and the associated timbers badly weakened by rot and (sadly) some vandalism. Time for the improvement gang to flex their muscles!
The detail
Here's the original stile as it was when CROWS first surveyed it:
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| Down-slope view |
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| Up-slope view |
At first glance there seems to be not much in the way of problems . . . but on closer inspection we have:
i) A diagonal brace which is rotten and obstructs foot placement onto the treadboards.
ii) Steps which have been put so close together that using them requires a sense of balance only found in trained acrobats!
iii) A top-step leg that is showing signs of decay (it broke in half when construction started!)
iv) A stock fence with a hole in it.
v) Two vertical poles that 'support' the stock fence or rather two vertical poles, rotted at the base, that were being held up by the stock fence.
vi) A very high step-up from the down-slope ground onto the first step
vii) Cross-rails that offered limited structural support.
Mmm! The work begins. . . .
1. The stock fence across the stile path was detached, trimmed and tensioned to the left-hand straining post that is just visible in the down-slope view picture.
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| Stile fencing and step treadboards removed. Rot is visible at the top of the step-legs . Frank and Steve are refixing and re- tensioning a section of stock fencing. |
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| It's a finicky job - winding, tensioning, stapling and securing with a twist, but . . . |
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| '. . . it gives a neat end product that maintains the integrity of this paddock fence. |
2. The rotten diagonal brace was removed (it fell to pieces).The old treadboards were detached and the upper step-leg was found to be rotten. The lower step-leg was touching and nailed to the upper leg. Mmm! This unusual but unavoidable arrangement was forced on the original builders by the extremely resistant ground. New legs were installed.
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| Up-slope step-legs out and replacements being installed. |
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| Wider upper and lower treadboards being fitted to modified step-legs. |
3. Cross-rails were fixed between the two straining posts but in a way that was less restrictive for foot placement. An additional support pole for the cross-rails was added, a grab pole was fixed to the straining post nearest the steps and a stone step put in place on the down-slope side. The structure has been configured so a dog-gate (lift type) can be fitted, if requested.
A lot of thought and considerable exertion was put into these tasks - it is not always easy to modify original structures - but Plan A, barring a couple of minor glitches, worked surprisingly smoothly and we ended up with . . . .
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| A two-step stile with cross-rails, a grab pole and two happy volunteers. |
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| Final stress test. Only one thing creaked! Mmm! Time for Jan to break out the 'Deep Heat' embrocation? |
Today's work was funded by a donation from Blackshaw Head Fell Race. Many thanks.
