The riverside path, as its name suggests, follows the River Ryburn from Mill Fold car park to Rishworth Mill. The path is a haven for wildlife of all types and passes many relics of the industrial age. It also runs below the route of the old railway line and there are several link paths taking you up the hill towards Barkisland and Scammonden resevoir. It is well-used by walkers of all ages . . . and their 4-legged companions.
The river Ryburn
Work to the path started last Friday with Eleanor, Jak and Graham clearing vegetation, improving drainage and surveying further tasks. Today, Jak and Angus were replacing rotten steps above Pretoria bridge and making safe an old fence which had become partially buried adjacent to the path.
The steps to be replaced were above a flight of stone steps which lead from Pretoria bridge up towards the route of the old railway line. These steps had all but disappeared as a result of high footfall and water erosion exposing the underlying rock and tree roots . . . a slippery combination! The old steps, or what was left of them, were easily removed but fitting the new ones was a different story!
The steps to be replaced . . . if you can see them!
Fitting the new stobs to locate the step risers was hampered by the aforementioned tree roots and rock. Eventually risers and their securing stobs were in place although we had to go with the 'lie of the land'.
Jak backfilling the first step.
The finished job . . . and the first outing for a brand-new spade and mattock.
The second task was to make safe a fence next to the path between the top of the steps and the junction to the railway bridge. The fence is dilapidated and at some stage will need to be completely removed, but for today our task was to secure the loose barbed wire and sort out the collapsed sheep netting which could be a hazard for children and dogs.
Partially buried sheep netting was moved onto the bank away from the path.
About 20 m of sheep netting attached to rotten posts had encroached onto the path and become partially buried. We decided to pull this onto the bank and lay branches on it to keep it flat and make it visible to path users. The loose netting was rolled up and made safe, and the barbed wire was taken back to the depot.
Today's work and the future work will be funded by Calderdale Highways. Many thanks.
The loose netting and barbed wire now tidier and made safe.
This attractive path has many visitors so it is a pleasure to work on something so well-used and appreciated. However, the downside of today's work was the number of dog poo bags which were left on top of the walls, stuffed into holes or hung like Christmas baubles on the fence. Unfortunately this is all too common in locations where CROWS volunteers work and can be particularly challenging when strimming, repairing walls or cutting back vegetation.
Some examples from today are shown in the following images, all were taken within a short distance from where we were working.
Whilst poo bags are mostly biodegradable, this would be better done via a bin and taken to landfill, rather than left adorning public footpaths - they are unsightly as well as being a potential health hazard. Whilst we take every care when working, coming in contact with a bag of poo hidden in a wall or hung up in a hedge is an extremely nasty experience and potentially exposes volunteers to bacteria, Salmonella, worms, E.coli and a variety of other 'nasties'.
Whilst there may not be a suitable bin close to hand, it is no great hardship to carry the bag to a bin, especially as the most unpleasant job was collecting the poo in the first place!
The best place for dog poo.
REMEMBER
