August bank holiday saw Ginny, Jak, Lynda, Peat, Jerry and Angus tackle a replacement stile, widening a path with revetment, cutting back and repairing a wall.
The stile was the last one on this initial section of the path. It was in a poor state and had to be completely replaced to make it safe and stockproof. The revetments allowed us to widen a particularly narrow section of the path near the top of the wood. As with the previous work, these tasks have been funded by a generous donation from the Russell family. Many thanks.
Location of today's work parties.
Job1 - This was to replace an old stile and make it, along with a section of wall, stockproof. This year there had been sheep in the field and the 'temporary' measures taken by the farmer had worked . . . but involved old branches, baler twine, wire, wood screws and various off-cuts of timber!
The stile as it was . . . rustic but somewhat precarious!
The end section of the wall next to the stile - a bit of a gap!
The first job was to dismantle the stile and finish the end section of the wall to close off the gap between it and the end of the fence. Once the old stile had been dismantled, Lynda and Peat set about finishing the wall and closing the gap, whilst Angus started excavating the holes for the new stile side-posts.
Old stile removed. Lynda traverses the gap in the wall.
Lynda and Peat working on closing the gap between wall and fence.
The condition were somewhat challenging in that the hard stony ground made digging down the required depth a difficult task. Working in a slight hollow meant there was little air movement and we were in a sun trap . . . time to lather on the sunscreen!
Lynda and Peat cutting the side rails for the stile. The dog-gate is already in place.
Testing! Testing! Jak, the first person to negotiate the new stile.
We managed to salvage and re-use the farmer's sign warning of sheep and lambs in the field.
The end of the wall and fence now joined and secured.
Job 2 - Further along the path where it started to climb up the slope towards the wood, there was a narrow section of path which had started to erode and was particularly tricky to negotiate especially when wet. Two lengths of revetment were to be fitted to stabilise this section but the first job was to get the materials and tools to the location which involved a bit of a trek across open fields and through the woods. Jak and Jerry worked on the revetment whilst Ginny set about cutting-back the overhead growth to open up this section of the path.
Backfilling nearly completed to make the path level and wider.
During the course of the day, several walkers used the path. It was encouraging to see people enjoying this lovely high-level route that links Ripponden to Sowerby Bridge - it forms an interesting alternative to the historic, disused (but often wet!) railway line..
