There were three teams out from Todmorden today:
Team 1: Andrew and Gareth were working adjacent to the county boundary. The team were improving steps on the path alongside Beaters Clough which then crosses Greens Clough (Tod 068), It's a long long way away from the road! See separate blog post.
Team 2: Catherine and Kasher initially acted as porters for Team 1, to make sure that we carried all the necessary timber and tools to the top of Greens Clough. We then returned to Knotts Road in Cornholme to install two shallow steps on Tod 087. Constructing steps on a very stony hillside was an interesting challenge. It was a good job that we had the ultra heavy bar today (apologies to Catherine who volunteered to carry it and to use it!).
Team 3: Ken and Mick went to the Cranberry Dam area to survey stiles which allow entry to the open access area. CROWS have received a grant from Todmorden Wind Farm, through the Community Foundation for Calderdale (CFFC) to repair or replace stiles and access points leading into open access areas between Portsmouth and Walsden. While in the Cranberry Dam area the team made further improvements to a ladder stile which was worked on few weeks ago and also carried out other repair and maintenance tasks. The team also sorted out the waymarking at the top of Inchfield moor (where the path goes over the cattlegrid). This post seems to suffer significant abuse from the back-scratching moorland cattle! Finally the team replaced one step on Tod 102 above the Mellings Clough stream crossing.
Today's work has been funded by Cornholme Wreath Making Workshop (Dec 2024) for the work near Knotts Road; by Todmorden Wind Farm (through CFFC) for the survey near Cranberry Dam; by Todmorden Council for the step repairs at Greens Clough and Mellings Clough; and by individual donations to CROWS for all other work. Many thanks to all.
Team 2:
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| The location of the steps installed on Tod 087 off Knotts Road. |
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| The first step in place. |
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| Heavy bar in action: Catherine making the holes for the stobs. |
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Two steps neatly in place.
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| A haircut for the path near to Knott Road. |
Team 3:
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| Surveying plus repairs and maintenance work near Cranberry Dam. |
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| A few stiles (and boardwalks) in need of replacement. |
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| Some of these stiles have seen better days. |
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Waymarking completed . . . the cattle are on their
way to inspect the work. |
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| One step replaced above Mellings Clough. |
