Clough Foot: In the West and in the drizzle
A CROWS team comprising Ian V, Mo, Andrew, Frank S and Frank H worked on the right-of-way (footpath Wadsworth 010) that heads NE from the Widdop Road at Clough Foot (see map).
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| 1. Map: Worksite along the footpath (purple) that heads ~NE. |
The tasks were to replace a broken, decayed boardwalk, to strim, as needed, the line of the path and install markerposts to clarify path direction. Fortunately, the early drizzle that threatened to dampen proceedings soon petered out to leave us with almost ideal working conditions.
Task 1 The boardwalk
Andrew and Frank H worked on replacing a decayed boardwalk which was handily situated only a few metres from the timber and tool laden car. Hooray! Here's how the session went:
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| 2. Old boardwalk: Gappy, up-side-down and out of position! Mmm! |
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| 3. Decay: Extensive at ends of old boardwalk. |
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| 4. Work begins: Stringers mounted on bearers, anchoring stobs in place and cross-treads being fitted but . . . . . . is it level . . . ? |
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| 5. Spirit level test: Trust us, the bubble is 'dead-centre'. |
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| 6. Further progress: Side-trims completed, kick-boards in place . . . and the bubble still 'dead-centre'. |
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| 7. End of Session: Cross-treads stapled to improve grip, and approaches landscaped. |
We were pleased with the end result. The boardwalk is secure, stable, foot-friendly and gets the user over a swampy, heavily overgrown water channel. The approaches have been improved so that a graded surface replaces the ankle twisting tussocks. Walkers enjoy!
Task 2 The Strimming
The footpath heading NE from the boardwalk is quite overgrown and has been almost impossible to follow. This path will form part of a route for a walk to Heather Hill planned as part of the Freedom to Roam conference taking place in November.
Frank S had the task of clearing the path using our Husqvarna battery operated strimmer. Unfortunately, despite Frank's best efforts, this task was not completed due to the length of the path to be cleared (about 1km), the amount of rough undergrowth, and the fact that we ran out of battery power! We'll need to come back with two strimmers and more batteries to complete this task.
Task 3 The Marker Posts
In order to clearly indicate the line of the path, Mo and Ian V set out to install six marker posts at appropriate intervals. These have now been put in place but we underestimated the number of posts required so will need to come back to install about three or four more before the conference takes place.
Hopefully once the path is cleared all the way up and more posts have been installed, more walkers will use the path.
Many thanks to Hebden Bridge Walkers Action Group for funding this work.
