There were three teams out from Todmorden today:
Team 1 : RJ and Kasher returned (yet again!) to Scaitcliffe Wood (Tod 082) to replace even more steps.
Team 2: David and Ken returned to a stile, started last week, to finish the rebuilding and to install a dog-gate. This is on Tod 209 between Knowlwood Road and Lumbutts Road
Team 3: Gareth and Mick started on a long "to do" list for the Lumbutts and Mankinholes area - see separate Blog.
Today's work has been funded by generous individual donations to CROWS. Many thanks to everyone who contributes to making out paths safer and easier to use.
Team 1:
The end really is in sight! We replaced/added-in another eight steps today. Each one will hopefully make the route safer and easier to negotiate. The easily 'rolled-on' acorns are still making this route harder than it usually is! Our next visit should see a completion of the steps and the installation of a final section of revetment. After that it's a little more path widening, the infilling some of the steps and a general clear up of the decayed timbers of the old steps.
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| Scaitcliffe Wood: Tod 082. |
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| RJ putting in pilot holes for the stobs. |
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| The riser being positioned as far as possible from the edge of the steep slope. |
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| A novel way of measuring the distances between the step risers . . . |
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| The next section to be tackled. |
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| The steps near the bottom of Tod 082. |
Team 2:
Last week's session of stile building resulted in a stile upright being replaced, new cross rails being fitted and some sense being made of the sheep netting surrounding the stile. Today the team managed to embed a final upright and then install the dog-gate. A disproportionate amount of time was spent sorting out the netting which, sadly, had been cut. Hopefully, with the a dog-gate in place such damage to the wire fence will no longer happen.
We still have some work to do on this route: the handrail at the bottom section will be replaced; the path around the perimeter of the house will be made safer and then the stone steps from the stile through the field alongside Swineshead Clough can be cleared.
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| Tod 209 near Swineshead Clough. |
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| The stile at the start of the day. |
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| Ken on quality control duties. Note the 'spaghetti' of wires from the sheep netting. |
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| David with the completed stile and dog gate. |
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| The end of the day . . . a safe and secure stile. |
