Firstly, "A Happy New Year" to all readers and followers of these blogs. On a cold, crisp, winter's day in bright sunshine, Jak, Jerry and Angus headed into Rough Hey Woods to cut-back the overhanging sections of holly, along the path leading from the Calderdale Way into the wood.
New residents in the field were intrigued by what we were
doing . . . or were they just after food ??
doing . . . or were they just after food ??
This is the section which had become muddy and very slippery due to light being blocked out by the overhanging holly. We had already put in a number of steps and stepping stones to make the passage through this section less treacherous. Hopefully the cutting-back will produce further improvements.
As with previous work, this task has been funded by a donation from the Russell family - a big thankyou to them for this.
The area of cutting back was around Higher Clough (shown on the lower part of the the map).
Before and after images of the cleared section. It's difficult to appreciate how much material we removed from this area but it has definitely let a lot more light onto the path.
Cutting back the overhanging branches, some of which were rotten, has let more light onto the stone slabs. We also removed, from the stream below the bridge, fallen branches and debris which had been restricting water flow.
Having completed this section, we went back to the link path below Toad Hall, (location shown by the small blue circle on the map above) to fit a grab post next to a stone stile. This will give more support and reassurance when crossing this stile which can be slippery when wet. Whilst there, we made good the end part of the wall which had collapsed into the field.
i) The stone bridge from Calderdale Way direction, halfway through the cutting back
ii) Angus surveys the finished job - now a lot safer for future walkers.
Jerry crossing the stone stile with the aid of the new grab post.
