MOORFIELD, OLD TOWN
Ginny and Paul were out today working on a ROW that winds around the back of Moorfield estate in Old Town. The path starts at the junction of Parrock Lane and Walker Lane, runs up the side of Moorfield and then branches right to Rock Edge:
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| ROW marked in red. |
Work funded by Wadsworth Parish Council - thankyou!
The day's task was twofold: to tackle a drainage problem below where the path meets Rock Edge and to cut back overgrowth of bramble, bracken and overhanging branches.
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| Water pouring onto the path! |
We had surveyed this problem a couple of weeks ago and, in response to a Facebook post, Michael a local resident met us on arrival; he had a depth of knowledge about local watercourses that helped in planning our course of action.
Having said this, the obstacles of a steep banking to the right of the picture and the position of a mature birch tree, prevented our redirecting the flow of water from this stretch of the pathway. However, the water ran on a firm rocky path until the turn-bye and was walkable on foot, so we decided to leave this for the time being.
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Channel dug out
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Further down, we dug out a new drainage channel to divert the water flow from the footpath.
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| Ginny at work on the new channel |
Curiously the water disappeared into the ground lower down. We dug a large 'sump' at this point to investigate and found the hole where the water escaped . . . albeit slowly!
Michal thought this may be going into one of the main field drains. Further investigation at a later date, will be needed to see if it is possible to link the drainage channel to the field drain.
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| Cut back on the straight section. |
After lunch, we cut back encroaching bramble and cleared fern detritus from the long stretch of pathway going downhill towards the main road. We also cut back overhanging tree branches.
This part of the path narrows in places and there is scope for some widening to enable safer passage.
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| More spacious, |
Another day's work needed here on this footpath!
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| Bottom end! |
