Blackshaw Head: Pedestrian gate 2.

 Blackshaw Head: pedestrian gate Number 2.

On a cool and cloudy day when, once again, the threatened rain never appeared, Ian S, Neil D and Frank H installed a replacement pedestrian gate on right-of-way Blackshaw 021 that heads North-West behind BSH Chapel.

The gate is in an exposed location and has a construction possibly peculiar to the South Pennines (see picture 1)

1. Original gate (looking towards Brown Hill Lane):
 Mmm! a bit 'gappy' and fence posts held together with baler twine.

2. Location: North-West of BSH Chapel on edge of an old delph (quarry)

The Detail.

The gate allows passage through a fragile stock-fence and is hung on a weakly installed hinge-pole that has shifted out of the vertical. It closes against an adequately embedded post which doubles as a fence post.

3.  Original gate: (looking towards Old Shaw Lane)
Mmm! Miscellaneous alignments.

The plan was to embed a new hinge-post and hang (on T-hinges) a new gate with closure spring and chain-loop fastener.

The work begins:

4. Old hinge-post is out. Digging begins
for new deeper hole . . . and it's on
top of an old quarry!

5. Digging deeper: All the other timbers on view
are part of the stock-fencing and will not be touched.

6. New hinge-post being aligned.

Some time later (see picture 7) the vertical hinge-post has been packed and diagonally braced. A 'rest' stop has been fitted to the original (but out of vertical) closure post. A closure spring has been fixed in place and a closure chain which loops over a gate paling is being attached to the closure post.

7. End result: A neat job that does not
interfere with the fragile fence structure

Originally some of the gates on this footpath had a horse outline attached but these silhouettes had deteriorated badly. We thought the horse theme might be confusing as this route is not a bridleway - however, a Crow silhouette might be an appropriate substitute . . . so here's a close-up . . .!

 

8. Crow:

'. . . just then flew down a monstrous Crow

As black as a tar barrel . . . '

(Lewis Carroll, Tweedledum & Tweedledee)

Today's work was funded by a donation from The 'Moors the Merrier Fell Race' (Cragg Runners). Many thanks for your support.