Bridleway, St Mary's Church, Luddenden Village
Stella, Ian S and Paul were out today cutting back an overgrown bridleway that runs parallel and above St Mary's Church cemetery. This overgrown stretch of pathway had prompted an urgent referral to CROWS as bikers and walkers had started to use a lower footpath that went through the graveyard!
 |
| Red line indicating pathway. |
The work was funded by Luddenden Civic Society - thank you.
 |
| Entrance to the Bridleway. |
The path had become overgrown with shrubs, young saplings and bramble:
 |
| Overgrown |
Stella and Paul began cutting back the 'near end' by the War Memorial while Ian tackled a drainage problem at the 'far end'.
 |
| Stella - sterling work with shears! |
Meanwhile, Ian contended with a blocked drain and lots of mulch:
 |
| muddy mulch |
 |
| There's a drain in there somewhere! |
After extensive cutting back and widening of the path, we met in the middle!:
 |
| All hands to the task |
Ian dug out a silted-up drainage channel coming from the banking so that water could flow down to the cleaned out drain. Hopefully, this will stop water encroaching on the path although during high levels of rainfall there may still be some overspill. We'll keep an eye on this and return if necessary.
 |
| Drain channel cleared. |
We had a very nice lunch sat on one of the church benches!
 |
| Artisan bread sandwiches... |
Ian saw a kingfisher dart downriver but it was too quick for a photo!
 |
| Path widened and cleared. |
We waymarked each end of the path to help keep path users on the correct route.
 |
| A good day's work! |
