The existing stile was exceptionally narrow and somehow had an extra 'leg' . . . was this the remnants of a two step stile or was this left because embedding the matching leg was impossible?
Removing the old stile proved to be problematic with both of the uprights being VERY well packed and having 'deadmen'. (Mmm! Wonder who installed this originally . . . Many thanks Mick and Bernard!).
Whilst we had planned to use one of the original post holes, we knew we had to move the other hole. Deepening the existing hole was difficult but digging a new hole was almost impossible! We soon realised that we were trying to dig post holes into the original made up trackway to Hartley Royd. Two hundred years or more of building, repairing and consolidating this track to get to Hartley Royd from the valley below meant that we had to break through several layers of stone and rock to get a hole down deep enough for the side- uprights of the new stile.
Suffice it to say that we will all sleep well tonight! Use of the bar to create holes and to gradually remove the stones whilst trying to keep dry in the increasingly frequent showers that came across the hillside was hard work.
A day's work has resulted in two uprights in place and tightly packed. We will return next week to install the stile steps, put in a dog-gate, fix new cross-rails, sort out the sheep netting and fettle up/landscape the area.
Today's work has been funded by Todmorden Town Council. Many thanks.
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| The blue "pin" marks the location of today's stile build. |
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| Carrying the timbers down to the worksite. |
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| RJ and Duncan dismantling the old stile. |
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| Kasher and David sorting out the sheep netting and removing the old stile legs. |
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| One upright out (and the hole protected by inserting a new "leg") but removing the second upright is far from easy. |
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| Trying to clear out and deepen the hole for the second upright. It can not be deep enough yet as Kasher is still able to reach the bottom of the hole! |
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| David and Duncan installing one of the uprights. |
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| Bedrock or well-packed road surface from 200+ years ago? |
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| Duncan, David and RJ trying to break through the layers of stone . . . just as the showers arrive. |
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| David triple checking that the posts are aligned. |
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| The end of the day. Two uprights in place and the site tidy and safe. |
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| A very distant view of Stoodley Pike. |
