Ryburn - Return to Birks Lane.

As promised on last week's blog, Linda, Jerry and Angus returned to Birks Lane to work on the access from the stile onto the road. As predicted, the previous day's rain had made the slope treacherous.

Initially, we considered building stone steps, but the lack of suitable materials made this a non-starter, so we opted for wooden risers secured by lengths of rebar. As with last week's work, this was funded by Ryburn Parish Council, to whom we are extremely grateful.

Blue circle at Birks Lane is where the steps were constructed.

 

No steps! Just a slippery slope. After an hour, things are looking a lot safer!

With such stony ground, using wooden stobs was a non-starter, using rebar which can be hammered into the ground, forcing its way between the stones, gives a strong anchor which can be stapled to the step risers. While Linda and Angus set-to with the steps, Jerry repaired parts of the wall above the steps removing and repositioning a number of loose stones.

The finished job, complete with a yellow-topped grab post (which 

will also serve to alert road users).

We then went to the top of the path where we had previously built a stile (generously paid for by the landowner, Mr Ian Boulger). There was a second job to be done on his land (marked by the other blue circle on the previous map) where a crossing point through/over a wall/fence takes the path into some woodland towards Cottonstones.

On inspection, we discovered that the treadboard and one of the step-legs had rotted through; the wall was in poor condition and the fence posts were only held in place by the stock fence!

A tricky crossing, fraught with challenges.

After discussion with Mr Boulger, we decided that as there was no stock in the adjoining fields (and it was unlikely there would be) the best solution was to cut a gap in the fence and rebuild the wall but with an access gap. 

Linda started cutting back the overgrown vegetation to get some light on the job, whilst Jerry and Angus assessed the best way to dismantle the existing structure. 

Angus considers the options for this wall/fence/stile conundrum.

 

Decisions made! Linda and Jerry get to grips with rebuilding the decrepit wall.

We left an original post in place as it was ideally positioned for waymarks. The gap in the wall soon took shape, new posts were embedded, the fence tensioned and fixed to the posts. In the future, if the fields are to be restocked, it would be simple enough to fit a gate or a stile into this gap.

The weather was considerably calmer than last week, though when it did rain, Mr Boulger brought us very welcome cups of coffee! Hooray!

Another satisfying day's work completed.

Ryburn - Path clearing above Bar Lane.

 October the 5th and it still feels like Summer! Well almost - apart from the drizzle - as the sun did come out . . . but after we'd finished!

Carla, Chloe (new volunteer), Jerry and Angus firstly headed along the A58 to  Cairnwood Drive, at the end of which was the badly overgrown footpath that leads down to Bar Lane. 

This footpath has been visited by CROWS on several occasions but, yet again, despite some work by local householders, it was almost impassable.

Path off Cairnwood Drive is highlighted on the right of the map, the bridleway on the left. 

  

The path as we found it. You can just see Chloe disappearing into the overgrowth!

Carla and Jerry started from the top and Chloe and Angus worked from the bottom. Despite previous annual clearing, brambles, nettles, bindweed, ivy and various other shrubs had taken over. 

After a couple of hours the path reappeared and we were able to remove the majority of the cuttings to expose steps and a cleared thoroughfare.

Path clearance completed, steps cleaned and overhanging branches trimmed.

Chloe brought homemade flapjacks for elevenses - yum!!

Having completed this in good time, we headed to the bridleway which links the A58 with Bar Lane. Work (which is done annually) to cut back the overgrowth started on this bridleway a couple of weeks ago but while it looks to have had use by walkers, there wasn't much evidence of horse riders or mountain bikers taking this route which would help keep the growth under control.

The bridleway cleared and ready to welcome 2-footed, 4-hooved and 2-wheeled users.

Despite the rain at the end of the shift, we managed to get a lot done. The opening up these two routes from the busy A58 to other walks around the dams, along the Riverside path and up towards Scammonden reservoir gives plenty of options for the local community. 

A big thankyou to Ripponden Parish Council for funding this work.

RYBURN - Crow Hill Bridleway

A crisp early autumn day saw two teams out from Ryburn working on two sections of a bridleway which crosses Crow Hill.

Location of work

Linda and Jak went to the southern section of the bridleway to cut back overhanging and underfoot foliage and to waymark the route.

Before

After

Linda with a new waymark

Linda and Jak rejoined the team of Carla, a new volunteer, Jerry and Rich at the other end of the bridleway where they were working on a stile rebuild.

Stile needing some TLC

At first, only one of the team was visible and there was some idle chat about the other two being in a hole! Indeed, this turned out to be true! The rebuild involved taking out some very large posts which had been deeply pile-driven into the ground making it very hard work to remove them. Fortunately, the steps across the stile were sound and did not have to be removed.

Bye-bye spade!

Carla getting stuck in!

After a considerable time, the post (a long way down) was removed.

Rich with part of the post

Eventually the stile was constructed without too much trouble.

Jerry next to the steps

Stile now taking shape

Carla testing the new stile

A group of CROWS in action

We returned to Crow Hill and completed waymarking the bridleway.

This work was funded by Calderdale Highways. Many thanks to them.

Ryburn - Replacing fingerposts around the area.

Today, ideal work for a bank holiday - finishing-off several jobs which needed fingerposts.

Last Friday, Jak, Richard and Angus spent the day refurbishing a couple of old fingerposts and installing a couple of new ones. Richard's artwork on the lettering means these new posts can be seen for miles! Again this has been funded through donations to CROWS. Many thanks to all who have contributed.

Today five of us - Jak, Lynda, Jerry, Richard and Angus - were out in one vehicle and visiting four sites. We loaded up and headed to a couple of paths (below Krumlin) where Jak and Jerry tackled a post replacement off Bottomley Lane, whilst Lynda, Richard and Angus, headed to Hey Lane above Black Brook to install a new post.

 

Locations of fingerposts circled in blue.

Have fingerposts. Will travel! . . . but not upwards!

Both locations required some cutting-back, with the steps at Hey Lane being particularly slippery with leaf mulch. Despite the rain of the last couple of days, the ground was still very dry and this, coupled with stony conditions, made the digging particularly tough. . . , but we got there. 

We always try to make best use of existing materials, especially if the post is in good order and it is only the flag itself which needs replacing. 

A refurbished post was fitted at Bottomley Lane and a completely new one at Hey Lane.

The path entrance off Hey Lane when we arrived.

 

New post at Hey Lane on the left, and a refurbished one at Bottomley Lane on the right.

After a coffee, we headed up to the Bridleway running along Kennel Lane, above Noah Dale Clough, where the original post had rotted at ground level and subsequently 'disappeared'! 

We were grateful to the owners of School Farm for allowing us to park on their drive which reduced the distance we had to carry tools and materials. 

Jak and Lynda headed along the bridleway to cut-back some of the worst of the overgrowth, whilst Jerry, Richard and Angus tackled the post replacement. This time the digging was a bit easier as the post had originally been secured with stones, although a couple of "dead men" nails made its final extraction a bit tricky.

Location of fingerpost circled in blue at the end of Kennel Lane.

Not much left of the original post !!

The new one can be seen for miles !

The last job was to replace a plastic waymark flag on a post on Bowood Lane. This is not our favourite type of flag but that's what was in place originally . . . and we have a stock of them. Whilst there, we also rebuilt part of the access where the path goes through a drystone wall, making it wider and safer.

Location (circled in blue) of the waymark flag off Bowood Lane.

Last job of the day completed.

Ryburn - Tidying up above Cotton Stones.

Today was the day for finishing some outstanding jobs. Jak and Jerry headed up to Ogden Farm to complete the cutting-back and to fit a couple of support bars on the stile CROWS had built previously. They also surveyed a couple of other paths in the area - some more work for for the future. 

Today's work has been funded through donations to CROWS via the website. Many thanks to all who contributed.

Jerry - testing stile stability.

Meanwhile, Linda, Richard (now a fully fledged CROW) and Angus headed up to Upper Burnt Moor Farm to work on the path that goes from Noah Dale Farm to Back Lane and down to the Alma Inn. 

The work to be done was a combination of cutting-back and way-marking (several of the original way-marks were missing or badly faded).

The red highlight shows the path we worked on.

The path from Upper Burnt Moor Farm before . . .

. . . and after.

Before picture: The nettle patch looking towards Noah Dale Farm  . . .

. . . and after: the path now nettle-free!

 

Path at Noah Dale (before and after) cleared and the wall rebuilt.

The cutting-back complete, we walked the path along its route to Back Lane. There were several junctions where the walker, even with a map, would be uncertain as which route to take! 

Extra, new way-marks were fitted and old ones replaced so as to clarify path directions.

 

i) Linda replacing an old way-mark and ii) a 'personalised' way-mark at Upper Burnt Moor.

The final task was to stabilise a wobbly step at Upper Burnt Moor. 

Can you spot the wedge stone?