TODMORDEN - Tod Edge and Greystone Lane

 There were two teams out from Todmorden today:

Team 1: Andrew and Catherine were replacing a stile on Todmorden 080, between Todmorden Edge North and Dyke Green Barn.

Team 2: Gareth, Kasher, Kris, Richard A and RJ worked on the upper reaches of Greystone Lane cutting back and improving the drainage.

Today's work has been funded by Todmorden Town Council and by individual donations to CROWS. Many thanks for your support to enable us to keep the footpaths and bridleways of this area clear and useable.

Team 1: the problems with the stile on Tod 080 were reported to CROWS a few weeks ago. Timbers to complete the task were taken to the site a while ago but this job on the Tod "to do" list just seemed to be slipping down the list.... until today! We have fettled up this one step stile and have added in a yellow topped marker post both to act as a grab rail and to indicate the route across this set of fields which seem to cause some confusion.

The blue "pin" marks the location of the repaired stile on Tod 080.

Greystone Lane, below Great Rock/Devils Rock is indicated by the blue "pin".

Team 1:

The stile before... with rotten step legs and a
loose tread board.... and lots of bailer twine and redundant
sheep netting.

First create a space for a stile... and remove the legs.

Then put in two legs...

Then find enough stone to fill the holes and 
pack them down...

Add in the new cross rails...

Put on the tread board and add staples...

A new stile in place.

Team 2: 

Greystone lane is a useful route down from Great Rock. However in the summer it tends to be overgrown with brambles and Himalayan Balsam and in the winter the trackway is extremely wet to use. We try to cut back along this path at least once per year and tend to work on the drainage issues every other year. Please watch your footing as you use this route. There are a number of turn-bys which need to be navigated. The main ditch switches sides down the route. There are lots of loose stones from the nearby stone walls which we have tried to incorporate into a hard stone path. Hopefully the path will dry out but it is extremely wet in places.

There is a drainage ditch under this somewhere...

and under this too....

Gareth and Kris clearing the ditches and sorting
out the turn-bys.

Wellies? Maybe waders would have been better!
Clearing out the drainage ditches.

Richard A attacking and deepening the ditch.
Note one of the stone edged turn-bys to Richard's left.

RJ sorting out the ditches and creating
a solid pathway.

Gareth, Richard and RJ at work.....

The water in the drains is now flowing well. Hopefully
the wetter parts of the track will dry out a little.

Nelmires (above Wicken Hill Farm) ladder stile repair

Nelmires (between Wicken Hill Farm and Churn Milk Joan)

After a morning session when Ken, Steve and Frank put the Mytholmroyd depot to rights, Steve and Frank took advantage of the clearing weather to carry out some basic repairs on a ladder stile near Nelmires (see map).

1. Worksite marked with blue 'pin'.

The stile is one of several wall (or fence) crossings along this section of the footpath (Hebden Royd 025) which goes from Wicken Hill Farm towards Churn Milk Joan. 

Overall the path is narrow, close to delphs and negotiates two-step stiles, a flight of wooden steps and successive ladder stiles. Mmm! Ideal exercise for the intrepid walker but perhaps not suitable for the suggestion (on Calderdale Council's definitive 'Leisure and Culture Map') that it might be suitable as a bridleway!!

The job today for Steve and Frank was to repair one of the ladder stiles. Here's the 'before' picture:

2. Before: Mmm! Short of a rung or two . .  . or three!

3. During: New rungs being fitted and anchored with Hex-head screws.

4. After: New rungs in place . . . but will the structure take a load? . . . 

5. . . . Testing! Testing! . . . 85 kg is not a problem!

Today's work, funded by Hebden Royd TC, is only a short-term measure. It allows the stile to be used but a further review will be needed to decide on the best 'style' of replacement.

TODMORDEN - Stones area

 A team of three (Catherine, Duncan and Kasher) returned to the Stones area today to sort out a fence/stile which we had hoped to have done in advance of the Todmorden Harriers National Fell Race held in mid October.

We had previously sorted out and replaced a number of stiles and gates along this route (Tod 102) and this was the final one (for now) on our "To Do" list.

The stile itself was merely a set of large stone steps surrounded by a fence of varying degrees of decrepitude. The field crossing looks to have previously been a kissing gate with the metal uprights still in position (but far from vertical).

This was another of the "just" jobs........ just remove the old timbers and replace them. However the ground conditions were far from ideal and it took an age to get the new wooden uprights into position and aligned. It's always so much harder replacing or renewing structures than it is building a new stile etc.

The new structure is now in place and should keep the sheep in the correct fields whilst still being easy for walkers and their accompanying dogs to navigate. 

Many thanks to the landowner for allowing us to access this stile by a shortcut through his fields, Thanks also to Todmorden Town Council for funding today's work party and construction.

The blue "pin" marks the location of today's work.

The stile (Tod side)... before.

The stile (Sourhall side)... before.

Duncan getting the first of the uprights into position.

Duncan and Catherine sorting out the alignment
of the uprights. This was made more complicated by the
metal posts still in position and the wide wall footings.

The second upright now in position.
Now it's time for the rails...

Two uprights and half the rails in position. A third upright
was added. This was used to affix the lower rails.

Catherine removing the excess rails.

Catherine and Duncan adding in rails to block off
the space between the upright and the stone wall.

Nearly finished. View from Sourhall side.

Views of the Tod Moor wind turbines
from the worksite.

RYBURN - Off Longley Lane

 Today we worked on a stile on a path that links Longley Lane to New Longley Lane. A team comprising Carla, Jerry, Rich and Jak turned out in the rain which thankfully abated.

Location of stile

First we took down a very old and rotten stile.

Old stile

The ground was very stony because of being on two old wall lines so it was hard work to create the holes for the primary stile posts. This done we then made further holes for the two steps.

Steps and treadboards in place

Work in progress, it must be lunchtime soon

We were delighted to meet the owner of the field and after lunch we finished off and tidied up. We will return to do a little more work to the side of the stile. 

Topping out ceremony

This work was made possible by donations to CROWS. Very many thanks for the support.

Todmorden - Ewood Wood

Mick Chatham & Richard Able

Improvements to the path between Tod Edge and Siggett Lane the day before the 2026 UKA Fell & Hills Relays.

Today’s work was funded by Todmorden Town Council. Thank you.

A - add staples to slippery stile board.

B - realign gate post with slates to ensure ease of opening.

C - add a section of revetment to join with two existing lengths.

Todmorden - Walsden - Blackshaw Head - Cornholme - Marker Posts

Mick, Catherine & Richard A tackled jobs around Todmorden on a very wet Friday morning. The weather did gradually improve as the day went on. The trio resurrected three marker posts. Firstly on the path just after the hairpin bend on Allescholes Road. Then on to Blackshaw Head near Great Rock on a path below the Full of Joy animal sanctuary. And finally at Cornholme on the steep path above Monkroyd.

Today’s work was funded by Todmorden Town Council.  Thanks as always to all those who support our work.

Site of Job 1

Site of Job 2

Site of Job 3

This footpath post on Allescholes Road
needed to be reinstated.

Richard A admiring the finished job.

Then it was on to Blackshaw Head and
 a very muddy walk to the site!

Richard A with another reinstated marker post.

Then on to sunny Cornholme and a
steep hill to climb for the last job. 

The team got to admire a stunning view
with a tiny Stoodley Pike.

Mick and Richard A with the final post in place.

We'd noticed the stile above Monkroyd was a bit
slippery so Catherine knocked in some staples.