Footpath repairs at Dale Head

After we finished our work up at Esk Hause, and inbetween working at Gowbarrow, we also had a few weeks working with the North Lakes Team over at Dale Head in Borrowdale. This work was partly funded by the British Mountaineering Council Access & Conservation Trust who kindly donated £7,000 and also by a £600 donation from Kendal Fell Walkers.

Replacing a section of path at Dale Head

The path at Dale Head had previously been worked on but, due to a lack of drains, water has run down the path which has in some areas caused the stone pitching to fall out. The steepest sections of the original path are also extremely difficult to walk down and now that techniques have changed we can also remedy this. You can see in the photograph above the section where we were working, with some old-style pitching just below the worksite.

The work at Dale Head involved replacing the steepest sections of path and incorporating more stone drains to shed water away from the path.

New stone pitching

Although it's not immediately obvious from the photographs this section of path is a really steep section. The new path has been put in so that the stones aren't set at a steep angle, there's plenty of space to get a full boot on each step and the path also meanders to take out some of the gradient.

Landscaping the new section of path

As usual once the path was completed we set about landscaping the area around the path to help it blend in with it's surroundings. Any overhanging banks next to the path were graded to reduce any "hard edges" next to the path. Turfs that were removed while building the path were then used where the banks had been graded to make the path merge seamlessly with the fell side. Finally, grass seed was put down on areas of spoil and between the stones used to build the path. 

Looking up the newly landscaped path

Another year of repairing the path on Gowbarrow

Throughout the year we've been working up on the path at Gowbarrow, in Ullswater. This is the second year that we've been working on this site and once again we've been joined by numerous volunteer groups.

Starting to dig off the turf

The Field Studies Council joined us again this year with a school group from Ripponden. The group got stuck right in with cutting turf and resurfacing the path.

The group hard at work

Coming back for a second year also gave the teachers a good opportunity to see how last years work had started to bed-in and blend in more with it's surroundings.

We were also assisted by other members of National Trust staff from around the property.

National Trust staff clear a route through the bracken

This helped give staff who work in different areas of the property a better idea of some of the work that we do, and also gave them the opportunity to try something a bit different to their usual jobs.

Freshly gravelled path

We also held monthly work parties for the Fix the Fells volunteers.

Starting landscaping the path

These monthly work parties have really helped push the project along over the last two years and a special thanks has to go out to the Fix the Fells volunteers.

Newly landscaped path

The Fell Rangers from the North Lakes have also regularly helped us out.

Two of the North Lakes team start on some landscaping

Since the North Lakes team was newly created this year, it gave them a good opportunity to get involved in a different type of project and helped them learn a few different techniques.

Completed landscaping

For the second consecutive year we also held our National Trust working holiday up on Gowbarrow.

Before starting work with the working holiday

Four volunteers from last years holiday returned, along with several new volunteers.

Digging off the path

We continued the section of path that we'd repaired with them last year, and extended it right to the summit.

The resurfaced path

Once again a huge thanks to all the volunteers who have helped us over the last two years, as without this help we couldn't have achieved so much. It's been great meeting you all, and perhaps we'll see some of you again in the not too distant future.

The Working Holiday on Gowbarrow

Adding the final touches to the Esk Hause path

Since the last update we've been spending much of our time working, and walking, up Esk Hause. We've calculated that for this year, in total, to repair the Esk Hause path we've walked a distance of 185 miles just to get to and from the work site and spent over 90 hours doing it. We've also climbed, and descended, over 102,500 feet, that's like walking from sea level to the top of Mount Everest three and a half times!

Turfing a section of path

In between all the walking we've also been building a path which has generated a lot of soil and rubble. This is all used to landscape around the path to help the area look more natural after the path repairs have taken place.

Starting landscaping around a drain

To help the path blend in and stop rubble falling on to it we also turf along the edge. Turf that is generated while building the path is reused and if any extra is required it is cut from areas away from the path, and out of sight.

Freshly landscaped drain

As you can see in the following photo often very large quantities of soil and rubble are generated. To reduce the amount of surplus rock smaller pieces are buried and any larger, and more weathered, rock is half dug in to create a natural looking bank.

Rubble and soil generated while building the path

Once the landscaping work is finished the area changes from something resembling a building site to something much more natural. After the area has been seeded (often once a year, over several years) the landscaping work will be indistinguishable from it's surroundings.

Path after landscaping

Fix the Fells Volunteering Day

A few weeks ago as part of our Fix the Fells work we held a volunteering day giving members of the public the chance to come along and help with some path repairs and maintenance work around Langdale.

About 35 volunteers and staff turned out on the day and the work was divided into two sessions, drain runs and path repairs. There were two different drain run routes, both starting out at NT Sticklebarn and heading up into the Langdale Pikes. Drain runs, where gravel is cleared from the footpath and stone drains, are an essential part of our maintenance work.

The repair work took place on a section of the Stickle Ghyll path just beyond the car park, and involved resurfacing and drainage work. In preparation for this work we had previously spent a few days collecting some suitable rock from the nearby area and clearing back a few trees from next to the path.

 Preparing the work site

The large boulders that we'd gathered were used to edge the path to encourage people not to cut the corners and cause any further damage to the area. Once the path was edged it was time to start gravelling.

 Newly gravelled section of path

We'd arranged for a delivery of gravel from the local quarry to be tipped in the car park so it was just a matter of moving it about 200 metres from the car park to the work site. Armed with shovels and wheelbarrows the volunteers set about moving the gravel up the path.

 Bringing in some more gravel

With the addition of this fresh gravel the old rough path was quickly transformed. To help improve the drainage on the path some of the original drains had to be repaired and lengthened to help prevent water running down, and damaging, the new gravel path.

 Repairing a stone drain

As part of our preparation work we had also dug a large hole ready for a new stone drain to be built. After some heavy rain it became obvious that the new drain would definitely take some water.

 Hole dug ready for a drain

A large trench was dug to drain the hole of water and a group of the Fix the Fells volunteers started building a new stone drain to protect the path from any future downpours.

 Building a stone drain

We'd like to say a big thanks to all the volunteers who came along on the day to help us out, you did some fantastic work!

Resuming our upland work

Since our last blog post we've started our Fix the Fells work repairing a few of the upland paths in Grasmere, Langdale and Ullswater.

Our first job was to prepare for our work up on Gowbarrow that we'd started last year. Once again we needed to fly some materials to the work site, so we set about filling some bags with gravel with a little help from the Langdale & Grasmere ranger team.

 Loading the bags with gravel

The day of the lift went pretty smoothly and we thankfully got all the materials flown to site.

 Flying the materials on to Gowbarrow

Another job that we're working on this year is at Helm Crag.

Starting work

You can see in the photograph below that the path had previously been worked on, but some of this had started to fall out as the ground around it had eroded. The bits that had not been worked on have also deteriorated.

 Bottom section before starting work

Rock had been flown to the site previously but we're also supplementing it with rock that had been used for previous repairs.

 After a few days work

You can see in the following photograph how bad the path has become. There's a lot of loose rubble on the path and the bank to the left is badly eroded.

 Mid-section before starting work

After just a few days work the path has already started to take shape.

Mid-section after being worked on

We're also working up at Esk Hause again this year, continuing to widen the path and improve the drainage.

 Old path before repairs

It takes about two and a half hours to walk to and from the work site, plus there's also a time consuming drive on top of that, so this really eats into the time left for working. Because of this, we're being helped out by the North Lakes team this year, to help speed things along.

The North Lakes team lend a hand

Path and stream crossing at Aira Force

We've recently been working again at Aira Force, where amongst a lot of exciting new developments a new bridge has been put in near High Force to create a circular route and easier access onto Gowbarrow Fell.

The new bridge

With the new bridge in place we needed to build a section of path that would link the bridge to the original path network.

Before starting work

The section immediately after the bridge was just a muddy track so we moved some boulders into position to narrow the path, and create an edge, then dug out a tray for some gravel. The gravel all had to be shovelled by hand and transported to site using power barrows.

First section of path almost completed

As part of the path repairs we also had a stream crossing to deal with. Originally the path went over a rocky section where the river was spanned by a narrow slate (just higher up the stream in the photo below). We wanted our crossing to be large enough to get power barrows or quads across so we can more easily gain access to other sections of the path.

Area for new stream crossing 

The first job was to repair the stone edging next to the river, we then put in place a large plastic pipe for the river to flow through, this was a tight fit so also helped improve the structure to the crossing.

Starting work on the stream crossing

With the pipe now in place we covered over the gap with some large slates to create a slate bridge.

Stream with slates in position

The next job was to level the ground around the slate bridge. We used stone from an old, redundant, drystone wall to fill in sections of the path around the bridge to give us a good surface to gravel on.

Ground levelled at stream crossing

We then built up the edges with some large boulders so we could gravel over the bridge. These were cemented in place so that there would be be no chance of them moving.

Side stones in position

To finish off the bridge we covered it in gravel. By using gravel the slates underneath have a bit more protection from the machinery that we'll take over.

Gravelling the stream crossing

Finally we set to work on improving a short section of path that led from our new crossing.

Rough section of path

We pulled out the largest of the stones from the path and again built an edge that would help retain the gravel.

Putting in the side stones

With the new section gravelled we used a wacker plate to compress the gravel and form a solid surface.

Looking down the new path

As a finishing touch we used some topsoil and turfs left over from a previous job to help landscape around the new path and crossing point.

The finished path

Path repairs at Dora's Field

Since our last update we've been busily working away in Dora's Field, at Rydal, just outside Ambleside. Our work was replacing some old slate steps with something that would be easier to walk on, would be in keeping with the garden and would also last indefinitely.

 The original path

We decided we'd use the same technique as we had in High Close gardens at the end of last year. We set to work digging in the large slates to form the front of the step, and filling in the back with smaller pieces of slate.

 After just over a weeks work

The idea was to get our work completed before the main show of Daffodils started to appear. This would cause the minimum amount of damage to them and give plenty of time for things to settle down before the National Gardens Scheme open day at the end of March (Details of which can be found here... Link).

 New section of path

While working there we actually spotted the first Daffodil coming into flower, along with a few Crocuses and lots of Snowdrops. There were still plenty more only just breaking through the soil though, so there should still be plenty in flower if you're planning a visit in the coming few weeks.

 Getting the levels right

The work was quite slow going as each stone had to be individually shaped by hand and the levels needed to be regularly checked to make a good surface to walk on.

 

Filling in the gaps

Once all the stonework was completed we filled in the gaps with a dry-mix of sand and cement to add extra strength to the whole path. This was later covered over with some soil to help everything blend in a little better.

 

 The new path before landscaping

Once this was all done, it was just a matter of tidying things up, we removed all the surplus stone and levelled off all the soil that had been dug out. Then finally we removed the tracks we'd created where we'd accessed the site with the power barrow. The whole project took us a little under five weeks to complete.

We're planning to return to Dora's Field next year and carry out some similar work on the other side of the path to complete the short circular route. This will make the site more accessible to a wider range of people to come and enjoy Wordsworth's Daffodils each spring.

Tidying up and landscaping

Much of the material costs for replacing the steps were paid for by a kind donation so we'd like to give our thanks. If you'd like to donate money towards our work in the Lake District just follow this link...Lake District Appeal. To discuss donating to a specific project such as our work at Dora's Field please contact Liz Guest on 015394 63806 or email liz.guest@nationaltrust.org.uk