Fixing the landslide at Seldom Seen

As part of our work on the path at Seldom Seen we have also recently repaired a substantial landslide, around ten metres in length, which was washed away during heavy rain.

 Landslide from below

The first part of the job was to build the path up to it's original height. Using large stones (the same as we use for path building) a dry stone wall was built and the area behind the wall was filled in with material excavated from elsewhere on the path.

 Building up the revetment wall

The top side of the path had also been badly eroded by walkers trying to find a new route around the landslip. This area was re-profiled and a trench dug into the bank to take water away from the revetment wall and send it through stone drains at either side.

 View of the landslide from the path

Once the revetment wall was completed and back-filled we covered the path surface with pinnel. Pinnel is a type of gravelly soil that compacts down very well to form a hard surface. This was dug out from around the washout and from the path above. It's very labour intensive to dig but gave the path a really nice solid finish.

 Repaired path showing the drainage

Finally the top of the wall was turfed and landscaped to discourage people from walking on the edge and potentially causing damage.

 Landslide from a slightly different angle

The new section of path has made a huge difference and will help prevent the area becoming further eroded by people trying to pick a route around it.

 Repaired section of path

Beyond the landslide a stone path was built incorporating stone drains to prevent water running down on to the area that had been washed out.

Footpath beyond the landslide