Finishing at Boredale and preparing for helicopter lifts

Since our last post much of our time has been spent repairing the footpath up to Boredale Hause.

Towards the top end of the footpath the path-line follows a natural gully, but this has been much worsened by water and footfall.

 Starting work in the gully

The gully was steep through the lower section but levelled off as height is gained. There was also a fair amount of buried rock and areas of bedrock that made constructing the path more difficult.

 Path progressing through the gully

Nearby large boulders were moved and incorporated into the landscaping to help protect the edge of the path and give the work a more natural feel.

 Completed section of path

Due to the steepness of the bank in the gully a vertical edge was formed next to the path as we built the footpath.

 Top of gully before landscaping

This edge was graded back into the slope and turf edged before seeding. All the spoil that was generated while creating the footpath was moved and used for landscaping work and also seeded and spot-turfed.

 Top of gully after landscaping

The last section that we worked on was a short section of path incorporating a stone drain that led up to a section of bedrock.

 Working on the top section

Once again the spoil generated was used to landscape the path before turfing and seeding.

 Completed top section

The path gains height and joins seamlessly into a section of bedrock that is incorporated into the footpath.

Tied into the bedrock

With the footpath up to Boredale Hause completed we began preparing for the upcoming helicopter lifts.

 Loading the power barrow with pitching stone

Back in December 2015, during Storm Desmond, a large quantity of stone was washed down Glenridding Beck and had to be removed to prevent more flooding. So early in 2016 we took the opportunity to pick through the rock and store it for future path repairs.

 Bags full of rock ready to be flown

As suitable stone around Gowbarrow Fell is hard to find we're using some of the rock retrieved after the floods to repair a steep section of path on the Dockray side of Gowbarrow.

 Loading a power barrow with aggregate 

Through flatter, peaty, sections of the footpath we're using stone aggregate to build a more solid and sustainable path.

Filling a heli-bag with aggregate

The areas of path that we had previously worked on have been really successful. Further erosion to the path has been stopped and areas surrounding the footpath have now nicely revegetated. You can see how we previously worked with the aggregate on Gowbarrow by clicking on the link to this previous blog post... link.