After finishing our work over on Loughrigg Fell for the year we started the job of bag filling ready for the helicopter lift at Bracken Hause. We filled around 150 bags that were flown to site in early July to go with the 40 bags that we had previously flown last year.
Lower section before starting work
Once the bags were all in place, we began our work. It wasn't long before we discovered just how wet the path is, with the water funnelling down from higher ground and often sitting just below the path surface.
Wet
The water also seeped out of the banks on the side of the path. We added several stone drains to take the water off the path and into the stream below.
Partly completed lower section
Where the footpath crossed the beck the path originally split in two with some people going up the beck and others crossing it and carrying on up above it. In the photo below the beck goes up to the left of the heli-bags and has been badly damaged through footfall causing it to become wider and lose much of the vegetation around its sides.
Beck crossing before starting work
To prevent future damage, our footpath crossed the beck and incorporated a stone wath (a stone ford), which would take more water than a conventional stone drain.
The path then continued up the bank that had become badly eroded and widened where people had tried to find a way up or down a steep bank.
Steep bank out of river
Completed section out of river
Higher up the path the narrow track had also widened and although still mostly vegetated, it was showing clear signs of wear in a very short space of time.
We decided to pitch this section too, as it would only be a matter of time before the grass was lost. By building a stone path the vegetation either side of the path would be protected.
We again incorporated drains to take water away from the path and protect the stone work below.
Top drain from above
We've now completed just over half the work at Bracken Hause, so we will be back at a later date to resume the repairs.
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