Continuing our work up on Stone Arthur

After completing the repairs lower down the path on Stone Arthur, we commenced work up towards the summit. 

Our work here was interspersed with days out around the Central and Eastern Lakes surveying the upland footpaths. During the surveys, we photographed damaged areas of path and graded the severity of the damage. This work will be used to set a benchmark on the state of the paths and will also help us identify priority work. 

The section being repaired on Stone Arthur had started to get a lot worse over recent years and was being badly gullied out by the rain.

Lower section (before landscaping)

A lot of the damage appeared to be caused by the depth of the topsoil. In places the soil was only a couple of centimetres thick which meant the grass was very shallowly rooted. Once the grass had been trampled, the surface layer of soil was quickly washed away and the compact subsoil underneath funnelled the water down the path.

Completed lower section

In the following photograph you can see the depth of the bank next to the footpath, which is indicative of how deep the gulley originally was. We roughly stuck to the line of the original eroded path as it was a good line to walk and nicely meandered, taking out some of the gradient.

Middle section before landscaping

You can see in the photo below how the exposed edge next to the footpath has been removed during the landscaping process.

Completed middle section

When the rock was flown to site it was dropped on the eroded line of the path. You can see how it had also started to erode next to the footpath as people did not want to walk in the gulley. 

Bags in place on upper section

Making progress on the upper section

The path sides have again been angled and turfed to help the path blend in with its surroundings. The spoil that was created while building the path was also turfed over and seeded with grass.

Upper section after landscaping

A stone drain was incorporated towards the top of the footpath to prevent any rainwater travelling down the path and causing damage. A long drain at the very top of the path will also help keep future water damage to a minimum.

Stone drain

With winter fast approaching, we've only got a few more metres to go to finish the stone pitching and the rest of the associated landscaping. Once completed, we'll make sure we get back next spring to check on things and put a little more grass seed down.

Just a couple of metres to go

Repairing the footpath at Stone Arthur

Since our last update, we've been busy working on the footpath at Stone Arthur. We started collecting stone for the path repairs back in April at Tongue Gill, the next valley along from Stone Arthur. The rock was flown by helicopter to site in early May.

Getting ready to fill heli-bags in the snow at Tongue Gill

With the rock in position, we began work. We started on a lower section of path, which had previously been worked on but has since become badly eroded.

Bottom section after bags had been unloaded

As the path was so mobile, we decided to stone pitch roughly 40 metres through the steepest part of the path, until it started to level off.

Completed pitching on bottom section

You can see some of the older repairs in the following photograph. The steps would have originally been put in at ground level and were on the verge of dropping out.

Middle section showing earlier work that is now obsolete

The old steps were removed and the whole length of path was stone pitched to create a sustainable surface to walk on.

Middle section after repairs

As we got higher up the path, it started to level out but was still badly damaged and had got worse over recent years.

Upper section (before)

Upper section during work

At the top of the section we were working on, the erosion was at least a couple of metres wide and you can see in the photograph below how three separate tracks are starting to merge into one.

Eroded top section

By stone pitching the path, it can be narrowed down and the sides can then be revegetated.

Almost completed top section

This section of path is roughly half of the work we're doing up on Stone Arthur this year, as we're also working higher up the path above the work we carried out in 2018.

Deer Fencing around the Central and Eastern lakes

Since finishing our upland path repair programme for the year we've been working lower down on the property. To date, much of our work has been in the National Trust owned woodlands in Ambleside, Windermere and Troutbeck.

Our first job was extending a deer exclosure at Common Wood just outside Windermere. We originally worked on the exclosure back in 2020 but it was decided that we should double its size.

The exclosure will allow the woodland to regenerate without any grazing by deer or sheep, which should give an opportunity for woodland flowers to come through without being nibbled off.

Deer Fence at Common Wood

Once we'd finished at Common Wood we moved on to Skelghyll Woods on the outskirts of Ambleside, which is home to some of the tallest trees in Cumbria. This area had recently had a considerable amount of Larch extracted so the deer fence will once again allow for natural regeneration of both trees and ground flora.

Skelghyll deer exclosure

As a bit of a break from deer fencing we spent a couple of days gathering slate from one of the National Trust's disused quarries near Coniston. The stone will be flown up onto Gowbarrow Fell later on in the year and will be used to build drains.

Trailer loaded with stone

Our final deer exclosure was at Hird Wood at the end of Troutbeck Valley, near Kirkstone. Here the predominantly Alder woodland has been freshly coppiced, which will allow more light into the fenced off area again helping to promote woodland flower growth. All the exclosures are a minimum of 50m x 50m and will remain in place for at least five years.

Deer Fence at Hird Wood

Just outside Hird Wood are the remains of Low Kingate stone circle. Few of the stones are still standing and three have been incorporated into a dry stone wall (two of which can be seen in the photo below). It would have originally been a concentric (two-ringed) circle with the inner circle standing upon a mound and the outer circle being about 20m in diameter. An unpolished stone axe was found at the site in 1893.

 

Hird Wood/Low Kingate stone circle