Kidsty Howes, Improvements to the Coast to Coast Route.

Since our last update we've been busy working on two different projects, one in Easedale, just outside Grasmere (which will appear in a later blog post) and the other at Kidsty Howes in Haweswater, where we've been repairing a section of Wainright's Coast to Coast Walk.  As our base is near Grasmere, it took us around 2 hours to get up to the worksite while working at Haweswater, and this commute considerably ate into our working days there.

Flying the stone on to site

Due to the amount of exposed bedrock, this part of Kidsty Howes can be difficult to descend and this has led to extra routes developing as people try to avoid the bedrock areas. As the Coast to Coast Walk is being upgraded to a National Trail, it was decided that access through the area needed to be improved and these improvements would also help reduce the risk of increased erosion brought about by the potential increase in footfall. 

Section 1 (before)

As you can imagine, the work was particularly challenging as it entailed breaking through the exposed bedrock with crowbar and sledge hammer, to create six sections of stone path.

Section 1 (during)

The first section was through a deep gulley, which created additional difficulties with landscaping. The large peaty bank on the left hand side had to be graded back to produce a more natural looking bank. The soil generated was used to fill in other areas that had been eroded just to the top right of the path and also below it. We then had to cut turf from areas that were well away from the site and we used this to cover over the areas of newly exposed peat. The areas where the turf had been cut were then seeded, to help them recover.

Section 1 (after)

The next section had even more exposed bedrock, meaning that even more of it had to be chipped out to get the path in, and the deeper into the rock you go the harder it gets! This is because the exposed surface of the bedrock has generally been weathered and broken down to some extent by the elements, whereas the deeper rock is unweathered and therefore much more solid.

Section 2 (before)

Section 2 (during)

With so much exposed bedrock, the area had to be carefully landscaped with large stones against the edges of the path and plenty of turf to cover over the rubble and bedrock.

Section 2 (after)

Section three of path followed the line of least resistance through the bedrock via a natural water-worn gulley.

Section 3 (before)

Progress on all sections was slow, with generally no more than one step built each day, and many days were spent just breaking the bedrock.

Section 3 (during)

You can see in the photos above and below how the path follows a natural fault in the rock. Each rock for the steps has to be carefully selected to fit the gap with very little room to spare.

Section 3 (up close)

 

Section 3 (after)

Section four involved pitching the path through another gulley to remove a narrow awkward drop off.

Section 4 (before)

Section 4 (after)

Further up the path, section five again followed the line of the gulley. Working in these tight gullies meant there was often not enough room to swing a sledgehammer, so the rock had to be chipped out using only crowbars and any fine tuning was done with a small stone hammer.

Section 5 (before)

Section 5 (after)

The final section was a short length of path, and again the side of the path was turf lined to cover over the rubble that was generated and to give a more natural feel to the surrounding area.

Section 6 (before)

Section 6 (after)

 

In addition to the work above, we also added five stone cross-drains to remove rainwater from the path, which should help prevent any further damage.

It's been a very challenging job, but it's made a huge difference for people coming down the path carrying large heavy rucksacks, which made it a struggle for them to safely navigate the bedrock, meaning they were forced to take other, less sustainable routes.

Path repairs at Allan Bank and replacing a bridge in Windermere

Back in 2012, we started work on creating a woodland trail at Allan Bank. This consisted of repairing the old stone steps and linking them together with a gravel pathway edged with timber. We also added wooden risers to the steeper sections and improved the drainage. We then continued making further improvements to the path in 2013. You can see all the work that was originally carried out here... Allan Bank Woodland Trail

Working on the footpath at Allan Bank

As it's been over ten years since we started the work, several pieces of the timber path edging had started to rot away, so it was time to replace a few sections to give the path a new lease of life.

Moving a large trunk for the path

We made use of a few trees which were felled as part of the woodland thinning operations but we also used timber that had been previously felled. We found a nice pile of Larch that was felled several years ago but was still in great condition, though a little on the large side. We only had to move the trunk around 50 metres, so using bars, posts (for rollers) and a fair amount of brute force we managed to (slowly) move the trunk into place.

Rare video footage of tree trunk moving in progress

Using some of these larger pieces means that the path edges should last many years, which is great as future repairs could become a problem if there's a lack of suitable timber available.

Path with log in place (at top of picture)

The path was looking in great condition by the time we'd finished, although a few of the wooden risers were still in need of repair, so we'll pop back later and fix them if we get the chance, or volunteers will carry out the repairs later on in the year.

Finishing off the path near the Walled Garden

Another site that we'd previously worked on was this bridge at St. Catherines, Windermere. Back in 2019 we replaced the treads and handrails of the bridge as the beams still had some life left in them. Unfortunately over the last six years the beams had become much worse, so the decision was taken to replace the whole bridge.

Removing the old bridge

To make the new bridge last longer and give it some extra strength, it was decided that we'd use steel I-beams for the joists and the rest would be made using untreated Larch. The joists needed to have holes drilled into them so we could attach them to the rest of the structure. This proved to be a slow job with the holes taking up to thirty minutes each to drill.

Drilling the beams in the workshop

Once the wooden beams were bolted on to the I-beams we started to position them in place, being careful to level each one, by building up the dry stone wall abutment. 

Getting the first few beams level

We temporarily fixed the beams to each other, to hold them in place while we built up the wall between each of the joists.

All the beams in place

After carefully calculating a suitable sized gap between each tread, we attached each one in place and also connected each of the three uprights. All that's left now is to fix on the handrails and build gravel up to the right level on each side of the bridge.

Just the handrails to go on