Winter estate work

After returning to work from our winter breaks, we set about a variety of estate work around the Grasmere area. Our first job was to repair some damage caused by Storm Arwen to a couple of dry stone walls at Hunting Stile. 

The walls had been knocked down by low hanging branches and possibly also disturbed by tree root-plates, when the trees were being buffeted about during the strong winds. We removed the offending branches to stop any future damage and set about putting up the walls. One of the collapsed walls contained a large slate that had been used for hanging the top pin of a gate (photo below). The slate had to be carefully lifted into place, utilising our full team of four people, so that the gate could be re-hung.

Repaired wall and gate

Once we'd completed the wall repairs we turned our attention to erecting some owl and bat boxes around High Close Estate. The boxes had been kindly donated by the local Age UK's Men in Sheds project which offers support for older men to share and learn new skills. We'll keep a check on them throughout the year and hopefully they'll provide some extra roosting/nesting places to the resident bat and Tawny Owl population. 

Owl and bat boxes

Our final job before resuming our work on the fells was a fencing job at Bracken Fell. Due to the difficult access to the site the materials could only be driven part way. Once everything was unloaded from the trailer we had to load up the power barrows to move the materials to the bottom of the fence line.

Fencing materials

We were repairing over 400 metres of the fence, although the full length was well in excess of 600 metres. The posts, rails and wire all had to be carried by hand through the rough terrain and all the old fence posts and wire that we were replacing had to be carried back out.

First section of fence

The majority of the fence consisted of short sections of strained wire stock fencing.

Wire stock fence

In some areas the underlying bedrock was too close to the ground's surface to dig in the straining post required for a wire fence, so here we put in sections of post and rail as they require less depth.

Post and rail fence

Once we'd completed the fence and carried all the excess materials and old fencing off the site we were straight up onto Loughrigg Fell, filling helicopter-bags ready for the start of another season of path repairs.

Wall repairs and deer exclosure at High Close estate

Since the new year, we've come down from the upper fells and have started doing some estate work around the valley.

Our first job was to repair a couple of sections of dry stone wall at Low Wood, on the High Close estate just outside Grasmere.

 Section 1 before starting work

With the wall keeping livestock out of Low Wood, it was important that the gaps were repaired quickly to prevent sheep from entering the woodland. This helps both keep the tenant farmer happy and also stops sheep entering the woodland and nibbling away at early woodland flowers such as Snowdrops and Lesser Celandine.

 Section 1 after repairs

As a small Ash tree was growing close to the wall, and was likely the cause of it falling down, we decided that the tree should be removed to prevent any further damage.

 Rear of Section 1 during work

Trees growing close to a dry stone wall can often destabilise it, especially during strong winds, either by brushing against the wall and loosening stones or by the root plate moving and damaging the wall from below.

 Rear of Section 1 after, with tree stump in foreground

Removing trees like this can also be beneficial by allowing more light into the woodland, which helps woodland flowers to flourish and also gives other trees more space to grow.

 Section 2 before starting work

The second section that we worked on was more pre-emptive as it had started to lose stones from half way down the wall and would likely collapse in the short term. The wall was stripped back beyond the area of collapse to where the wall was more stable and  repaired in the usual manner. Both wall gaps took roughly a day to repair.

 Section 2 after repairs

Our next job was to build a deer exclosure in a small woodland on the edge of Loughrigg Common. The area, known as Billy Plantation, had recently been thinned and as a bit of a trial we've put up a couple of deer exclosures to see how the woodland develops without any grazing pressure. If the trials go well we may look into stock proofing the whole plantation at a later date.

Erecting the deer fence on Loughrigg

Hanging a new gate and building tree cages

Over the past few weeks we've continued our lower-level work around Grasmere, Great Langdale, Troutbeck and Windermere. One of our jobs was to replace a gate at the top of Deerbolts Wood near Loughrigg Common. As you can see in the photograph below, the old gate had certainly seen better days. The long-term plan is to have an oak gate at this site to match those at High Close Gardens and help to identify the site as part of the High Close Estate. But with it being such a well used path it needed a temporary fix, so we decided to replace it with a softwood gate.

 Old gate ready to be replaced

The new gate is a massive improvement, even if its only temporary. When the time comes to hang the permanent oak gate, this gate will be re-used elsewhere. As part of our continuing improvements around High Close, we've already started installing new 'High Close Estate' signs in strategic locations. There's been lots of work done over the past couple of years around High Close and if you've never been, it really is worth a visit. You can see a photo gallery of some of the work here... High Close Gardens Restoration

 Newly hung gate

We've also spent a fair amount of time tree-planting and constructing tree cages in conjunction with our farm tenants. The tree cages below were built on one of our tenanted farms near Orrest Head, Windermere. A single native tree is planted in each cage, which is designed mainly to keep cattle from grazing or pushing against the trees, giving them time to properly develop into large standard trees.

 Constructing one of the tree cages

It's nice to think that in a hundred years time the saplings that have been planted in these cages will be a feature of the landscape overlooking Lake Windermere.

Finished tree cage

Replacing steps at High Close

After completing our work at Allan Bank we recently moved on to some path repair work at High Close gardens, just outside Grasmere. The house and gardens at High Close date back to the mid-1800's when they were purchased by Edward Balme Wheatley-Balme, a Yorkshire merchant and philanthropist, and planted up with many rare trees and shrubs from all around the globe.

The estate was left to the National Trust in 1951 and the house was leased to the Youth Hostel Association shortly afterwards. Much of the garden has been in disrepair for many years but recently a National Trust volunteer group has taken ownership of the garden and cleared back areas of rhododendron and unearthed much of the original path network.

Steps in need of repair.

You can see in the photograph above some old steps in urgent need of repair. Much of this original work has at some point been dismantled and the stone removed, presumably to be used elsewhere on the estate. This is not uncommon, as slate is an expensive resource, so as the garden evolved, pathways would have changed and it would have been decided that the stone could be put to better use.

New steps after a few days work.

We decided that the work should be in keeping with the rest of the garden, so it was on obvious choice to use slate from the nearby quarry.

Steep incline where new steps need to be added.

The slate was all hand picked at the quarry and loaded into our trailer. From there we drove it the short distance up to High Close where it was then moved by power barrow to each of the areas that needed to be worked on.

New section of steps

To build the steps, we used two or three large rectangular stones as the front of each step. These were filled in behind with smaller stones built in courses, much in the same way as a drystone wall. All of the slate had to be hand finished with hammers to make it all fit together tidily.

Starting work on another section

It's been slow work, with each step taking roughly a day to construct, but the effect looks really good and in a few years time it should blend in seamlessly with the rest of the stonework in the garden.

Shaping a stone

There's still plenty of work to be done in the gardens, and we're likely to be spending more time here in future years. To see some of the fantastic work that the volunteers have been doing to help restore High Close gardens click on the following link...Album of High Close garden restoration work