Finishing our repair work at Mickleden

Over the last couple of weeks we've been busily working on the Mickleden project, so we can move back onto Stickle Ghyll for a few weeks, and hopefully finish our work there before the weather deteriorates too much.

Much of this work has again been upgrading the old path to make it more user friendly. You can see in the photograph below a set of risers (a line of stones dug into the ground to slow down the rate of erosion). Originally these risers would have been dug in at ground-level or, at least, with very little stone showing above the ground. Over time, the soil has eroded out in front of the risers leaving behind large steps that are more difficult to walk on.

Path before repair work

As this section of path is next to a beck which has been known to overflow during heavy rain we decided to build a pitched path incorporating the old risers. This has helped reduce the height of the steps and will also help the path stand up to the rigours of flooding.

Completed section of path

Another important part of this project has been the landscaping. You can see by comparing the two photographs above how the side-stones that run in a straight line (top picture) have also been removed and replaced with larger stones, in a more natural looking way. Subtle changes like this are unlikely to be noticed by most people but it's all part of our work trying to make the paths blend in more sympathetically with the surrounding landscape.

Once the path and landscaping was done we finished off this section by selecting a suitably large, and flat, stone and moved it into position as a stepping stone. The beck, which flows out of Rossett Ghyll can be really difficult to cross after heavy rain, so with the new stone in position people will be able to get to the other side much more safely.

New Stepping Stone in place

With our work at Mickleden finished (at least for this year), it was finally time to take down the shed, so there's no chance of it getting blown down in the winter. It'll stay here until it's ready to be moved to a new site next year.

Flat-packed shed, ready to go

Stepping Stones at Stickle Ghyll

This week we finished off repairing the stepping stones at the top of Stickle Ghyll. The original stepping stones had been in place since the mid-1990's but had slowly moved over time when the beck had been in full spate. This meant that to get from one stone to another was a bit too much of a jump, and in addition to this some of the stones were set a little low so when there was a lot of water in the beck it became almost impossible to cross.

Stepping Stones in need of some attention

With a diversion in place so that any walkers could cross safely without interruption we set about winching some new stones into place. We used rock from higher up the beck and also moved about the original stepping stones into new positions. We started off using a 1.5 tonne tirfor winch, but it soon became apparent that it wasn't up to the job, so we moved on to our 3.5 tonne winch.

 

Preparing to winch one of the stones 

After five days of grunting and straining away the stepping stones were almost finished, and we were preparing to winch the last rock.

The last rock almost in place

So now when you're next up Stickle Ghyll the job of crossing the beck should be much easier. We could really do with a few days heavy rain to give the stones a good test but we're not in any real rush for that right now!

The completed Stepping Stones

Footpath repair at Stickle Ghyll and Mickleden

Last week we returned up the fell for the start of a new season of upland footpath work.We started off the week by erecting our sheds up at Stickle Ghyll  and Mickleden which will provide us with a base to keep a few tools, and give us somewhere to shelter while we are having our lunch.
Since we had some good weather, we took the opportunity to put some grass seed down around the paths and in the plantations (on the left hand side of Stickle Ghyll). Grass seeding is an ongoing task, as it can often take several years for the grass to become properly established, and is very dependent on the weather during the growing season, the level of grazing, and also the amount of any trampling.

The shed site at Stickle Ghyll

During the week we also had a Fix the Fells volunteer group who came and helped us out at Mickleden. We started work on pitching a section just after the bridge and also landscaping with some large boulders to help narrow down the path. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated for the day but we still managed to get a decent amount of work completed.

The Fix the Fells volunteers hard at work

Pete and Leo narrowing the path

Towards the end of the week we were back up Stickle Ghyll starting work on repairing the stepping stones at the top of the ghyll. Before starting on the main stepping stones we had to create a safe crossing area that we can use as a temporary diversion. So we winched a couple of stones into place across the beck so that people can safely cross while we fix the main crossing, higher up the path.

Building the diversion

With the upcoming bank holidays the team are all taking a few days holiday to get some well earned rest.  So it will probably be a couple of weeks before the next update, hopefully this good weather will stay with us for a while longer!