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

Bridge repairs at St. Catherine's, Windermere.

As part of our low-level winter work we've spent some time over in Windermere repairing a couple of wooden bridges at St. Catherine's.

Bridge before repairs

As you can see in the photograph above the bridges were in quite a poor state and had already undergone several temporary repairs but it was now time to give them a new lease of life.

Removing any old nails

The first job was to remove the old treads, while taking off the treads many of the nails were left in the beams so we removed the tops with an angle grinder.

Replacing the treads

Since the beams were in a decent condition they were left in place and the new Larch treads were nailed onto the old beams.

Making sure the bridge is always passable

The new bridges are not on a public right of way and will mostly be used for forestry and farming operations. But since they are also used by people walking around the estate at St. Catherine's we made sure that the bridges were always passable removing only a few treads at a time and replacing them as we went along.

Treads replaced and walled up

Once the treads were in position we trimmed them all off using a circular saw and tidied up the dry stone revetments either side of the bridge. This would allow us to gravel up to the bridge and remove the lip between path and bridge.

 Fixing the uprights in place

Once the path had been gravelled up to the bridge a non-slip surface was attached to the bridge.

Attaching the rails

A section of tread was removed to allow each of the uprights to sit flush against the outer beam so they could be bolted into place. The final job was to attach the handrails to the uprights. 

You can see a couple of before and after photos of the second bridge below.

Second bridge just after starting repair work

Completed second bridge with new section of wall

The repaired bridges, with new thicker treads, should now safely support any heavy vehicles passing over them as well as provide better access to anyone wandering around the estate. 

Fencing at High Lickbarrow Farm, Windermere.

Over the last few weeks we've been working over at High Lickbarrow Farm in Windermere putting in around 400 metres of stock proof fencing.

High Lickbarrow farm was bequeathed to the National Trust in 2015 and is home to the rare Albion cattle, formerly known as "Blue" Albions.  The Albion has recently been recognised as a UK native rare breed and added to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's watchlist because of its rarity. High Lickbarrow Farm supports the largest herd in the country.

Blue Albion cattle at High Lickbarrow

The farm covers fifty hectares of land which has traditionally been grazed by only a small number of cattle and supports some fantastic wildflower rich pastures, much of which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

 Knocking in the straining posts

Our first job was to get the straining posts into position. Usually this is done by hand and one person can generally dig in and tighten into position, two posts each day. As the fence line was so long and undulating, it meant there were a lot of straining posts to put in. Luckily, as the farm provided good access, we were able to speed the job along by getting a local contractor to come in with a tractor mounted post knocker and the whole lot were in place in less than a day.

 Adding the struts

With the strainers in place, a single length of plain wire is attached between each post. This gives a straight line to help align the struts and fence posts. Struts are added to prevent the straining posts from moving while the wire is being tensioned. With these in place we then knocked in fence posts every two metres between the straining posts.

 Adding the stock fencing

Once all the struts and posts were in position it was time to attach the stock fencing. This is connected between straining posts and tightened to the required tension using two pairs of "monkey strainers".

 Attaching the barbed wire

With all the stock fencing completed the next job was to add a single strand of barbed wire.

 Section of post and rail fence

To make sure the fence was completely stock proof we added sections of post and rail fencing between straining posts and other boundaries such as dry stone walls or hedges (as shown in the photograph above).

 Starting work on the gate

To finish off we incorporated a gate into the fence line to further improve access.

Finished gate

You can learn more about Albion cattle by clicking on the link here... Albion Cattle Society 

Building a stone ford at Low Hag Wood

Since the start of the new year we've spent much of our time carrying out flood prevention work at Low Hag Wood, Windermere. Low Hag Wood originally formed part of the gardens at St. Catherine's Estate. You can read more about the history of St. Catherine's here... Link

We have been making path improvements to help manage any flooding of Wynlass Beck such as that which occurred during Storm Desmond in 2015. During the storm there was so much water in the beck that it caused a large pipe, designed to take the beck under the path, to back up. The water was then pushed down the path and damaged fields, properties and the track-ways below.

The pipe before starting work

To prevent this occurring again it was decided that we'd build a stone ford that would take any excess flood water over the top of the pipe and back into the beck.

The first job was to select suitable rock from the surrounding woodland and collect it in our power barrow.

Unloading the first barrow load

Once we'd gathered enough rock to keep us going we began to construct the stone ford.

Ready to start the job

We used large rocks raised out of the ground to create the edge of the ford, using large stone meant there would be plenty of height difference between the the top of the ford and the pipe.

Checking the levels

After a few weeks we had gathered enough rock, and put them into position, to create the frame for our stone ford.

 The completed frame

With all the edging stones in place we started to fill in the sections leading out from the pipe. These were built at an incline to help prevent water flowing out and over the top of the ford.

 Building the middle section of the ford

Once the stones had been laid for the middle section the next job was to cover over the pipe. As this would take the full force of the water, and we'd had to use smaller stone to keep the extra height above the top of the pipe as low as possible, we used cement to prevent the stonework being damaged.

 Pipe before starting the stonework

The stone was built in courses following the line of the pipe,

Close-up of the concealed pipe

Once all the stonework was completed we filled all the gaps with soil to help everything blend in a little better.

 The finished pipe section

With the top of the ford being about knee-height above the original ground level we needed to form a ramp up to this new height. We again collected some large stones to form the edge of the ramp and started to fill in the ramp with surplus rock.

The first side completed

With both edges complete we covered over the rock with soil that we'd dug out during the work as it had a high proportion of gravel which compacted well to form a good surface.

The finished section of path

Replacing the revetment at Cockshott Point

We've recently been replacing an old revetment at Cockshott Point on the banks of Windermere. It was put in place to protect the bank from washing away when the water level rises on the lake, especially after flash flooding. The original revetment was built back in the 1980's and was starting to look a bit worse for wear.

 The old revetment

Our first job was to remove the old revetment and salvage any useable stone. Some sections had also been cemented together so where possible we removed the rock from the cement.

 The old revetment stripped out

We brought in some new stone from a drystone wall that had been been dismantled and kept aside for future use. We also collected some rock from the edge of the lake that had obviously been pulled out of the revetment at some point.

 Digging in the first course

For the first course we dug in a deep line of stones as this would be the first line of defence against the rising lake and will help protect the rest of our work.

 Working our way up the bank

We then positioned some wooden rails to help us keep line as we worked up the bank. We progressed up the bank building one course on top of the other, similar to building a drystone wall.

 Progressing nicely

Once each section was completed we "leap-frogged" over each other to start work on another section.

Starting work on the next section

To improve access down to the shore we added a couple of low slate steps. Once all the work was finished we had a big clean up removing all the rubble and soil, and finally adding grass seed to the whole area.

The finished work

The work has taken a good few weeks to complete but it's a big improvement on what was there previously and should hopefully last much longer than the original work. You can see another example of the revetment we replaced at Cockshott Point in 2013 here... link

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

Repairing the bank on Lake Windermere

As part of United Utilities work on preventing flooding in Bowness-on-Windermere  a new pipeline has been put in place that runs through part of Cockshott Point and out into the lake. In order to do this a section of stone revetment, that helps protect the bank, had to be removed so it was our job to reinstate it.

Before starting work

To make sure everything stays in place we decided to bring in some large "keystones" to create the bottom course. These will help keep the rest of the revetment secure in the event of the lake rising and falling and potentially undermining the bank.

Moving the keystones down the bank

As the water level can rise rapidly after melting snow or heavy rain it was essential that we got these keystones in quickly. To help speed up the process we bought in a mini-digger to dig out the initial trench, move soil around and help shift some of the larger keystones.

Digging the trench

It wasn't too long until we had the line of keystones in place.

Putting in the keystones

With this done the next job was to get our levels right. With four people all working at slightly different speeds across a large section it's quite easy to wander off line a bit. So we set up string lines to keep everything even.

Getting the levels right

The revetment is built up in the same fashion as a drystone wall where a series of courses are created and each stone overlaps that underneath it. In just a few days we were starting to make good progress up the bank.

Making progress

After another day, or so, we reached the top of the bank. To finish the top course we used some good, deep, stones and tightened them to the courses in front.

 

Getting higher up the bank

With all the stonework in the ground it was just a matter of filling in the gaps with soil and seeding over the area to prevent the soil washing out.

 Filling in the gaps

Update: A photo of the work two and a half years later, taken early October 2015...

After some "bedding in" time