Repairing the steps at Allan Bank

Since our last update we're still busily working away at Allan Bank, in preparation for opening the doors to visitors at the end of March.

Our first job was to repair a section of slate steps. There are several sections of similar steps scattered around the woods at Allan Bank but over the years they have all fallen badly into disrepair.

Steps in need of repair

Firstly we removed most of the moss from the steps and photographed them for our records. With this done it was time to take them apart.

Stripping the steps down

Once the steps had been dismantled we began to re-assemble them but this time we used cement between the courses so there would be no risk of the steps coming loose. For their intended purpose they would have been fine without the cement (although we did find a few patches of mortar when we took them apart) as few people would have ever walked up them. With the gardens soon to be opened to the public it is important for them to be much more durable.

Battling on through the snow

After just over a weeks work the new steps were all finished and ready to be used.

 

The completed steps

To improve the bit of path leading to the steps we rebuilt a couple of sections of retaining wall (revetment) which is there to stop the path from falling away as it is built across a slope. There was an old retaining wall, but little of it remained so it was a case of stripping down what was left of the old wall and rebuilding it more or less from scratch.

 

Retaining wall during construction

Once the wall was finished we topped it with some slates, to tie it in it's appearance with that of the steps, and put down a layer of gravel to improve the surface.

Finished wall with the gravel in place

For more news on what's happening at Allan Bank why not pop over to Facebook and give us a "like"? Just click on this link...National Trust Allan Bank Facebook page

You can help us improve our Social Networking

Now we've been blogging for almost one year and we've just reached 1000 followers on Twitter, it would be great if you could give us a bit of feedback on just how you think we're doing. 

So we've set up a quick survey (it really does only take a minute or two to fill in) and it'll help us to choose which direction we take things. Providing there's the interest, it will give us a good starting point before running some more detailed questionnaires in the future to fine tune things a little. Thanks for your support!

Click here for the link to the survey...Fell Rangers Social Networking Survey The survey will remain open until the 5th March 2012.

Dry stone walling at Allan Bank, Grasmere

Over the last couple of weeks we've started work on the exciting new project at Allan Bank in Grasmere. There's loads of work for us to get our teeth into at Allan Bank, but our first job was to improve access into the gardens for some heavy machinery.

We need to improve the access as part of the restoration work involves removing a lot of Rhododendron and re-instating an old gravel path that has been lost under the vegetation. Our work involved opening up a gateway and widening the entrance to the walled garden, so that it'd be possible to get through with a tracked chipper and a mini-digger.

The wall needing to be rebuilt to improve access

We were fortunate that there was a section of wall built up to the walled garden, that had been added to narrow the entrance way, that we were wanting to widen. As it was a later addition and in bad repair it was decided that we could use this section of wall for our repairs.

Old section of wall that we used as a stone source

We immediately set about stripping down the wall that had to altered and taking down the old wall for it's stone. We soon ended up with a big pile of rock which was roughly sorted into different stone piles...standard walling stone, stone for the wall top (coping stones), stone for the end of the wall (the coin end), larger "through" stones and small stone for packing out the middle of the wall.

Taking down the wall to be rebuilt

 After the end of the first day we'd completely taken down the section of wall we were working on and extended it out. This gave us the few extra centimetres that we needed to get the machinery in.

Starting to take shape

By the end of the second day we'd finished rebuilding the wall, and it was time to put the top stones in place and as you can see from the tracks in the photo below...plenty of room to get the digger through.

The Finished Wall

Repairing the footpath at Wetheral Woods

Recently we've been working at the far northern end of the Central & Eastern Lakes property, over at Wetheral Woods, a few miles outside of Carlisle. Wetheral Woods is a twenty-one acre broadleaved woodland and is home to St Constantine's Cells, a hermit's refuge that is thought to have been in existence during the Roman times.

Our work was to clear away any overhanging branches and repair the footpath, as over the years it had started to become narrow and sloping towards the river.

Our first job was to dig the bank next to the path that had started to fall away. We would then be able to erect some shuttering to prevent the side of the path from eroding away any more.

Digging out the bank

Once we'd dug out a long enough section of the banking, we used wooden rails to create the shuttering, these were firmly attached with nails to some long wooden fence posts to keep them in position.

Fixing the shuttering in place

With all the shuttering in place we used a couple of the large trees that had been felled in the past to create a new edge. The trunks of the trees were cut into three metre sections and then rolled into position next to the path. A trench was dug out where we wanted the path edge to be, and the logs were then sat into this channel. Finally we knocked in some posts against the logs to stop there being any chance of them moving.

Staking the logs into position

On occasion when the river Eden floods it has been known to reach the path. To try and give the path a bit more protection we laid a couple of trees in the most vulnerable area, to produce a short section of hedgerow. We also took a few cuttings from a nearby willow and planted them up. We're hoping that if the hedge has the chance to grow for a few years, without being damaged by floodwater, it should help to stabilise the bank and reduce the damage to the path in the event of any flooding.

The newly laid hedge

Finally, to finish off we graded the bank (on the left hand side of the picture below) to make the path slightly wider and level out the worst of the undulations.

The completed section of path

Footpath repair at Aira Force

With our work finished on the high fells until the spring we've been getting out to a few different places around the property and we've recently been working over at Aira Force. Our first job was to replace a set of old wooden risers, with some new slate ones, and also build a stone drain higher up the path, to help protect the new work.

Old risers removed and the first few slate risers in place

It's quite a change working somewhere like Aira Force, although the work is still mostly footpath repair work as it is in a more formal environment it's essential to get everything looking just right. It seems quite alien to be using a spirit level and tape measure while constructing a new path! But still the path quickly started to take shape.

The risers almost completed

With all the risers in place, it was just a matter of building up a short section of wall and gravelling between the steps. The new path should now be much more user friendly.

 

The Finished path

Our next job was to replace a section of wooden revetment that was retaining a gravelled footpath. As you can see in the photo below, the weight of the gravel has started to push out a section of the edging and the path has started to fall away.

Section to be replaced

The first thing to do was to dig out around the boards that had started to move out of place. We dug down a couple of feet until we reached the very bottom of the revetment, and then removed the whole section. Next we made sure everything lined up correctly and marked out where we needed to put the new posts.

Checking the positioning

Once we'd decided where the posts should go, we made some fresh holes for them with a crow bar and, as is often the way,  found the bedrock just below the surface. Fortunately the bedrock was relatively easy to break so we managed to knock the posts deeply enough into the ground. Just to be on the safe-side we added a couple of additional posts to help give the new section a bit of extra strength. Once this was done it was just a matter of nailing the reused rails back on to the posts and filling in with some fresh gravel.

Job finished

Coming soon...The Fell Rangers Poster

After a good winters break to recover from our exertions in 2011 we're now back and steadily getting up to speed. For the start of the new year, we'd like to unveil our new poster. You may have actually seen it around already as a few have been leaked, and one is already on the wall at the National Trust's Grasmere Information Centre.

The New Fell Rangers Poster

The poster was created solely by the Fell Ranger Team and will hopefully help people to get a little more information about the work that we do and in turn also highlight the problem of footpath erosion.

The new poster will be displayed at our work sites in conjunction with our warning sign. The idea being that if you're out walking the fells and stumble across one of our work sites, if it's one of our days off and there's nobody to talk to, it'll be a bit easier to find out what's been going on. The posters should also be appearing sometime soon at the National Trust car parks in Langdale.

We do realise that some people would rather not see any signage out on the fells but hopefully with the poster being in black and white it should be eye-catching but not too intrusive. Of course, it'll only be temporary and when we move to a new site the posters (made out of a durable vinyl, with waterproof ink) will come with us. We would be really interested to know if you've seen one of our posters and what you think of it.

Replacing the bridge at Tongue Gill

With our upland path repair work finished for this year, our work has now shifted focus onto estate work around the Central and Eastern Lakes property. Our first job was replacing the bridge over Tongue Gill, just outside Grasmere. Although the bridge had been condemned a while ago, we had a few problems in getting hold of all the materials. Since the bridge isn't on the official right-of-way and there's another route avoiding the bridge, the delay in materials wasn't such a problem, but it was still nice to finally get started.

The Old Bridge at Tongue Gill in need of replacing

Once the materials arrived they were transported up to the site by the Area Ranger Neil using his Land Rover. Our job was to take down the old bridge and construct the new one. Although it may look like a giant jigsaw puzzle, there's a lot of meticulous measuring, and remeasuring, as all of the bridge parts still had to be drilled and if you don't get it spot on you can end up with a very strange looking bridge!

The materials at the site

Once the beams and uprights had been drilled, the next job was to remove the old uprights and hand rails from the original bridge. We decided to leave the old beams and treads where they were, so they could be used to help us get the (very heavy) replacement beams into the right place. We did this by making a number of rollers out of cut-down fence posts and used the traditional technique of levering and rolling until the beams were in position.

The new beams spanning the gill

The next job was to remove the rest of the old bridge and dig the new beams into position in exactly the right place. Once we were happy with the placement, the two new beams were fastened the correct distance apart by using lengths of threaded bar and three large wooden "spacers". With the beams now joined to each other it was time to start attaching the uprights and the treads. For this stage, we were assisted by Bill, one of the Estate Rangers based in Ullswater, as a couple of the Fell Rangers were unavailable to help.

Bill on the new bridge, with the uprights and treads in position

The final stage to complete the bridge was the addition of the hand rails. Once the bridge was finished, we erected a few sections of post and rail fencing to either side of the bridge. This was added to act as a funnel and help the local farmer herd his sheep across.

The Finished Bridge