Favourite Photos

This weeks blog comes from the South Lakes Upland Footpath team and comprises some of our favourite photographs from 2014.

Our biggest upland footpath project of the year was on the path from Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags and seems a good starting point for pictures.....

Atmospheric bag filling for the Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags Upland path project
(Rock from screes near Gaitscale Gill)

Bag filling up close
(Ian & Luke hard at work)

A pleasant journey home after a good day of bag filling
(On a "crisp" March day)

Our daily commute past Red Tarn for this project was very nice too

Constructing a temporary shed for shelter and storage

Shed construction finished
(Complete with a Crinkle Crags backdrop)

A wet day working on the project
(Although we did have mostly good days during our 2014 upland season)

Our other main project was on Striding Edge. We get to work in beautiful locations but it is fair to say that working on this iconic Helvellyn route was particularly special. It has become a favourite location and we are looking forward to working there again in 2015.....

An atmospheric Striding Edge as we walked along it
(in April for the Helicopter lifts)

'High Spying How' on Striding Edge poking through the  cloud
(Viewed from Helvellyn headwall in September)

Moving rock for the project by helicopter

During some of the helicopter lifts walkers had to wait until a break in flying
(We were very grateful for people's patience & understanding)

Work in progress on Striding Edge
How many Upland Rangers can you spot?

In the winter we come down from the fells and spend most of our time working in (equally beautiful) lower level countryside.

View along Coniston Water
(One we get to enjoy every day)

A very nice lunchtime view from Harrowslack, on the West Shore of Windermere
(Whilst we were building a stone slipway in December)

Bonus Picture: an old favourite from January 2013
(A Wintery Coniston Old Man & Wetherlam viewed from Tarn Hows)

SEASON'S GREETINGS AND BEST WISHES FOR 2015
FROM ALL THE SOUTH LAKES COUNTRYSIDE STAFF

For more pictures or to know more about the daily work of the South Lakes Upland Ranger team why not follow us on Twitter @NTLakesFells.

Story of a Shed

Perhaps you have unexpectedly seen a shed somewhere in the Lake District fells?
This blog, from the South Lakes Upland Ranger team, explains why you might see one and outlines the story so far of one such shed.

As an Upland Ranger team we spend much of the year up in the fells working on footpaths to protect them from erosion as part of Fix the Fells. This can mean working on the same path for several months in all weathers and some shelter and storage space comes in very handy.
A shed has become the shelter of choice for this upland footpath team.

This year we have had a shed on the Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags footpath, a joint project with the West Lakes Upland Ranger team. It is fair to say that this shed has been around the block a bit having been previously used in a few locations. It started out life lower down on this path and before returning has been to other locations including Pike o' Blisco and Crinkle Crags.

(Fred the) Shed in an earlier location: on Pike o' Blisco

The sheds we use are (usually) moved between sites by helicopter.  The shed is flat packed and flown to location at the same time as rock for the year's projects is moved.
This year it didn't go smoothly and due to weather conditions and priorities we didn't actually get a shed in place during the main helicopter lifts. However a few months into the project a helicopter was in the area for another job and we jumped at the chance to finally get it moved.

"The Shed has Landed"
(Not a bad backdrop too !)

Once the shed was in place the next job was to re-assemble it. There were some concerns that this shed had seen better days and may be partly rotten having spent three years on Crinkle Crags since its last use. We also had some fun trying to find suitable bolts and screws to fix it together and selecting the correct size nuts for the bolts!

Construction in progress.
Weather holding up nicely.

Finishing touches, tethering the shed down.
Weather has taken a turn for the worse.

We needn't have worried about the condition of the shed and it went together nicely.
The weather was also kind to us and held out for almost all of the construction process.

"Bijou": First lunch inside

The shed was built in time for a three day party on this project with the Fix the Fells volunteer lengthsmen.  It proved worthwhile too as we had some poor weather, consistent with our previous work parties. Some volunteers however seemed reluctant to use it as it would have been difficult to fit everyone in and instead sheltered in front of it.

Some volunteers were too polite to use the shed at lunch time

"Supervisor" Hamish was less reluctant to use the shed

We have almost finished work for this year on the the Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags path and very soon it will be time to take the shed down and flat pack it. We have more work on this project next year and plan to construct it again next spring.
Perhaps this shed will makes its home in a new location in 2016 or will it be time to retire it from active service..... ?

If you would like to know more about the daily work of the South Lakes Upland Ranger team they can be found on Twitter @NTLakesFells.

Posted by: Nick, Upland Ranger