Crest is Best

This week's countryside blog comes from the Upland Ranger team based in the South Lakes area. 

"Crest is best" is a catchy little phrase that was introduced to the team recently by Richard Fox, Fix the Fells Ranger for the Lake District National Park Authority. This phrase nicely sums up the approach we would ideally like walkers to take on two upland paths that we have been working on over the last few years.

The projects in question are Swirral Edge and Striding Edge, two iconic routes to the summit of Helvellyn. These have been joint projects and we have worked alongside both the Western and Northern teams.

The main year for the work on Swirral Edge was 2013, although we have been back each subsequent year to continue the work.

 

April 2013: On route to fill heli-bags with rock for the Swirral Edge project

April 2013: Western team looking down at Swirral Edge
  Will the snow clear in time to start the project......

April 2013: The snow did clear in time - helicopter lifting rock to Swirral Edge
"Squirrel over Swirral"

On Striding Edge we started the actual project work in 2014. We continued the work this year and currently expect to return each year to carry out further work.

June 2013: Initial visit to Striding Edge to plan project for following year

April 2014: Waiting on Helvellyn & hoping the cloud will lift .........

.....it was worth the wait. Helicopter now moving rock to site for Striding Edge project

The key reason for the work we have been doing on these sites is erosion, the underlying problem that drives all of the work the upland teams do.  The erosion is damaging to the upland habitats and also unsightly. In addition material that gets washed down into the lakes and rivers below is damaging to those habitats.

The focus of our work has been some particularly bad areas of erosion that had developed on the sides of Swirral and Striding edges and also multiple routes on Helvellyn headwall at the end of Striding Edge.  These areas had been deteriorating with some becoming very unstable. In places these routes also seem more difficult or dangerous to negotiate than the actual arêtes.

Our challenge has been to stabilize the ground and prevent further erosion and hopefully give these upland areas a chance to recover. 

We have used several techniques which have included using additional rock to stabilize parts and to disguise side routes.  We also carried out work to make any preferred routes clearer and easier to follow to try to stop walkers straying into problem areas. 

June 2013: Working on side route erosion on Swirral Edge with the Western team

August 2014: Working on Helvellyn head wall with the Western team

June 2015: Working on Helvellyn head wall with the Northern team

Various other landscaping techniques have also been used to remove side route erosion along with specially mixed grass seed to help the vegetation recover and stop further erosion. 

BEFORE: Section of side route on Striding Edge with work in progress....

AFTER: Striding Edge side route section after re-profiling & turfing

In summary, we believe that “Crest is Best” for a number of reasons, including:
-  the crest is rock and can withstand the repeated footfall of many visitors without an erosion problem occurring
-  the erosion is both damaging to the upland habitat and the lakes and rivers below
-  the sides routes aren’t necessarily safer as they are unstable and, in our experience, some of these routes are more challenging/dangerous than following the arête
-  there are rare flora in places on these edges and on Helvellyn headwall; the more people spread out the greater the potential damage to these

Based on the team's experiences, if people want to enjoy walking Striding or Swirral edges we suggest choosing the day carefully.  They are not nice places to be on wet and/or windy days and, even though we know the edges quite well, we would save the challenge for another day.

These projects have become favourites for some of the team members, the locations can be very atmospheric. To conclude this blog here are a few favourite Striding Edge images:

 

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 or for more about Fix the Fells follow this link: Fix the Fells 

Posted by: Nick, Upland Ranger

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

The wild, wild west

Bowness, Ambleside and Windermere are great places to visit whilst holidaying in the Lakes, they provide a welcoming environment as a base for your stay. However, for the first time hiker, walking can be a little thin on the ground (no pun intended) and maybe you lack a bit of confidence in finding your way around a Cumbrian fell or negotiating footpaths?

Well I would like to tell you about a neat little bridleway that is situated on the western shore of Lake Windermere, which might seem like a different world when looking at it from Bowness, but I assure you come rain or shine the bridleway is a fantastic introduction to hiking and the transport links to and from it run regularly and like clockwork.

This flat 4 mile walk starts at Ferry house, just under the shadow of the currently in development Claife Viewing station. Viewed as the London Eye of it's day, it was built in 1799, and was the destination for the earliest tourists to the Lake District who would admire the very best view of the Lake through different coloured glass windows. It was deemed as a 'adventurous' place to visit as it took visitors out of their comfort zone and took them to an area that was seemingly inaccessible.

To reach the western shore of the lake, you can board a ferry from either Bowness; Ambleside or Brockhole which will take you down to Ferry House. At this point I reccomend a quick toilet break before setting off on your adventure.

From the toilets and keeping the Lake on your right at all times, follow the road for apx 100metres until you get to a footpath through a gate. Follow this path to a quiet lakeside road and turn right, and quite literally follow your nose.  Eventually the road becomes a track (bridleway) and you just keep heading north for apx 4 miles where you will see finger posts for Wray Castle. By this point you will have worked up a thirst, so nip into the Cafe at Wray Castle for a well earned brew and cake.

Your ferry home can be boarded from the jetty at Wray Castle and you'll have one of the best nights sleep you've had for a long time.

It really is that simple! The views are spectacular along the path, especially at Red Nab and if you don't fancy doing the full route, you can catch a ferry back from Bark Barn which will shorten your journey by one mile.

It's also worth noting that with this path being a bridleway, you can use your bikes.  Windermere cruises provide a bike service. Look at the map attached to alter your route accordingly.

Good luck and enjoy your visit, and if you see any of our Rangers (usually in red) be sure to say hello.

Bags of Rock

"Bags of Rock" probably aren't of much interest to most people.  For Upland Rangers however they can be something to get excited about!

At this time of year we are getting ready to return to the fells to start upland path projects. The bags in question are the ones we fill with rock to be moved by helicopter to the project sites.

The first stage of the process starts before the bag filling commences as it needs to be agreed where the rock can be collected from. Wherever possible we use rock local to the area so that it is consistent with the surrounding landscape. Nearby screes are a good starting point for potential locations. These have to be agreed with Natural England, a public body responsible for protecting and improving England's natural environment. There may be reasons a scree should not be used, such as rare or protected flora, and there may be limits on how much rock can be taken. For example during the current rock collection we are avoiding areas of woolly hair moss.

A 'good-looking' rock but the woolly hair moss means we won't use it

Once the sites are agreed we can start bagging up the rock although we need to first get the 'heli-bags' to site.  This means carrying around 10 bags per person up to the rock sites.
Our main project this year is a joint one with the Western team, tackling erosion on the path from Red Tarn to Crinkle Crags.  The rock sites selected are between Crinkle Crags and Cold Pike and our walk up from the Three Shires stone is around an hour. A fairly good warm up before the 'main event' of bag filling!

Carrying heli-bags towards Crinkle Crags with the Western team & others

Once we arrive at the rock site with the bags a quick break is in order before the bag filling commences.

Some of the group enjoying a break before bag filling
(Ian seems to be amused about something)

There are various things to consider when filling the heli-bags with rock. This might include finding a nice spot to place the bag close to some suitable rock. The size and shape of the rock needed depends on what you want it for, such as stone 'pitching', drainage or landscaping work. Most of the rock recently collected is for stepped stone 'pitched' path work. This means chunky rocks with a bit of depth and a fairly flat surface that people can plant their feet on are in demand. It can be quite challenging rolling the rocks into the bags especially if it is windy the bag is flapping around.

First rock of the day - a nice pitching stone "in the bag"

Sarah hard at work filling a bag

A full bag with bag-filling continuing in the background

The heli-bags are designed to carry a ton of rock which is the limit that the helicopter can usually carry in one go. In reality the filled bags tend to weigh around 700 to 800kg.

The number of bags that can be filled per person in a day can vary widely depending on the site,  the type of rock needed and how accessible the rocks are. The author of this blog likes the challenge of filling all of the bags he carries up but has only managed this once this year.
There are legendary tales from the past of path workers filling impressive numbers of bags in a single day.

A single rock fills this bag,
(Courtesy of Jon, from the West)

Bag filling can be quite a gruelling task but is satisfying and a great work-out.
Searching for particular shapes and sizes of rock can have side effects and you may find yourself noticing suitable rocks wherever you go. You can even find yourself strangely attracted to rocks and describing them as 'beautiful'. It is fair to say that this trait may not be appreciated by others, particularly friends and family when not at work.

After spending the winter doing mostly lower level work it is a great feeling returning to the fells to focus on the upland work that we enjoy.

One of many nice views enjoyed during bag filling

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

A Valentine to Volunteers

This week it is the turn of the South Lakes Upland Ranger team to write this blog and in light of the date it seemed like a great opportunity to remind volunteers that we love them !

Tackling erosion in the fells of the Lake District is a never-ending task and there is much more to do than the teams can possibly cope with. If it wasn't for volunteers we would struggle to keep on top of the maintenance of existing path work let alone undertake new projects.

There is one group of volunteers that is particularly close to our hearts; the 'Fix the Fells Lengthsmen'.  A  'lengthsman' is a traditional term for someone who looks after a right of way.
This group of  volunteers is involved in upland path work all year round and in all weathers. We frequently work with them and have got to know them fairly well. In fact two of our current team were first involved in upland work as volunteers under this lengthsmen scheme.


A work party with Fix the Fells Lengthsmen last summer on a
path project up Fairfield. A lovely day!

Lunchtime with lengthsmen: sheltering last week with a few volunteers on a
 work party near Blea Tarn.  Not such a nice day !

The volunteer lengthsmen carry out a range of important tasks. One of the main ones is the "drain run". This involves walking existing routes where path work has been carried out, clearing the drains  and clearing any gravel and loose material from the sections of " pitched" stone steps. It is also an opportunity to check the general condition of the paths and report back on areas in need of attention. The lengthsmen do an excellent job of coordinating their own drain runs and most weeks several drain runs take place around the Lake District.

They are also involved in project work which might include repairing or building new drains, pitching sections of path with rock and landscaping to define the main path and remove shortcuts.  Much of this is done in work parties with the upland path teams and some mini projects are carried out independently.

Lengthsmen building a drain on a route up Coniston Old Man.

It is often a case of 'many hands make light work' and the progress from a work party day can be quite striking.

A section of erosion developing on a path by Raise Beck.

Fix the Fells lengthsmen hard at work on the eroding section.

The results of the work party - a much better looking section of path. 

The lengthsmen are a fantastic group & always willing to get involved & help out even at fairly short notice. Last year, when weather conditions had delayed preparations, they helped us fill bags with rock just in time for the helicopter lifts that moved the rock from the screes to the nearby project site.

Today the South Lakes Upland Ranger team are out on a drain run with some of the lengthsmen and some potential new recruits, who will hopefully enjoy this "taster" day.
More information on volunteering for 'Fix the Fells' can be found using the following link:
http://www.fixthefells.co.uk/who-we-are/our-volunteers

The focus of this blog has so far been our main group of upland footpath volunteers that we have got to know (& love) over the last few years. We are also fortunate to work with lots of other volunteers.

We sometimes have individuals who wish to work with the team, it might be just the odd day or other times a few weeks, perhaps using holidays.

Two volunteers from the Netherlands helping us with our
Fairfield path project last summer.

Our volunteer centre at High Wray Basecamp frequently involves us with their volunteer groups. Examples might range from groups of college students doing outdoor courses to rehabilitation groups.

Volunteers from a rehabilitation group working on our Blea Moss path project

'West Runton' helping on the Blea Moss path project.
(A group that have been coming to High Wray Basecamp for many years)

Other volunteers include groups that enjoy the fells in their leisure time.  Aware that they are contributing to the erosion problems they also want to do their bit to help.

Kendal Fellwalkers helping us on a drain run up Browney Gill in January
(Weather looks nice here....but not for long....)

We usually run two upland footpath working holidays each year.  This involves up to 12 individuals joining us for a week's "holiday" working on our upland path projects.

Our working holiday group on the Fairfield path project last September.
(Probably some of the worst weather we had on the fells last year.)

It has only been possible to include a selection of volunteers that we have the pleasure to work with. However our message is the same to all volunteers:
"Thank you !"

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

Path Project Progress

The Upland Footpath team have recently come down from their main work in the fells and are starting their winter work programme. It is not practical to work in the fells all year round due to the shorter days and the weather can make upland work unsafe and unproductive. There is also no shortage of work that the team can help with in the lower level countryside of the South Lakes.

Now seems like a good time to re-cap on our main upland project this year, which we recently completed.  This project was on a path from Grisedale Tarn up Fairfield and has featured in previous blogs, such as 'Itching to do some Pitching...' published in June.

The main section of work was on a nasty erosion scar that had been developing and the solution involved constructing around 100 metres of stone 'pitched' path. There was also loads of landscaping work to do to help blend the path into the surrounding uplands and to encourage people to keep to this path.

The sequence of photographs below, each taken from a similar location, shows the development of this section of path.


April: Erosion Scar before work commences

April: Stone collected from a nearby scree moved to site by helicopter

May: Work on a few stretches of stone pitching has started

June: Initial sections of stone pitching have joined up & work has moved higher up the fell

July: Work continues to progress, also helped along by work parties & volunteers

September:  Path nearing completion

The team have enjoyed this project and are pleased with the path. The stepped stone pitching has created a sustainable path surface and is an improvement on the erosion scar which was only going to deteriorate.

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.

The team also recently featured in a series 'Inside the National Trust' currently on ITV. Some of our work appears in episode 1 and, at the time of writing, is still available via
www.itv.com/itvplayer/inside-the-national-trust/series-1/episode-1


Posted by: Nick, Upland Ranger

Itching to do some Pitching...

This week it is the turn of the South Lakes Upland Rangers to do the blog.

It may be helpful to first explain the title. "Pitching" refers to the stone step-like paths that are sometimes built in the fells to tackle erosion problems. The "Itching" relates to the fact that in recent years the team have not done much path work using rock and we were keen to do some.

In the last couple of years much of our work has used different techniques. These have included a subsoil technique, which uses compacted subsoil to create a hard wearing path surface, and landscaping techniques to define a sustainable path line and stabilise areas of erosion. These techniques predominately use materials near the path we are working on.


Subsoil path under construction last year 

There are various issues when considering rock for a path project, such as the proximity of suitable rock (we use rock local to an area wherever possible) and can we use it. There may be rare flora growing on a scree slope that is potential rock source that should not be disturbed. There may also be significant costs moving the rock if done using a helicopter (see blogs earlier this year) or it may simply be that rock is not the most suitable option.

The team's main project this year is on a path from Grisedale Tarn up Fairfield. Survey work concluded that an erosion scar that is developing was best tackled by 100 metres of stone pitched path. This means that the team has lots of pitching to get their teeth into.



Before work started: erosion scar developing
(Ignore rock on right, an old dry stone wall) 

In addition to getting rock flown by helicopter to the project site we were able to have a flat packed shed lifted there. This provides some storage but most importantly some shelter at lunch time when the weather is bad. The first job was to build & tether down the shed.

Project Fairfield "office" (not a bad location)

Once the shed was up we started on the stone pitching, taking a 10 metre section each. The first step was to dig in some of the biggest rocks at the bottom of each section to act as anchor for the rocks going in above.

Pitching in progress: looking down path at Luke & Tom in action

In addition to the stone work we also "landscape" out surrounding areas of erosion and finish off with turf and and grass seed to help the pathwork blend into the hillside.

Finished pitching plus landscaping

This project is progressing well and at the time of writing we are enjoying a very nice spell of weather.

Project progress as at end of this week

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