Friday 4 April 2008

Bridleway Repairs

Clay profile at the side of the bridleway

I've posted before about the bridleway between the stepping stones and Lenny Hill. They've now begun to repair this section again. Since SWT took over this will be the third (or is it the fourth?) time they've attempted this. A straw poll of people on the moor on Wednesday afternoon agreed that it would finish up no better this time. I'm not so sure, being an optimist (temporarily).



The thing is they now seem to be finally getting round to doing what we were telling them to do 6 years ago, i.e. cutting a ditch at the side to drain the water. What happened during previous attempts was frankly deplorable. They came along with vehicles damaging and enlarging the track, hacking down trees sometimes accidentally and leaving piles of stones at the side. Worst of all they tried to do the job by putting down chunky brick rubble and then covering it over with soft surfacing. Of course the first downpour exposed the stones beneath and this loose material was a hazard for walkers.




One has to remember that before any repairs were attempted this was a much narrower track. The problem at that time was that water spread over the track and then froze at times in winter leaving it dangerous . The success or otherwise of the current effort will depend on how they leave it when they've finished. Will the ditch be left uncovered? Perhaps it should. And will they clear up afterwards?

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