Eastern Team
Iain Gray leads the Grasmere Gallop
June 2011 by Ade Mills
Much of our work during June has focused on landscaping work at Stickle Ghyll. While we were bagging up rock for the helicopter lifts we filled several of the bags with large "landscaping" stone that we use to help define the path. This helps stop people, or sheep, wandering along the edge of the path, forming a channel which water gets into and starts eroding the edge of the path. This if left unattended can cause the path to become undermined and eventually cause it to fall out. As sections of the path have been in place for nearly twenty years the telltale signs of erosion have begun.
So during the helicopter lifts we had the bags of landscaping stone dropped next to the path where there were signs of erosion beginning. In addition to the rock that was flown, any suitable rock was moved by hand from the fellside.
As you can see from the photos, once the large rocks have been dug into position the areas of erosion have been greatly reduced producing a footpath that is more defined and natural looking.
(Picture: Before Landscaping (Lower Section)) (Picture: After Landscaping (Lower Section))
(Picture: Before Landscaping (Upper Section)) (Picture: After Landscaping (Upper Section))
Once the stones were in position we re-used any turfs that we had removed and put down some grass seed. Providing we manage to get a good growing season the path should quickly start to blend in much better with its surroundings.
As a bit of a change from rolling rocks around up on the fell, the team came down to slightly lower ground to help out with stewarding the Grasmere Gallop running event. Our job consisted of; being there in case of any emergency, letting walkers, cyclists and motorists know exactly what was going on, to offer a bit of support to any of the runners who might need it and watch out for any shortcutting (which, of course, there wasn't). Around 250 competitors turned out for the 10k race, and luckily we had some great weather. Once the runners had been registered they were lead to the start of the race, in the centre of Grasmere village, by our very own piper, The Western Team’s Iain Gray.
(Picture: National Trust ranger and piper Iain, leads out the competitors)
Once the race was under way it wasn't long until the first competitors came past, we were situated around the midway point of the race and even by this stage the first two runners had already built up a sizeable lead. This lead wasn't to be overturned and the two leading the pack carried on finishing one-two in the race. At the same time as the winner was crossing the line, there would have still been about another hundred competitors yet to come past us. Of course it's not all about the winning, it was just great to see everyone seemingly enjoying themselves. Once the last few competitors had past us we repositioned ourselves ready for the 5k Fun Run, the winner of this race had already competed in the 10k race, and finished second!
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