Eastern Team
Completing Mickledon and a return to Harrison Combe
October 2010, by Nic Fish
As the days close in and winter approaches again, the Eastern and Central Valleys footpath team come to the end of another hard and physically demanding season on the fells.
With only another 2-3 weeks left to complete the Mickledon to Rosset Ghyll path the team can again look forward to life beyond the shed (a place where the team get away from the bad weather up on the fell).
Work has progressed well throughout October; and again we have had the invaluable help of the Fix the Fells lengthsmen.
Left: Building a drain
This path has been one of the most worked-on by volunteers throughout Langdale. From Acorn Camps to work parties the total volunteer man-days total well over 100. Without this support the path would still be some way off being complete.
The ground has been slightly easier to dig than in some places (apart from the odd huge boulder), which has allowed a good rate of progress - in little less than a month the team have managed to complete almost 30 meters of pitching and two drains.
Seed and fertiliser were put down on completed sections, and the good weather we had a couple of weeks ago has helped the seed to germinate and the grass is now already a few inches tall.
Earlier in the month a path that had been worked on last year (Harrison Combe) was looked at to see how it was maturing. It is clear from the pictures below that the path is almost unrecognisable from what it was like 18 months ago.
Above: Before the work; Immediately after repairs; One year on
The erosion has all but disappeared and people are now keeping to one line.
To find out more about the work carried out by Nic and his team, visit the Eastern team diary archive
