Western team August 2011 update
'Escape from the rocky clutches of Scafell' by Iain Gray
After completing phase two of the mickledore route in Wasdale we escaped from the rocky clutches of scafell to embark on a joint project with the south lakes team.
Along the crinkle crags route many people find the way barred by ‘the bad step’ (cue ominous background music) and as a result an alternative route has appeared creating an ugly unstable scar.
After establishing our mid crinkle shed site we decided it is probably one of the best views we have ever enjoyed –from the shed window the south west fells and valleys, indented with varying splashes of freshwater spread out in front of us toward the Irish sea where the cascades of fell rain dissipate into a shimmering horizon…..but despite the view there was work to be done.
Work begins on the bad step bypass.
Amid a rough unstable boulder field we ironed out a route for the cautious, the less agile and people with dogs who can’t climb. By avoiding wasteful descent and re-ascent the route sneaks round the side of the bad step like a shrewd herdwick finding the easiest way to higher grazing.
Covering our tracks.
To passing walkers we may look like gardeners pottering obsessively among flower beds. This is all about recreating the texture and colour of undisturbed ground by careful choice and positioning of stone, with a garnish of rescued vegetation to blur the join between our creation and millennia of gradual weathering.
High camping and saving an ancient landmark.
In mid July our acorn camp working holiday enjoyed perfect weather in upper Eskdale We spent an enjoyable few days preserving sections of the medieval boundary wall built by monks from Furness abbey in the 13th century.
Where the path previously ran along the top of the wall in places we subtly shifted it onto a new less damaging alignment to the side of it. This route still gives walkers a fairly direct route up the valley without trampling over ancient history.
We will spend the rest of the season continuing down to Lingcove Bridge and beyond making minor repairs to the path.
We are joined in this task once again by our intrepid seasonal worker Rob Hayes. After spending a while in Uganda helping to improve water supplies to a thirsty village he chooses to stay in Wasdale- renowned for it’s over abundance of water. After tackling big rocks and gravel on the fells he will return to Oxford in the autumn to tackle medieval history!
To find out more about the work carried out by Iain and his team, return to the Western team diary archive
