Northern Team Archive
Find out what the Northern team have been doing and where....
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Drought?...what drought?
June 2011 by James Squires
It has been a period of weather extremes on the fells since our last update what with having hot sunny conditions throughout a good part of April and then, in May, experiencing several prolonged spells of wind and rain. This culminated in flash flooding along the Borrowdale valley and 100mph gusts of wind on the fell tops. We even had sleet and wet snow showers there just before the Whit Bank Holiday! more
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April 2011 by Joe Cornforth
Variety is the spice of life
Our last productive day on Esk Hause was with the fix the fells volunteers in November and we were joined by David Browne who was filming us for part of the fix the fells promotional video. As winter started to take hold we got a large dump of snow and had to come off the fells with only two weeks to finishing the project. more
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January 2011 by James Squires
Swings and roundabouts; lose a shed and become a film star
Since our last update, we have had mixed fortunes on our projects due, in large part, to inclement weather. We had two highly enjoyable and productive Fix the Fells volunteer work parties in October and November where the Esk Hause footpath was almost completed. more
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September 2010 Working with volunteers, press and partners
Having finished our joint project with the Southern team on Stake pass we have re located to the bleak exposure of Esk Hause to carry out path repairs on the route from Grains Gill to the famous Esk Hause shelter.
In a complete contrast to the grassy slopes of Stake Pass we are faced with a wide expanse of red gravelly aggregate and poor soils which somehow must be transformed into a sustainable and narrower path able to cope with the increasing numbers of walkers in the area. more
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July 2010 Working with volunteers, press and partners
As the summer season goes on the team have been involved in a wide variety of tasks, from finally repairing flood damage at the top of Langstrath after a series of mechanical breakdowns, to assisting our Southern Lakes colleagues on the repairs and re-instatement of the bridleway at Stake Pass. more
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April 2010 Here we go again!
Preparations for the 2010 season have begun with a variety of tasks and techniques to get stone and equipment on the hills. The most novel technique was the use of five Cumbrian Fell Ponies to transport 150 bags to an isolated location at Starling Dodd, between Ennerdale and Crummock Water. more
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March 2010 An Ice Job.
A new year and new challenges. Following the dramatic heavy rainfall of November 2009, we experienced the coldest winter for thirty years. With heavy snowfall and temperatures remaining well below freezing for days at a time, there was clearly no prospect of the footpath team heading for the fells.more
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2009 Year roundup
The 2009 season has been a challenging and interesting one in many ways. Our two main projects this year were different in location, style of work and levels of traffic. more
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July 2009 - From helicopter lifts to volunteer groups
It’s been an interesting and varied time since our last update. Alongside our project work on the Manesty to Hause Gate path we’ve had quite a few other duties to undertake. Amongst these were once again stone airlifts, the second round of lifts for the year. On a gloriously hot evening we completed our lift from Force Crag to Scar Crags for our second project of this year. more
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December 2008 - Castle Crag to Rosthwaite
Another season ends and, like the Herdwick sheep, we have been gathered down from the fell tops for winter in the valley bottoms. This year's projects are complete and we are particularily pleased with the bottom section of the path to Castle Crag from Rosthwaite. This was a complicated job due to the extensive tree cover on site which made our airlift difficult. It resulted in us needing to move 70 bags of stone uphill using a power barrow, not an easy task. more
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