Greenhead Farm. High and Dry.

 

Not quite singing in the rain, but an event many walkers experience if they are walking the Dales Way during a wet spell.

In 2015, Cumbria County Council , the Dales Way Association and the landowner Mr Allonby decided that something needed to be done about it.

Geoff Fewkes CCC, and Mr Allonby in yellow on his left, discus the plan.

To solve the pooling problem once and for all, a joint project was agreed by  CCC, the DWA and the landowner. The work started some months ago and has now been completed. CCC and the DWA have funded the materials. Mr Allonby has undertaken all the work at his expense. Thanks is extended to him as without his help and assistance, this project would not have been possible.

Photos by CCC

The result looks very stark on the photo, but Mr Allonby assures us that his fine herd of cattle will do what they always do on farm roads and by next Spring we will not know that we are walking on concrete.

Run off has now created a pooling problem in the adjacent field: caused by the copious amount of water being used in this dry spell to allow the concrete to dry slowly and avoid cracking. To remedy this, CCC have further funded the necessary gullies and piping to drain the area affected. This will be installed soon, the path will not be affected.

 

Extra help at Burton House

Geoff Fewkes, Countryside Access Officer CCC, read the item below, and has now fixed a new Dales Way way mark onto the swing gate which is at the start of the new footpath.

As further help, for some walkers who are finding problems in Cumbria, for whatever reasons, the Dales Way Association have produced 3 short videos.

The Dales Way footpath in Cumbria. By gate, stile and finger post.

The videos are what it says in the title. Old “furniture” as the above are called may have been replaced with new, but a stile on your map or in your guide book is still a stile, old or new. You can find the above videos if you google the full title, or click on the link below.

http://www.dalesway.org/StileGuide.htm