Amongst the many obvious beautiful features
of the Lake District landscape, the stone walls are easy to overlook. They are
built from the stone in the immediate area surrounding them and, when
conditions are right, they have been colonised by lichens, mosses and other
small, resilient plants. They blend into their background and become a part of
the landscape in a way that brick-built walls never could. Well made walls will also stand for hundreds
of years if they are carefully maintained so we in the National Trust do
regular repairs.
So last week, some of my time was spent
working with walls. I returned up Cat Gill to repair the wall that had been
damaged by a fallen tree branch. The others were busy on a different job but
this one was small enough for me to manage. Walling isn’t as simple as just
stacking rocks on top of one another. There’s a skill in selecting the right
size & shape then placing it in the right position to make the wall strong
and stable. It’s very satisfying to be working outdoors and to see the outcome
of the work.
Another day last week was spent with a
large group from the National Park on a guided walk. It’s always useful to do
these with a different group and to hear their views on the experience. We
walked from Seatoller up to the Allerdale Ramble, around the back of Castle
Crag, dropped down to the river Derwent and walked back along the river to
Seatoller. These are popular paths with visitors and we like to check
occasionally that there are no problems that need attention.
At the weekend, I was working with my
regular Yorkshire volunteers who were here for their second visit this year.
This time we worked over on Derwent Island.
The work included some walling, some
fencing and the digging of a trench around an outbuilding over there. The plan
is to eventually convert the building to a different use and the trench will stop
it becoming damp. We also fenced off an old waste water system which is now
redundant since we installed the new piping to remove the waste water from the
island.
It has to be said once again that the volunteers did an amazing amount
of work.
Daisy here:
I’ve been playing on Derwent
Island with my bestie friends. They’re great.
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