Regular maintenance.

A Winter evening.

Third from the left will make her debut soon.

A highlight of my week was the visit last weekend to choose our new dog.  She comes from a lovely litter of puppies and a good-looking mother.  Now we have to be patient for a month until she is old enough to leave her mother.  In the meantime we can try to settle on her name.  Whenever we think we have one, another idea pops up.  With Reiver we were actually in the car bringing her home before we made a decision and it’s beginning to look as though that might happen again!

A fine-looking mother (right).

Back at work I had to turn my attention to an old mine site where one of the shafts had opened up a bit more.  Although it is fenced and capped because so many people use the area, in this case the cap needed attention.

These old mines often closed when they went bankrupt and detailed surveys were not carried out to map all the workings.  In many cases the records are incomplete and we really don’t know where all the shafts are located.  On my quarterly checks, I look to see that all fencing is in good repair but also for any signs that there might be an unknown shaft in danger of opening up. Once we know of a shaft, we fence around it and in some cases we also cap it so that, even if people go inside the fenced area, they won’t fall down it.   We do know the mining areas and have some plans for them but we also know they are incomplete.  

The square-cut shaft shown in the picture above was unknown to us until about 12 years ago.  So that's one of the reasons I monitor the areas at 3 monthly intervals and a network of local walkers will also notify me if they see anything out of the ordinary.

The Bowder Stone

White patches are chalk marks from the hands of climbers.

I’ve also been doing some work at the Bowder Stone abseil point – a location near the Bowder Stone that is used frequently by groups like the Calvert Trust.  It provides opportunities for people with disabilities (including wheel-chair users) to abseil down a sheer or slightly overhanging cliff face.  At this time of year it is quiet so it is the ideal time to do some maintenance work including renewing the signs at the top and bottom. 

 If we have any frosts, I’ll return to do some de-scaling work on it.  That involves my abseiling down, checking the rock face for loose flakes and knocking them off so that the site is as safe as we can make it.

The Bowder Stone is part of Grange Fell which was purchased by public subscription for the National Trust.  The fund was set up by Princess Louise who was then President of the National Trust (1910) in memory of her deceased brother King Edward VII.  It is one of the best-known landmarks in the Lake District.

A tale of dogs.

Dock Tarn

So, here we all are at the beginning of a new year.  There are things planned to be done; no doubt there will be unexpected happenings and there are already things to anticipate with pleasure – more on that later in this post.  Over Christmas and New Year there were just a couple of phone calls related to work but fortunately they were small incidents that could be dealt with quickly.  Our weather tended towards grey and damp most of the time but it didn’t stop us going out with friends and dogs for walks.  The photographs are from a walk in the Watendlath and Dock Tarn area.

Watendlath

 Jan and I also did some dog-sitting with three dogs belonging to friends. 

We enjoyed having them so much that Jan began her not-so-subtle campaign for us to have a new one of our own.  To be honest, it really didn’t take much to convince me.  The upshot of that is that, by the time you read this, we will have just returned from a trip just south of Edinburgh to see a litter of four-week old black Labrador puppies.   They are too young to leave their mother at present but, all being well, we should have our new resident dog in just a few weeks.  So this is what we anticipate with pleasure!

2012 Gallery

     

Reflections and thanks.

So once again it is the time of year to reflect on what we have done.  This is when I realise just how much has been achieved.

For the Trust, hundreds of metres of hedges have been laid; a new post and rail fence has been installed on Friars Crag and old fences and stiles have been repaired and maintained.  A stretch of access-for-all lake-side footpath has been resurfaced.  On-going work has been carried out at Force Crag mine – the data from the drilling rig in January will inform the development of that project.  Areas around Castlerigg Stone Circle have been re-turfed.  

As part of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations I took part in building a bonfire on Crow Park and a beacon on Cat Bells.  

We also carried out an archaeological type of dig to locate old drainage systems in Cockshot Wood.  I’ve been involved in activities like the wild swimming event, leading mountain navigation sessions, woodland walks and talks plus the Easter egg trail. All of this has taken place against a backdrop of routine maintenance of any aspect of the Borrowdale area.

Taking our Wellchild visitors over to the island.

Overall, a huge amount of work as been done, including the nicest bits where we encourage people to come and enjoy an area of the country that I love.

Outside of work, I’ve had climbing trips to the Cairngorms and Skye; I’ve cycled in the Netherlands and Germany; I’ve cycled the Coast to Coast route twice (the second time without falling off!) and  I’ve been involved with the Mountain Rescue Team in the rescue of a number of people and some sheep.

And it just would not have been possible to do all this without the help of hundreds of volunteers especially those of my regular team who turn out weekly in all weather and work with great commitment and unfailing humour.  I also want to mention my volunteer who makes weekly appearances to help out with my office work.  Huge thanks are due to each of them.

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS – WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU.

A finished fencing project.

We have finally finished all the new post and rail fencing on Friars Crag and once again I was with my volunteers who have done another sterling job. 

A well-earned rest!

The fence is already beginning to weather and blend into its surroundings.  Friars Crag is one of those places where you often have unexpected encounters.  This time it was Simon Jenkins, the Chair of the National Trust who was visiting while we were working on the fence.  It was good for the volunteers and for me to receive positive feedback from him.

I’ve now started work on a new project with a group of people who use Stoney Croft Gill for scrambling activities. We are working towards a voluntary code of conduct for gill scrambling.  At one of the twice yearly meetings with the Borrowdale User Group and the Mountain Liaison Group, we met on site with a number of instructors and also Jamie Lund the Trust’s archaeologist.  There were fifteen of us in total who all want to move in the same direction.

This is an initiative that is being steered by me and Pete Baron a National Park Ranger.  We will be consulting with appropriate advisers and experts when necessary.  The outcome should be a guide and code of conduct that will allow sustainable use of the Gill by local businesses and will also minimise environmental damage.

The instructors from the activity centres will be able to work within a code of conduct that they have helped to draw up.  They will also be able to disseminate the code amongst other like-minded users.  Above all, we should have a code of use that will sustain both the activities and the environment in the long term.  Sustainable use of the outdoors is always a search for the best balance between human activities and the natural environment so collaborative meetings like these are invaluable

Frosts and snow.

This week I’ve made two school visits.  The first was to Borrowdale school to discuss their plan to adopt Watendlath orchard as part of the Trust’s Guardianship scheme.  The second was into Threlkeld school where they are planning to use Polar Exploration as a theme.    As part of that we are going to be doing a number of days out and about so there will be more on the blog eventually.  These organised visits with Trust rangers are meant to encourage children of all ages to have fun as they learn about nature and hopefully develop a life-long love of their environment. 

Hedge-laying at High Snab Farm is still ongoing – my volunteers are becoming very skilled at that and we are making great progress.  The work on the Friars Crag riven oak fencing is also making good progress.

It won’t surprise you to read that we have had huge amounts of rain here recently.  Although that it is not unusual for the Lakes, John Malley and I had to go up to Force Crag to slightly realign the flume so that it is still in the best position to divert excess water.

Winter is now setting in and we have had some hard frosts and significant snow-falls at higher levels.  The skiers are finding plenty to keep them happy.  On clear days it is all looking magical.