Derwent Water Regatta

Summer is now in full swing and the North Lakes teams are busy with their summer maintenance. They are also busy with events and one of their main events is on the horizon. The Derwent Water Regatta is held on the first weekend of August, the 3^rd and 4^th. It is a modern day attempt to resurrect the long held tradition of summer regattas on the lake. The weekend is action packed with all sorts of fun on the water. From Bath tub racing and Canoe slalom’s to Viking long boat tasters. There is also a BBQ on both days and Saturday evening there will be a bonfire. The event is for the whole family to enjoy. All the action is centred on Crow Park, the Derwent Water Foreshore and Friars Crag, and we can guarantee that it will go off with a bang!

The link below will take you to our Facebook page on the Regatta. This will help you to book for any activity.  

https://www.facebook.com/derwentregatta

      Photo © National Trust Images, David Levenson

 

Kinn End

With this project there were different types of jobs. They included path erosion repairs, cutting back vegetation from the paths, and strimming back bracken. A good spell of weather meant it was time to crack on. The first job was to strim the bracken back on both paths up at Kinn End. So myself and Paul the Ranger Supervisor from Loweswater took on the first part of the task. Instead of carrying the strimmers all the way to the top we got permission from the Forestry Commission to go on there land and gain access nearer to the site.  

With both paths strimmed the barriers at the top and bottom of Kinn End could be changed. Blocking off one path gives it time to recover, whilst the other takes the brunt of this popular route. By alternating the usage of the two paths we can manage the erosion. With the barrier not being changed for some time the locks had siezed up. So with some WD40 on the one lock and bolt croppers on the other that solved that problem.

The second part of the project was to repair a step-over stile. Again we were able to gain access to the site by going through Forestry Commission land. This saved us from carrying all the materials and tools up the fell, and we would like to thank the rangers at Whinlatter for their help in this.  

The other part of the project was to cut back the vegetation leading up to Kinn End. This helps open the path up, making it easier for the public to walk, which in turn stops them from making the path wider. We also strimmed the grass, and brambles back that were encroaching on the path. We found that one section of path had started to slip. A simple post and rail revetment backfilled with rocks and soil proved a good “stitch in time” solution. It is always good to catch these problems early, and this will help the path from eroding and washing away.  The pictures below help show a before and after of the path. Joe the foot path supervisor and I took on this part of the project. This grouping of several small jobs into a greater task, is a method that we regularly use.

Before



After









The centre of adventure

Newlands Adventure Centre have for the third year given Fix the Fells their staff for the day to maintain the Mountain Paths

Where's that drain at?

 This year they have helped on Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Sail, Crag Hill, Grasmoor and Force Crag to Coledale Hause. 18 km, 63 drains cleared to ensure water does not damage the paths - oh and 100 kgs of "upland grass seed mix" spread on the Sail path.  Not bad for a days work!

Carrying the seed up scar crags

 1 National Trust Ranger, 8  Fix the Fells volunteer Lengthsmen and 13  staff. Good day out on the fells with some great people.

Sail digger path and scar crags

Work done 

Thank you Newlands! 

Calling all young adventurers

Sunday June 2nd 

Buttermere Mini Adventures Day

 

 

Come see us in Buttermere on Sunday, we'll be in the field beside the Cafe in the village centre all ready to go from 10.00 a.m , you can take part in some of our 50 things to do,including tree climbing, orienteering, den building, the excitement of rope swings, and many many more fun and interesting activities.

The day will follow a circular trail through woodlands and along the lake shore where you will meet National Trust staff who are there to help if you need them but the fun is all yours to have!! we'll also have a climbing wall and some Zorbs to finish of your fun adventures in our wonderful Buttermere countryside.

We'll be there waiting and happy to see you come rain or shine!! bring your wellies to splash in some mud and wear clothes that you won't mind getting dirty!!

Volunteers Rock!

The Southern footpath team have been preparing for a job, a stone pitched path between Grisdale tarn and Fairfield.  They will be joined later in the year by the other three footpath teams to get it boshed!  The first job was finding a suitable scree to take stone from, one that is not a SSSI  (site of special scientific interest)  with good rock and no endangered flora.  Here's a couple of protected flora you may of seen about on the cumbrian fells.

Parsley fern

woolly hair moss

The scree needs to be as close as possible to the work site to help reduce flight costs and ensure the path blends in with the surrounding rock.  With the site found the team started filling reinforced bags to be flown by helicopter onto the work site.  There was 160 bags to fill so they needed to get cracking despite the snow making it difficult to find any stone.

With 120 bags filled and the Heli lift only a week away, 11 of the fix the fells volunteers came in on a Saturday to give a helping hand.

The first bags of the day, each bag holds a tonne!

We got lucky with the weather and it turned into a cracking day, the sun cream even came out.

By the time the last bags were filled we could of done with a nice cream tea from Wordsworth house and gardens.  Below is a short time lapse of Watendlath bridge and Langstrath beck around the time the team started filling bags, also the volunteers bag filling a couple of weeks later  (shot from too far away! but if you look closely at the screes you will see the busy fix the fells worker bee's).

Music by Kevin MacLeod 

At the end of the Day having a well deserved rest after filling 40 bags of stone, Rock on!

Photos by David Brooks

Replacing the highest stile in borrowdale

The old stile did well lasting so long considering it is in the wettest inhabited place in
England.

Daisy supervising the removal of the old stile

 Located above the old graphite mines in Seathwaite at roughly 350m, it takes a hell of a beating from the Cumbrian weather.

Double checking before making the first cut

We started the stile on a lovely day in the middle of February,  It is the first I have built and a real step up in my joinery skills. The first job was removing the old stile then getting the new pillars in place and marking where they would be joined.

At this point Daisy lost interest

Carefully cutting and chiseling we created the joins and with some maneuvering we eventually got the pillars fitting snugly and nailed together.

We fixed the pillars at the correct width with a rail and started cutting the grooves for the steps to sit in.

The pillars were joined opposite ways to create better hand holds 

With the grooves all cut we nailed the steps in place.

Volunteer Charles finishing off the stile with the final nail.

Looking down the valley over Thornythwaite and Watendlath fell to Helvellyn 

Charles testing the Stile 

 All done and looking stylish...

Spring is sprung

Ah spring, when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, but alas as we are mostly greying, old and grumpy (excepting of course the dashing Ranger Dan) we are content to enjoy the sunshine and the crisp cold mornings.

It’s a grand time of the year for us, we’ve seen the last of our hedge laying season and are looking forward to getting our property in good fettle for the rush of springtime visitors, and also we can now catch up on the some of the little jobs which crop up.

Ranger Dan and myself have been busy clearing fallen trees from our woodland paths and felling trees on the edge of our Dunthwaite estate, opening up drainage ditches and generally tidying up the appearance of the roadside woodlands, we took the opportunity there to try out our carving skills…steep learning curve ahead but at least one family who wandered past enjoyed our efforts.. A nice smile from them all.

Not bad for a first effort

 Of course not many of our blogs go by without mention of our regular Thursday Volunteers and last week's adventures certainly bear mentioning. We were joined by David and Phil on the task of repairing some high fell walls alongside the Coffin Road above Holme Wood in Loweswater, a steady steep walk up in glorious sunshine brought us out onto the open fell and tremendous views over the valley.

 Some days walling can be a frustrating challenge but not this day, excellent quality stone certainly makes the job easier and with the sun on our backs, birdsong in the air and a degree of concentration we had two gaps mostly complete by lunchtime.

Phil concentrating perhaps too much?

 Once the walling was finished off and we had ambled gently back down through the woods we had some time on our hands.

In these harsh economic times we are all conscious of making the most of our resources and saving money where we can. We were aware of the need for a rescue boat for Loweswater and our other lakes and had in our spare moments begun designing such a craft, today it was decided was time for a test launch

We're gonna need a bigger boat!!!!

Work in progress I think you’ll agree?