Fixing the old man

On the first day of my Yurt holiday, I joined a Fix the Fells work party in Coniston undertaking some footpath repairs on a path from the miner's bridge up along the south flank of Church Beck.

I think I prefer work parties over drain runs because I enjoy the more physical work and you can see the results of your efforts.

The main tasks involved today were narrowing and defining a path and making the route clearer, encouraging people to use the main path rather than walk to the sides which widens the path.

In many sections, multiple paths had developed.  Here we chose the most appropriate path and used various techniques to cover up and discourage the use of other paths.

One thing I will have to remember in future is to take before and after pictures.  A key skill in this would be to identify the point at which you are at a 'before' stage.  All too quickly, what starts as a simple, "let's put another step in there" becomes a major reconstruction project.

It's a full day out and it's hard work, although you can go at your own pace and there are plenty of coffee breaks.  At the end of the day, you really get the satisfaction of having put in a good days work and it's not a bad environment to be working in is it?