Youth Rangers busy repairing Upland Paths
01-Aug-2014
Team one located a new seam of glacial gold, essential for surfacing the path. The sandy material kindly deposited by the last ice age binds together with water and once compacted by walkers becomes strong and durable. The youth rangers created a mini quarry called a burrow pit and extracted over 1 tonne of material and created a stockpile for later on in the day.
Team two worked alongside Philip Savage, Countryside Officer creating an artificial bank. By peeling back the turf adding more soil and rocks to create a natural looking bank with a significant drop this will subconsciously direct walkers to the path. It is important to remove any desire lines to mitigate erosion which can create braiding leading to more erosion.
Team three began with digging a trench, filling with small rocks found on the mountain, to create a solid foundation. Once a solid foundation had been established it was surfaced using sandy gravel material mined by team one. Once levelled and compacted, the sand and gravel provides an ideal surface for walking on and resists being washed away.