Summer social, sunshine and picnic

 Despite the dire forecast for Sunday earlier in the week, the rains more than held off and we even had a few glimpses of warm sunshine for our summer picnic and social.

We started off the day with a walk up the impressive Ecton Hill, on the edge of the Manifold Valley. David and Catherine guided us to the top amazingly quickly, with regular stops on the way to look at the places of interest that are connected to the local copper mine workings. The views from the ridge at the top were truly amazing and I think we all thought the effort of getting up there was well worth it.

Our picnic site was in the grounds of Catherine and David's lovely house in Warslow, looking out over the Manifold valley. Many goodies were shared before the more energetic of us adjourned to the croquet lawn. Rule books were produced and hidden talents with mallets uncovered. Some blame for under par performances was accredited to the state of the lawn, but for the victors, natural skill in adapting to the conditions shone through!

I think all 10 of us really enjoyed the day and its success was in no small part due to David and Catherine's wonderful hospitality. Many thanks to them for making their home available for one of our social events, once again. 

Early morning maintenance work -NCR680

 The section of NCR 680 from the waste disposal site at Darley  Dale to station yard in Rowsley is one where we have invested a considerable amount of time and energy over the last 3 years. Under  the direction of Marion Farrell of Groundwork we have developed an important wildlife and environmental corridor. I cycle along this section regularly and most recently last Friday afternoon on my way from Matlock to Bakewell. It is a route that is very popular with cyclists, joggers and walkers. 

As I travelled along the section I was amazed at just how overgrown the verges have become and, despite our aggressive cutting back earlier in the year there are still branches overhanging the trail itself. Of even more concern was a large fallen branch lying completely across the trail

As you can see, a path has been created to get around the obstruction but nonetheless it seemed to me that the branch needed clearing as soon as possible to maintain the integrity of the trail. I do not know whether the Council has been notified about the obstruction, or not and, even if they have then how long it would take to get it cleared. The track around the obstruction suggests it had been there for some time. 

Early on saturday morning I co-opted my wife into the ranks of being a Sustrans volunteer and we set off to clear the branch. After 3/4 of an hour we had done all that we could do safely. 

As you can see, none of the fallen branch was left overhanging the trail, (truncated just above where Jenny is standing), but there is still quite a lot stretching back to the tree trunk, which will need felling in due course. I have advised the Council accordingly. The trail is now once again fully open for all traffic.

I have also notified Marion about the state of the trail verges and the need to get them mowed. 

She has already responded to say that she will initiate some response, which is great news. 

Thankfully it is not very often that we need to respond in this way to incidents on any of the trails we look after and mostly 1 work day a month enables us to deal with any problems. I know that David and Catherine have responded similarly to matters arising in the Hartington/ Manifold area and that others have done similarly elsewhere. It is what we do as our contribution to maintaining the National Cycle network. 

A new take on "work days", with an unpleasant finding

Our July work day was certainly full of surprises! At short notice David G, David S, Peter P, David and Catherine R decided to check out signage along NCR6 in the far north of our ranger region. It is a while since we last ventured up to Ladybower and I don't think there has been a formal work day to look at the section beyond, and under Stanage Edge, for many years. 

Rather than park in the Hope Valley and cycle out, and back to the edge of the Peak District close to the Norfolk Arms on Ringinglow Road in Sheffield, we decided to catch the train from Hope into the heart of Sheffield and then cycle back from there. 

We left the sun behind us in the Hope Valley and set off through the streets of Sheffield with overcast skies and the imminent threat of a cloudburst. We wound our way out from the city centre into the leafy suburbs around Endcliffe Park, before setting off up the Porter valley through Whitely woods. For many, this was the first time they had ridden this section of NCR 6 as it is outside the area for which we have responsibility: it is maintained by our colleagues in the Sheffield Ranger group.

Crossing the River Porter and heading upstream alongside it prooved demanding for David and Catherine on their Bromptons and we were all very pleased to finally reach the Forge Dam cafe for coffee (and for some a slice of cake too!) 

Directly as a result of careful planning and leadership, our coffee stop under the cafe's canvas awning meant we missed a real soaking from the heavy shower that had been threatening, ever since we left the station. Duly refreshed we set off again following NCR 6 signs to The Peak District. It was not long before some serious climbing began up one of Sheffield's 7 hills. But, what views we had from the top as we recovered from the climb, whilst eating our sandwiches. 

Shortly after lunch we finally reached the Norfolk Arms, Ringinglow Road and the boundary marker for not only the start of the Peak District National Park, but also the section of NCR 6 for which we have responsibility. It is quite a busy, popular road up here, but as far as I am aware there are no plans to reclassify or remove this section. There are only a few places where signage is necessary but finding places to which we can affix our signs is difficult. Initially we were generally happy with what was in place, although a bit of refresh of faded signs always looks good. 

As we got deeper into the moorland road we were shocked and disappointed to find that signs at crucial points had been wantonly vandalised. Rigid plastic signs had been ripped off, whilst plastic adhesive signs had been carefully obliterated with black spray paint. The signs are critical for anyone without a map as it is easy to miss the correct turns and hence unintentionally come off the route. We have restored signs as best we could, but the state we found the signs suggest that somebody is determined to ensure they are not left alone for the purpose of route finding. We may need to find alternative solutions. 

Stopping to deal with these problems not only meant it was getting late in the day, but it also meant that our stocks of rigid signs and adhesive stickers was getting low. We continued under the majestic Stanage Edge down to the Yorkshire Bridge pub, and then over the dam wall to the far side. All of the signs directing cyclists over the dam wall have disappeared, but I do remember replacing them a few years ago and noting the surface was not very good for our adhesive stickers. I suspect they have just dropped off and that there is no point just putting replacements up (even if we had any by that time!!) I think this section of route is earmarked for discarding and so I am not sure there is much point at present looking for a longer term solution.

Signs from the dam wall onto Thornhill trail were missing but the normal place for vandalised or missing signs at Thornhill car park seemed to all be in tact. We did not get chance to check the signs on the link route down to Bamford station but I will go back and check these at some point. 

And so we arrived back at the cars for about 4:00pm having had a most enjoyable day out. Why anybody would want to so conspicuously desecrate NCR signage is beyond me, but I have referred the matter to Peak Park rangers to see if they have any ideas about what we can do to ensure there is permanent signage of the route at critical points. Next work day is Friday 6 August.