Footbridge Surveys 2010 - DONE

Yesterday we were back at Whicham completing the last four footbridge surveys for 2010. They were all on footpaths we had walked before as part of the Right Of Way Surveys we had done in the parish last year. The first is at Whitbeck Mill Looking towards the sea you can see from the fields just how much rain we had on Thursday The second on this footpath We are walking along the west side of Black Combe & the water is pouring off the fell onto the path

Looking up the slopes of Black Combe & it is so barren, not a tree in sight, just ferns

We walk back close to the car & cross the A595 for the last two, Andy had remembered this bridge was in a bad state of repair last year & it seems as a result of our surveys they have repaired it

Someone is happy playing in the mud

We looked back at the pictures we took last year as this stile looked new

And there it is from the other side last October

This picture from last year shows how overgrown this stile was And now again from the other side it is cleared

Our next obstacle is this small lake

Whereas last year it was the barbed wire

Another new stile

Last year Karen had gone for a wander to see if there was a stile further up the fence whilst Andy waited at the bottom where it should have been. This year we don't have to cross a barbed wire fence we have a new stile

The weather is closing in on Black Combe

We reach our last bridge survey of 2010 as it starts to rain

We had quite a wet walk back but were really pleased that our feedback from last years surveys had been actioned. Those repairs make us realise that this isn't just a paper exercise, what we are doing gets results. We might be the only walkers ever to use these paths but they are up to standard!