Details of the Working Party 16 December 2021
At the request of the local farmer, Mark Rawlings, we had arranged to replace a wooden stile and pedestrian gate with two kissing gates, between Cleeve Prior and North Littleton.
Mark arrived early with all the materials on his low-loader and his wife was soon busy removing a fallen tree with a chainsaw. We parked at Island Barn, close to where we would be working, and were soon joined by Louisa, Will and Jo.
Phil, Geoff and Dennis started digging out the pedestrian gate but soon discovered that the uprights had been concreted in. Also, the gate had been padlocked open. After great difficulty in removing the padlock and gate, a cyclist came along who argued that he had the right to take vehicles along the footpath and claimed that the installation of the kissing gate was illegal. After five minutes of heated words and a phone call to Fiona Argyle at the County Council, a decision was made to complete the task as arranged.
The second task seemed to be more straightforward once a decision had been reached as to which way the kissing gate would be positioned to allow Mark access for his combine harvester through an adjacent gate. Glyn and Hayley were joined by Jo who was a very willing helper, and the three worked well as a team.
We stopped for mince pies and chocolates, kindly supplied by Glyn and Louisa, and then completed both jobs before lunch.
Thanks again to all who came along; your participation is much appreciated.
The next Working Party is scheduled for Thursday 20 January when we hope to start work on the installation of steps (there’ll be about 70 altogether when we eventually finish the task) at Clark’s Hill, Hampton. This improvement is essential for Evesham Vale Circular Walks 4 and 5.
