Mud, glorious mud.

Last week we were doing some remedial work along a footpath, my report on that has been delayed. I've mentioned elsewhere that groups of people other than the County Council get involved in managing the countryside. There is a charitable organization which creates projects that benefit both people and the wider environment. Here in the Peak District, one of the things they do is to take people who have been convicted of anti-social offences out to do community service. One such group was tasked with building a boardwalk over a piece of boggy ground on a footpath.  Unfortunately, nobody looked at the spec., with the result that the completed work partially obstructed a gateway into a field.  Naturally the farmer was rather displeased! Our job was to take down the offending section, to build steps from the level of the remaining boardwalk to the ground (about 1.5 metres), and to replace the removed section with a paved path.

I wrote previously about a fencing job which had been the hardest physical day of work I had done in a long time. Well, this was worse!  The job was difficult partly because the constructing team had made a very robust job of it.  They used screws that were never meant to be unscrewed. Having removed the screws in the end by sheer brute force, and bolts holding it all together, the section to be taken away weighed a ton and required all four of us. Then, the posts to which all of it was attached were firmly stuck in the bog.  It was hard trying to get the posts out. If you tried to dig down, the hole quickly filled up again with mud. If you wiggled the post to loosen it, it was still very hard to shift because of the forces of suction.  Eventually it was a matter of using a crowbar to stir the mud in order to get enough air in to release the suction.  We put a bolt through the top of the post and levered the whole thing up. By the end of the de-construction,  I (and the tools) were covered in mud, . Not a good look!

When the unwanted structure was removed, I then set to work helping in laying some stones for the paved area across the bog.  We were using stones that were lying about (Derbyshire is full of stones!), many of which had to be crowbarred out of the ground.

All of this was hugely difficult and energy draining. Not for the first time did I thank my training regime. If it were not for that, I probably would have conked out half way through the morning. As it was, I lasted towards the end of the day, but by then I was so tired I could barely carry the tools back to the pickup.

Until now I have not been critical of the work that we do. But I thought today's job was utterly futile.  I couldn't help but think of the hard work put in by the team who constructed it in the first place.  A simple human error in this instance by the person in charge of that team led to probably a couple of days' worth of lost hours, which surely is not good in these times of straightened circumstances.

This week it is raining constantly, I have been told not to bother going in.

Strength is required

There had to come a time on this blog when I mentioned my other great interest, which is doing Crossfit.  For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a set of gym techniques designed to get you "stronger, fitter, faster", so that you are better able to go about your everyday tasks.  Crossfit consists of small group classes where you can train in weight lifting techniques and a variety of cardio exercises.  It is pretty tough. People who have been to commercial gyms get wiped out in the first session.  After eight years of it, I reckon that, compared to many of my age group peers, I am reasonably fit.  I can certainly lift much heavier weights than I thought possible. But more of this later.

We were up in the hills again this week, repairing a section of fencing along the Pennine Bridleway.  This is the section of the bridleway that we came to a couple of months ago to clear the drain culverts. (A sunny spring day in the hills, 25/3/11).  It is a really beautiful spot, quite high up, with views all around. You can certainly see the rain heading towards us!  A highlight of the day was to see several hares running about.

This part of the bridleway is used by a variety of off-road vehicles. The track itself is in a sorry state, the whole having been churned up to such an extent that any surfacing that existed has long ago disappeared, and it is down to bedrock.  I imagine that if off-roading is your sport, then it presents an interesting challenge. In the section where we were working, the track had deteriorated into a series of foot high steps, at which apparently, at least one vehicle had got stuck and needed to be rescued.  The solution was to create a two-lane track, and to suggest a one-way system where the new bit goes up, and the difficult bit goes down. Unfortunately, a person driving a landrover had tried to go down the up bit,  too fast, lost control and ploughed through the fence which separates the bridleway from the adjacent farmland. 

I have had a rant elsewhere about irresponsible people who do not respect the countryside. Our leader for the day mentioned how this particular bit of fencing had only been repaired about a year ago. Apart from the difficulty of catching people who do the damage, apparently it is difficult to prosecute as rules here are not legally enforceable as they are in the Lake District.

There was a stretch of about fifty metres to repair, so again, Our Lady of the Bridleway needed to enlist the help of the countryside team.  There were five of us engaged on the task, three staff and two volunteers. First we checked all the fence posts to see which needed to be replaced. There were several which had been sheared off at the base. The next task was to remove the staples holding the fencing wire and the top strand of barbed wire from the posts.  The ease with which this could be done varied, but using a fencing tool with a hook at one end, and a hammer I soon got the hang of it.  I removed eighteen staples from one post alone. Next, the new posts were put in.  We had another tool for this, called a post-shove!  (People who are regular readers will know that I have a fascination for the variety of specialised tools that we are able to use). The post-shove is similar in shape to an oxygen cylinder, about two thirds of its length, open at one end with a flat end at the other. It has two handles, one on either side.  It fits neatly over the top of a post. Two people grab hold of the handles and, using the tool in unison, ram the post into the ground. This was quite fun, but as the tool itself is quite heavy, you can only manage about six blows at a time. Each time the post-shove hits the post, it emits a deafening clang.  So much for the quiet of the countryside! With all the posts finally in place, we re-attached the fencing and the barbed wire.  This in itself is quite hard work, as the wire has to be stretched taut. The previously-mentioned fencing tool is like a pair of pliers and is called a strainer. You use it to grab the wire and pull it tight until your partner secures it to the post with a staple. 

I have mentioned before my ineptitude with tools. This time I was getting frustrated at my seeming inability to hammer a staple in straight. My partner was trying to instruct me in the use of a hammer, with some small success. "You're too timid. Just wallop it!" he said. But I walloped it and it went in sideways. Ho hum. I shall have to practise more. 

To return to the title of this post and my opening paragraph, strength is most certainly required. Has Crossfit helped me? Well, yes and no. Last week when we were making cement, I was unable to lift the bag of cement out of the van. Neither was I able to shift a bucket of chippings. But this week I could carry fence posts from the van to their intended location, and was able to carry a roll of fencing wire. This was also very heavy. So I conclude that whilst I am stronger than many of my friends, I need more strength, and better skills to do this job. But I suppose that is why you have a team of people to help each other.