Come down and help out if you can, we’ll be focusing on fixing the first berm into the first red section that is collapsing, but will also be looking at sorting other tasks such as filling pot holes, resurfacing the first section of trail and general maintenance around the whole trail.
For some history of build day activities take a look at our Croft Trail build diary
On Sunday 19th November we will be gathering at the Croft Trail to do a few odd jobs. The aim of the day will be to carry out some general maintenance work to see the Trail through the winter, such as filling potholes, clearing leaves & litter and replacing any broken signage.
If you’re able to spare some time to come along and help, meet in the car park at 10.00am. If that’s too early, come and join in when you can. Even if you’re just there for an hour, you’ll be playing your part in helping maintain something that is both central to the Club’s existence and a valuable community resource.
Spring is in the air and it’s time to dig out the shovels and show Croft Trail a little bit of TLC.
We’ll mainly be concentrating on the lowest section of the trail, down where we recently removed the woodwork. We’ll be surfacing that section and putting the finishing touches on the new line down to the area, jobs we’d hoped to do during last year’s Friday night dig sessions but we ran out of summer! There’s also a few cosmetic repairs to do if we get enough of a team on the day and as always there’s litter picking to be done.
Any and all help is much appreciated wether it’s for the whole day or just half an hour. Tools will be provided but the more the better so if you can bring along shovels/mattocks/wheelbarrows then please do.
We may fire the BBQ up if the weather plays ball and I’ll make sure there’s plenty of tea/coffee to go around.
The warm(ish), wet winter has taken it’s toll down at croft trail, so much so that we’ve a lot of maintenance to do before we move into spring / summer.
Many hands make light work, any time you can give is fully appreciated be it for the day or just an hour. Bring a mug with you and you’ll get a brew as well!
By Chris Hopkinson
Today was all about the less glamorous side of trail building: fixing and making good.
I arrived on site at the same time as Paul. We recognised a few cars in the car park but nobody was in sight. Just as we were about to head off on a search, David Stone appeared in a flat bed truck with some rocks we’d previously arranged for him to deliver. These are for a feature that only exists in our heads at the moment but will hopefully come to fruition sometime through the summer.
Just as we finished unloading, Jez appeared with JP, Sarah, Gary and Tom, who’d all made an early start repairing a worn out section down by the pond. Grabbing a shovel and a full barrow of gravel, a few of us (including Neil who had just turned up) set off to carry out a quick, easy fix on another section not too far from the car park.
In the meantime Debbie, Paul, Richard and Sharon had set off to litter-pick the site. This was the last I saw of them for the day but, given that the whole park looks a lot tidier now, they did a grand job. Litter picking is one of those thankless tasks that nobody likes having to do. It’s shameful the amount of litter that builds up down there. Just because we’ve got people prepared to do it shouldn’t mean they have to, so please everyone – if you brought it in, then take it out with you.
After a bit of a tea break, we got going again. Jez and Gary headed down to the lowest part of the trail to remove a woodwork section that was way past it’s best and had started to become unsafe. We’ve got some ideas in mind about what to replace it with: we’ve spent the last month walking the area and think we’ve spotted a line that uses the fall of the land and a natural feature well. Exciting times.
Some of us set off with three barrows full of gravel to do another repair down by the triangle entrance, while JP and Neil were to follow on with the compactor to finish things off. That done, we turned our attention to a worn out section of the Pipers Hill climb, using some gravel we’d stockpiled nearby some time ago. This done, it was time for a late lunch and another tea break. Tom and I set off to do a quick repair on the roller on the corner just before the S-bend berms, while the others shifted the rocks that had been delivered that morning.
A good day’s work from all involved – we got exactly what we wanted to do done. We’ve repaired most of the sections that had suffered with the mild winter, removed a section of woodwork that had been giving us headaches for quite some time and left the place tidier than we found it thanks to our litter pickers.
Good work y’all!
We’re looking for a few volunteers for a short time to help give the trail a bit of a tidy before the Hargroves demo day.
Things like:
Meet at 10am in the car park.
First trail build day of the year. The intention is to fix the trail around the Pipers Hill area of the trail, mostly the section just after Pete’s steps. We have 3-4 tonnes of material close-by that’ll need moving to the areas that need it most. Come along for as little, or as long as you’d like – every little helps. Ideally bring a wheel barrow and a spade/shovel.
The work of maintaining and developing the Croft Trail continues this September.
We’ll be working on the new line incorporating “the kerb” and one or two other jobs. It would also be good to do a litter pick if we get enough of a turnout.
We’ll be on site from 10 am. Come and join us when you can. Stay for an hour or stay all day – all help is welcomed.
