PRoWlers’ Progress – Episode 14

Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 14 of Ricky and Jonny’s exploits on the byways of our wonderful parish. It’s been a long, tough, wet winter – the water table is above ground level (is that possible?) which means that nearly every path, bridleway and field is a morass of mud.

But ever the optimists, Ricky and Jonny have broken out the spring and summer blog image at the top of the page – short sleeves an’ all.

This is the start of another new year for our PRoWlery friends – so here’s an update on what’s happened and what’s planned for the coming months ahead.

Devon County Council – An update of sorts

As you know, DCC belatedly released funds to Ricky and Jonny towards the end of last year. It’s not much money, but spent wisely it can make a difference to our paths and bridleways. However, DCC were less forthcoming when it came to supplies. Obviously, finger posts and pointers, footpath and bridleway markers and replacement stickers (to replace failed – or is that “flailed! – signs) don’t grow on trees and are only available directly from DCC. It’s a bit of a monopoly.

Getting hold of the supplies means lots of email to-ing and fro-ing (and when I say lots… poor Jonny’s keyboard is nearly worn out). But eventually, and with the help and cajoling of Devon Councillor Paul Hayward, supplies were delivered a week or so ago. Thank you Councillor Hayward.

Ricky made a suggestion “Now that we’ve got our money and supplies, let’s go and visit our DCC friends and explain exactly what a PRoWler is and how we operate in All Saints.”

Jonny thought this a good idea – “Great idea Rickster – it does seem that we don’t quite fit their model and they simply don’t understand what we do. All we need is a few quid and a few supplies and we just get on with it – they seem to want us to fill out forms and wait for them to actually come and do the work.”

So more emails – and WOW! they agreed to a meeting and R & J are off on a visit to their offices in Exeter. Let’s hope the date of the meeting doesn’t affect the outcome… it’s on the 1st April 🙂

Footpath 61 and 71 – A health and safety problem

There is a footpath that runs from the bottom of what’s known by some as Pub Lane. Turning at the Old Post Office in Smallridge, then following the track to the left where it splits, leads past the thatched cottage. Left again at the pond leads to a kissing gate and across the river.

The last part of this footpath was washed away by the various storms we’ve had, which left a Grand Canyon-like slash all the way down to the river. This really was a broken ankle waiting to happen – so the boy’s hatched a plan.

The rain water was clearly taking the path of least resistance, gushing down the path on it’s way to the river. Ideally it should follow a ditch, run through a pipe, then end up in the pond… which would then overflow into the river.

So two things to do – 1. backfill the damaged area and 2. try to route the water away from the path.

For 1. The boy’s decided to ask one of the village sages (Ron) on the best course of action. Ron took a look and suggested he organise and deliver some crushed stone to remake the ground. What a legend!

For 2. Ron’s advice was to leave the “redirection” until the ground conditions have improved.

A date was booked for the first part of the project, but unfortunately this coincided with Jonny having an appointment elsewhere. So it was up to Ricky and Ron to do the deed.

Jonny thought the least he could do was bring down his wheelbarrow – Ricky and Ron could then “double-hand” the loading and spreading.

Ricky thought that he should also bring his wheel barrow.

Ron thought it a good idea to bring HIS wheelbarrow… which was just as well.

“Mine’s got a puncture!” exclaimed Jonny with a sad face. “But I’ve got to dash… see you later.”

“And mine’s got a puncture as well.” shouted Ricky to Jonny (now receding into the distance and waving goodbye).

Ron just looked at both of them and smiled wryly thinking “What a pair of numpties!”

Anyways – here’s a slide show of their efforts…

Ricky really wanted to help as much as he could – so he loaded up the (one and only) wheelbarrow and took it down to the work area. Ron looked at him with a cheeky glint in his eye and said (with Ron’s lovely Devon drawl) – “You might want to turn that barrow round… but I’m sure we’ll make a truck driver out of you yet!” Lessons learned and all that.

But seriously, a huge THANK YOU to Ron for his wit, advice, skills and support – a worthy Honorary PRoWler ! Also thanks to Caroline for refreshments.

Bridleway 38 – More gate woes

Next up, we’re off to the top of Bridleway 38 at the Beacon. The boys had had two reports of gates that couldn’t be opened unless your name was Hercules. In both cases the gates had dropped making them a two person job to open and close them.

Luckily, they’d already identified these problems on an earlier survey so had the supplies on board to effect the repairs.

Gate 1 – A heavy metal gate. It’s either 12 or 14 feet long – so pretty heavy. This one needed the hinges adjusting BUT (big but) they were rusted solid and would not move. “Bring out the grinder!” said Ricky. He really does enjoy a grind thought Jonny.

Here’s the hinge before… Rusted to oblivion and cannot be adjusted.

And here’s Ricky… NOT getting sparks in his face. You may need to click to play the short video.

The rusted hinge bolt was (eventually) cut off, and a new one slotted in place. This was adjusted to lift the gate and Hey! Presto – one fully functional gate. Hurrah!

Here’s the hinge after… It might not look so different, but that nut turns freely allowing the gate to be adjusted. And trust me when I say, the boys really love a smooth operating gate.

Gate 2 – A heavy wooden gate hung from a big oak post. The hinge through the oak post together with the weight of the gate had enlarged the hole so the hinge had dropped. This required a two man lift to take the gate right off and work on the hinge post. “1, 2, 3, UP!” exclaimed Jonny… and with “two PRoWler power”… the gate was off.

Rather than anything too complicated, the boys thought that removing the hinge pin, re-lining the worn hole with steel, then re-inserting the hinge pin might (might!) do the job. And d’you what? It did !

Getting the gate back on is always a challenge with a lot of “Your way, My way, Up a bit, Down a bit” but after a few minutes and aching backs – the gate was back on.

“I love it when a plan comes together.” said Jonny. “Yes indeed – we’ve had a successful day – let’s have a cuppa.” said Ricky. So they did !

Footpath 41 – A different day, a different problem

Our longest footpath, Footpath 41 had a bit of a finger post problem recently. The post decided to simply lie down and die. It was completely rotted out at the base and needed replacement. It took a while to remove the stock fencing that had been attached to the post and that’s what helped lead to its demise. Finger posts are NOT fence posts. Grrrr!

Now ideally, the PRoWlers would have a replacement post in stock (supplied by DCC), but as they hadn’t delivered the supplies yet, the boys had to take a trip to the Axminster Railway Cafe Mole Avon.

Armed with a new post (and full tummies), they effected the replacement. They managed to re-use all the signage from the old post and… job’s a good-un!

What’s Next?

If you come to the Parish Council meetings, you’ll always hear Jonny or Ricky’s P3 report. These are also posted on the ASPC government website (https://allsaints-pc.gov.uk/meetings); at the bottom of that page you’ll find the ad-hoc reports.

So next up – the boys have a list of major and minor works to complete. And in no particular order, they are…

• Meet with DCC PROW in Exeter
• Replace the finger post at the very beginning of FP41
• Try and mitigate the flooding on FP56 near Heather Bell
• Add more scalpings to FP56 as it leads on to South Common
• Finish making and installing the metal number signs
• Replace a number of finger pointers that have been damage by tractor hedge cutting
• Overlay several very faded finger pointers with new signage
• Start the usual strimmin’ and trimmin’ around the many stiles and gates
• Get along to the Axminster Railway Cafe Mole Avon… just to say hello 😉

And in Other News…

From this week dog owners face stiffer penalties if their dog harms farm livestock even if this happens on a public right of way rather than private farmland.

• the maximum penalty facing those whose dogs attack or chase livestock rises from £1,000 to an unlimited fine;
• police are given new powers to seize dogs believed to pose an ongoing threat to livestock and to enter premises to secure evidence or animal DNA;
• new powers allowing a court to order an offender to pay expenses associated with seizing and detaining a dog;
• incidents prosecuted even if they occur on roads or public paths, rather than only on private farmland;
• the definition of livestock protected by the law is expanded to include camelids, such as llamas and alpacas.

And Finally…

Here’s a little something to make to chuckle.

So that brings us to the conclusion of this PRoWlers’ Progress update. I hope you enjoyed it. We’ll let you know soon what photos are on the desk of the DCC bods after our meeting.

And please don’t forget….

Shut that Gate!

Stop Press

The boys heard recently that one of their P3 opposite numbers in Chardstock is quite poorly. They and we all wish her a full and speedy recovery.

On that note, it’s goodnight from them, and it’s goodnight from me.