Vale Path Volunteers
Path Clearance Project No 2 Completed
The second path clearance project was completed on Tuesday March 13th 2012. The footpath chosen for the work (Ref: Abingdon No 1) follows the track of the former Wilts and Berks canal from Drayton Road to the western edge of the town. The blocked section was from Francis Little Drive westwards for some 350 metres. That section had been blocked for some years with vegetation and debris.
Six Vale Path Volunteers turned out to carry out the work, and we also appreciated the contribution of Cllr Penny McDougall. The group are pictured below with Mark Sumner, the Oxfordshire County Council Field Officer for the Vale, who arranged for two skips to be delivered at convenient positions.
This photo shows the western section of the path blocked by vegetation, before being cleared.
The eastern section by Francis Little Drive was blocked by vegetation, including elder trees and other debris such as a pile of building stones that had been dumped there.
The large builders bag was very useful for collecting the waste and makes the clearance more efficient.
Watch Digging Out a Stump!
(Note: Hold the Control button down as you click for the video to appear in a new tab - then click on that tab at the top)
This shows that section after being cleared. We had to leave the large elder tree stump for the council to remove (it had us stumped!).
Another job done!
Vale Path Volunteers’ first project completed
The Vale Path Volunteer group was formed in recent weeks to provide effort to help Oxfordshire County Council’s Countryside Services in clearing and improving footpaths in the Vale area. An overgrown stretch of the Thames Path near Abingdon was identified as a suitable first project, and the work was done in collaboration with the Ridgeway and Thames Path Volunteer Scheme. The newly appointed Chief Executive of the Ramblers, Benedict Southworth, joined the group to take part in the work, on Tuesday 21st February. The volunteers, shown in the photograph above, worked for some four hours and successfully removed a redundant fence line and cleared a substantial amount of vegetation to allow better access and to let sunlight to dry out this muddy section of the National Trail. A good example of “many hands making light work” !
Jim Parke, our Path Volunteers Co-ordinator, describes the work in the report below and the photographs show the group at work and the improvements to this section of footpath.
Project No 1 - Thames Path
Twelve members of the Vale Group responded to the invitation to set up a team of volunteers who would be interested in undertaking light maintenance and footpath improvements in the Vale of White Horse group’s area. The team was christened Vale Path Volunteers and contact was made with the Countryside Service (CS) of Oxfordshire County Council (OCC). The main contact is Mark Sumner, the Field Officer for the south west of the county who oversees footpaths in the group’s area. Mark was very pleased to hear of the group’s initiative and offered his full support. An important role for the CS will be to undertake any necessary negotiations with relevant land-owners prior to the commencement of work. The CS will identify possible locations where this sort of work is necessary and there could be others which the Vale Group’s members will bring to the attention of the team.
The first project of the team was undertaken on Tuesday February 21st. I was contacted by Martin Fry (OCC National Trails Officer) based at the Countryside Services’ offices at Eynsham and John Orchard, Vale group footpath secretary, about the poor state of a stretch of the Thames Path National Trail near Abingdon. This is a 250 metre length where the path is very narrow and muddy with many potholes.
Part of the fence line before being cleared
There is a redundant fence line of fence posts together with strands of wire that restricts the path to a narrow line. At several points along the fence line there are brambles and small elder trees that needed cutting down and cleared away. As a result the path is often in deep shade and therefore sunlight is not able to penetrate and dry out the surface as it should.
Another part of the overgrown fence line before being cleared
Once this stretch has been cleared the intention will be to undertake a twice-yearly cut or a mow on the edge to keep the vegetation down.
There was a full turnout of the team who were working in collaboration with National Trail Volunteers under the general supervision of Sara Piggott - National Trails Assistant. As a result the team gained practical experience of safe working conditions and also an insight into the general organisation of path maintenance work. We were delighted to be joined on the day by the recently appointed Chief Executive of the Ramblers - Benedict Southworth - who had expressed a wish to come and take part in a day’s path work.
Some posts had to be dug out
Old fence wire had to be cut
Pat Lonergan chats to Benedict Southworth during a break
Fortunately the weather was kind to us, being dry and warm, and good progress was made in taking out about thirty posts and many long strands of fencing wire. After a mid-morning coffee-break the team tacked the tougher problem of cutting back the thick undergrowth of tangled brambles and briars that caused the path to be unacceptable narrow.
By two o’clock the full stretch had been cut back and cleared.
Job done!
It is appropriate that a Vale Group walk scheduled to take place two days after the project will pass along the Thames Trail towards Oxford and the results of the team’s work will be seen.
The team already has another project lined up and scheduled to take place on Tuesday March 13th. This is to clear a stretch of Abingdon Footpath No. 100/1 in the western part of the town. The section to be cleared is approximately 300 metres in length and runs from Francis Little drive to the edge of the housing estate.
If there are any members of the Vale Group that would like to join the Vale Path Volunteers I would be pleased to hear from them.
Jim Parke, Co-Ordinator, Vale Path Volunteers
Contact: jmh.parke@btinternet.com
The setting up of the Vale Path Volunteers
The Vale Group Ramblers Committee has agreed to a recommendation that we should set up a team of volunteers from its membership who would be interested at least initially in undertaking light maintenance of footpaths in the Vale of White Horse Group’s Area. This stretches from Kennington, Abingdon, Kingston Bagpuize and Faringdon in the north and west to Wantage, the Hendreds, Grove and the villages as far south as the Ridgeway.
The team would work in close partnership with the Countryside Service (CS) of the Oxfordshire County Council. Our main contact in the CS will be Mark Sumner, the Field Officer for the south West of the County who oversees footpaths in our Group’s area. The CS would identify possible locations where this sort of work is necessary and there could be other locations which our own members could bring to the attention of the team. The CS would undertake any necessary negotiation with relevant land-owners prior to the commencement of work.
The work to be done would involve the cutting back of overhanging vegetation and/or undergrowth and hedges where growth has narrowed the footpath to a unacceptable degree. Similarly there may be stiles where the hedges on either side have grown to an extent that they cause difficulty in climbing over them. The tools to be used would include hand, or battery-operated heavy duty, secateurs, small pruning bow-saws and loppers.
Any work undertaken by the group would be covered by the National Ramblers Insurance Policy and need to comply with relevant Health and Safety procedures followed by the County Council.
At this stage it is difficult to estimate the degree of time commitment because the amount of path clearance work that may be needed is an unknown quantity. However, as a rough guide, it is likely that the team would work on site(s), perhaps, one day or part-day a month, probably at the weekend.
If any member is interested in joining such a team could they contact Jim Parke, who has agreed to act as co-ordinator.
Contact him by e-mail:
Jim Parke or by telephone 01865 730664 if you have any queries.
