Two Top Hill repairs
U3665 104 Two Top Hill Repair Report
30/09/2024
Summary
In March 2023, a sinkhole was identified as a problem on this road, along with compromised drainage. A repair plan was written up and in September 2024, a lot of the drainage and surface repair was completed. Nine volunteers from Cumbria Trail Riders Fellowship, (CTRF), Cumbria Green Lane Association, (GLASS) and Lancashire GLASS group got together to complete the repair.
The national Trail Riders Fellowship provided £1300 of funding to buy materials and provide fuel for vehicles and other expenses. GLASS members submitted £ towards vehicle fuel.
Issues that were identified were;
- Sinkhole
- Standing water in multiple areas on the road surface
- Completely blocked long drain and culverts running under the road
- Broken gates – (No repairs have been completed on these as yet).
The repair was completed over one long day, with two diggers, one tractor and 4 ton trailer combo, 40 tonnes of Type 1 and 3.5 tonnes of larger field stone.
There is a small amount of work to be completed on this road to set it up for the next couple of years use. See page 2 for details.
Details
On Friday 27/09/2024, Jon Batty & Steve Stout drove to Stanhope to collect digger 1. During the return journey, a trailer tyre blew out which delayed getting back to JB’s home until 10.30pm.
Volunteers turned up at 9am on Saturday 28 September 2024. Digger 2 was collected from Haggs Bank Bunkhouse at Nenthead that same morning and the tractor/trailer drove from Wigton to Hartside to arrive at 8.45am.
The two diggers and the small tractor and trailer were the main equipment for the work, alongside hand tools provided by both CTRF and the volunteers. Volunteers were tasked with opening up culverts first to allow water to drain away. Then levelling out the sink hole surface as material was laid.
The machinery was used to move the large base stone to the sinkhole, then the rest of the day, the tractor/trailer moved the 40 ton of Type 1 material to the sink hole and one digger levelled the stone surface, whilst the second started to open up the long drain that ran from the middle gate at GR NY 637 414 to GR NY646 416.
During the day, the weather was a mix of lovely warm sunshine and heavy showers, often accompanied by a cold wind.
Volunteers departed around 4.30pm and the final digger work was completed by 6pm. During the transfer of digger 2 back to Haggs Bank, a second trailer tyre blew out, which meant that digger 1 had to be stored at JB’s house until replacement tyres could be sourced. This took two days and digger 1 was returned to its owner in Stanhope on the evening of the 01/10/2024.
Outstanding Works
There remains some work to be completed on this road. Two gates need to be replaced at either end. The drainage at the western end needs to be cleaned out and the wooden cross stays in the road surface at the steep ascent/descent area needs to be re-bedded.
Financials
Funding : TRF £1300.00
TRF Costs £’s
40 ton of type 1 (£19 per ton including delivery + taxes) £913.00
Digger fuel £48.24
Trailer Tyres £164.00
Expenses £149.40
Sundries £10.59
Total £1285.23
Other Costs £’s
Tractor fuel (GLASS) £200.00
Total Costs £1485.23
Donations*
Digger 1 £300.00
Digger 2 £400.00
Digger Trailer £200.00
Tractor and 4 ton trailer £600.00
3.5 ton of large boulder stone £0.00
Total £1500.00
*These figures are based upon daily rental costs from a plant hire business.
