Working Holiday Group at Millerground.

This post is in acknowledgment of the invaluable help we received from the Working Holiday Group who were with us between the 6th and 11th of September at Millerground and for half a day at St. Catherine's.

The gateway to Millerground. 

National Trust land at Millerground is one of the few public access points to Windermere's eastern shore. It is extremely popular, especially as it is within easy reach of the nearby towns of Bowness and Windermere.

This bank on which an oak tree is growing , by the lake shore next to the path, was extensively undermined by high lake levels and strong wave action.

Millerground, on its west side, is at the base of a large drumlin known as Queen Adelaide's Hill. Drumlins are rounded, elongated hills formed from glacial deposits. This heterogeneous sediment consists largely of gravel; it is soft and easily eroded.

An eroded bank prior to being stabilized shows a cross section of glacial till...
a heterogeneous mix of large stones, clay and gravel.

When lake levels are high, and especially during Winter storms these banks, consisting of glacial till, are all too easily undermined by strong wave action, putting the raised lake shore footpath at risk. (See images above.)

To combat this, the undermined areas are filled in with stone and then larger stone is pitched up the slope at an angle to protect the repaired area. (See image below)

The bank now stabilised below the oak tree after extensive stone pitching work in December 2014.

With the help of the  working holiday group the last 'at risk' sections have now been repaired and barring extreme Winter storms should be good for many years to come.

Queen Adelaide's Hill, a favourite view point above Millerground, was formed by a glacier. Consisting of glacial drift it is aligned in the direction of the former ice flow. 

The only two airworthy Lancaster Bombers on their historic flypast viewed from Queen Adelaide's Hill.

Members of the working holiday group are seen here collecting  small stones for filling in the undermined areas, and larger stones for the revetment or stone pitching work.

This image shows an undermined area in the process of being repaired. If left for too much longer the footpath above would be compromised by being undercut.

Another section well on the way towards completion.

A close up view of some of the completed stone pitching work.

The surface of the footpath was upgraded in several places with several tons of MOT road-stone. A lot of blind or partially sighted walkers use this path.

The new surface being raked in.

We were lucky with the weather; the morning mists from temperature inversions gave way to sunshine for most of the week.

On the Wednesday, the working holiday group had a day off and took to the water with Windermere Outdoor Adventure who have a base at Millerground. Here, Lee is giving instructions and a safety talk.

Paddling due south. Wednesday was the only overcast day!

Group photo.

   The group stopped at Cockshott Point to stretch their legs and have a chat with the fell rangers who are working on a major lake-shore revetment project there. 

A stop in-front of some of the revetment work completed the day before at Millerground!

Later in the day the group went sailing.

The sails ready to be hoisted.

On the Friday, 2000 bulbs were planted at St. Catherine's.

Mission accomplished! Group photo by the 'Spirit of Place' Sculpture at St. Catherine's.