Peak & Northern Footpaths Society (est.1894)

The Great Wall of Ramsgreave

Ramsgreave is a small parish in Ribble Valley with more miles of PROW than it has roads. As such part of our job at the Parish Council is to try to keep them in good condition. We have a very small budget so cannot fund any works ourselves and are reliant on external grant income for more or less everything we do. We were in the fortunate position of having a PNFS footpaths inspector (Shirley Addy) who had carried out a complete PROW survey of the parish. The survey raised several faults but the major one was the issue of a collapsed dry-stone wall blocking FP4 as well as scattered fallen stones along the length of the footpath, a high risk for sprained ankles. This was not news to me as I frequently walked this path, during lockdown I began to pass more people there and everyone complained about the state of it.

In the summer, Lancashire County Council offered the opportunity for PCs to apply for a grant of £500 for PROW maintenance. We applied and although I knew it wouldn’t go far I hoped we could do something to improve this section of path. I knew that in theory it was the landowner that had a duty to maintain the PROW. This clearly wasn’t happening so my first port of call was to establish why not. Some inquiries informed me that there was no landowner due to a legal dispute that I was warned could go on for years, so practically speaking there was no landowner I could ask to repair the path. However, I had been told by PNFS and colleagues from other PCs that to carry out work to the path without the landowner’s permission was unwise. I explained this conundrum to the PROW team at LCC and asked if I could have their authorisation to have the wall repaired. They said I could as it was ‘reasonable in the interests of the public to carry out the work’ but advised me to inform anyone who might have an interest, out of courtesy, which I did.

I then set out to get the required three quotes. Being in the fortunate position of having a local resident who is a drystone waller I got my first quote very easily, but wallers are thin on the ground and I had to contact another five wallers and lots of emails and phone calls before I got another two quotes. Our local waller was the best value for money so he was awarded the tender and started work within a couple of weeks. I received a couple of alarming updates about how some bits had completely collapsed, but a couple of days later he told me it was finished. As soon as I had the chance, I set out in the driving rain to see the path for myself. I was absolutely delighted with the work. The path was completely clear and it was a pleasure to walk along, I couldn’t wait to share it on facebook! Parish Council work has taught me that nothing is ever straightforward and the persistence required in the face of bureaucracy can be immensely frustrating. However, sticking with it and getting results benefits the whole community. Not everyone will use the path, but if residents see the parish council is working on their behalf then this hopefully leads to better engagement in future.

For more information about Ramsgreave Parish Council click HERE

Kathryn Berzins, Member and Ramsgreave Parish Council Chair

Parish Council Leaflet Parish Council Booklet Improvements Overview Improvements Policy

Page title:The Great Wall of Ramsgreave
Address:https://pnfs.org.uk/parish-councils/ramsgreave/index.htm
Message:
If you'd like a reply, please include your contact details.
 
Your message is being sent.
Your message has been sent. Thank you.
Message sending failed - sorry. As an alternative you might like to try the Contact the webmaster form.