Not A Normal Delivery

The reserve is slowly starting to recover after the damage caused by an articulated lorry on Friday. The driver managed to work his way along the track knocking into every single large stone that can be found along the edge, as well as causing major damage to the track.

The lorry became bogged down after he tried to reverse and drove of the side of the track leaving ruts alongside the Field Centre at least 2 feet deep and destroying the stability of the track.

Recovery vehicles were called in and it was necessary to fell several of the old Willow and Hawthorn trees around the centre to manoeuvre this into a position where it was able to pull the lorry out.

Once back on the track we still had the issue of turning the 50 foot lorry around so it could be on its way, needless to say this was no easy feat and necessitated the removal of several more trees around the workshop as well as causing damage to the infrastructure of our paths and signage. Almost eight hours after his arrival we were able to get him off the site.

Severe damage was caused to sections of the track and work started yesterday to make this safe and put right the mess that was left behind. So far, ten tonnes of new stone has been used to rebuild the worst affected sections of track with more needed to finish repairs to the remaining damage. From the workshop to just past the Field Centre 18 tonnes of top soil was needed to fill in and repair the ruts.

Students from the Dales School were fascinated as the contractors worked hard to put right the damage. While the track is now safe and access to the reserve is as usual, there is still much work to be done, including re-surfacing sections of road, re-laying part of the front lawn, and repairing collapsed drains alongside the track.