Gritstone

Member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #1

Went into Eldon Hole last night and found the perimeter fence had been cut open and sheep shite was inside the enclosure. Fortunately no sheep had base jumped in but I'm pretty sure the farmer wouldn't take kindly to his livestock meeting an untimely end due to someone's stupidity. I made a temperary fix to it before we dropped in.

 

Attachments

• 
  IMG_20210715_170348.jpg

  3.5 MB · Views: 1,531

pwhole

Well-known member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #2

That's worrying - I can't work out why anyone would need to do that to gain access when there's a stile.

 

I

Ian Ball

Well-known member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #3

That's a good fix on the fly!

 

Gritstone

Member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #4

Thanks, that's why I always carry my Dewalt multitool when I go caving.
I couldn't think why anyone would need to do that either fortunately with there being two of us we were able to pull enough slack to join it back up.

 

Mark

Well-known member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #5

I don't think this was deliberate, it looks more like the Gripples (the oblong things) which are used to join two lengths of fence together, have failed.

 

Gritstone

Member

• Jul 16, 2021

• #6

I'd like it to be true but it was clean cut all the way down even where there wasn't a crimp. It was a definate act carried out for a purpose.

 

bograt

Active member

• Jul 17, 2021

• #7

I'm with Mark on this one, the gripples have failed, if it had been cut there would be two ends showing through the joiner, I can only see one. Considering the epic activity up there recently, a badly joined fence is likely to have given way if stressed wrongly. Nice job with the repair 

 

Gritstone

Member

• Jul 17, 2021

• #8

Looking at it again you're probably right, I'll pop up and mention it to the farmer so he can do a proper repair if he sees it nessecery.

 

Pete K

Well-known member

• Jul 18, 2021

• #9

As one of the last to leave the site after the recent exercise I can say there were no gaps in the fence where we were set up when we left. Chances are that someone leaning on it stressed it and it popped somewhere up or downhill from where we were operating. I'll pass this on to the DCA Access Officer so it can get sorted. The farm on the lane is not the right one for the land up here. Cheers for the temp fix, always worth pinging this info direct to DCA on the website 'issue reporting' form: https://www.thedca.org.uk/conservation-access/issue-reporting

 

Gritstone

Member

• Jul 18, 2021

• #10

After a bit of research I found out that lead alloys expand more than steel when heated. It makes sense then that the hot weather might have caused the joints to fail and the tension in the system did the rest. Sorry for jumping the gun but hopefully as a result a more suitable fix can be found.

 

Pete K

Well-known member

• Jul 18, 2021

• #11

We've got a man on it at DCA and will sort a more permanent fix with new grips asap but your efforts look pretty solid and I'm sure it'll stay secure for a few more days until we get it sorted. Thanks for flagging it up and well done for spotting it.
Pete K
DCA Projects Officer

 

ANN

New member

• Aug 2, 2021

• #12

Me and the man went out today and replaced the old gripples with new ones!

 

Attachments

• 
  Eldon before.jpg

  1.1 MB · Views: 125
• 
  Eldon After.jpg

  805.8 KB · Views: 138

I

Ian Ball

Well-known member

• Aug 2, 2021

• #13

That's some neat work

 

Pete K

Well-known member

• Aug 2, 2021

• #14

Thanks Ann & Roy!

 

ANN

New member

• Aug 3, 2021

• #15

If you go to Eldon can you check that the repair is still okay?  Any problems please report to https://www.thedca.org.uk/conservation-access/issue-reporting
Regards DCA Access Officer