Footpaths – Holmer and Shelwick Parish Council

Footpath Report – 29th August 2017

September 8, 2017 by Duncan Smart

1) HO3 Path from Holmer pond to the A49 strimmed and cleared at the A49 end of the path, by the gate on 3rd August

2) HO8 Path between Roman Road and Attwood Lane – Waterlogging of path reported on Herefordshire Council website on 2nd August- Herefordshire Council ref CAS-628955-G0L5Z9, Balfour Beatty ref 11042867.. Water is draining onto path from between two houses. Followed this up on 21st August – no progress, awaiting inspection

3) HO9 Diverted path from road at White House Farm strimmed/cleared up to stile at SO 516431 on 3rd August

4) HO10 Strimmed/cleared at C1127 road end and at Shelwick Lane end on 3rd August

5) 22nd August walked HO8 from Attwood Lane to The Furlongs, part of HO13 (Munstone Road end) and all of HO14 from Shelwick Lane down to Burcott Farm. The field down to Burcott farm had been harvested so the obstruction logged on the Herefordshire Council website on 8th June had disappeared. However, the cross stile at SO 521425 had deteriorated further, making it even more difficult to cross. Reported on Herefordshire Council website 28th August, reference CAS-645083-R6B7D7 – No Balfour Beatty matching reference provided for this item.

6) 23rd August HO17 checked and cleared/strimmed where required from Roman road to stile at SO 533423 (which had been strengthened slightly by persons unknown). Ideally this stile should be replaced – preferably with a gate.

7) 23rd August Bridleway HO18 light strimming from Roman Road and then clearance continued from gate at SO 5337 4214 north to SO 536427 (across the railway line)

8) 29th August – Re-reported HO13 bridge/stile problem at SO 516425 (wobbly hand rail/rotten stile top rail)

Originally reported on 24th July – Herefordshire Council reference CAS-640780-V5Z5N8. No Balfour Beatty reference provided so re-reported 20th August and given Herefordshire Council reference CRM:0273160. As yet no Balfour Beatty reference has been provided.

There does not appear to be any progress on new finger posts being erected at various path/road junctions or with providing the vital safety rails at the Munstone Road end of footpath HO6.

Addendum to 29th August 2017 Report

1) HO8 Path between Roman Road and Attwood Lane – Waterlogging of path reported on Herefordshire Council website on 2nd August- Herefordshire Council ref CAS-628955-G0L5Z9, Balfour Beatty ref 11042867.. Water is draining onto path from between two houses. Followed this up on 21st August – no progress, awaiting inspection

2) It was suggested to Balfour Beatty that this problem might be a Welsh Water leak. Subsequently water was cut off for a period on Saturday 2nd September and as a result of the work carried out water is no longer flowing into path HO8 and it appears to be drying out.

Additional Report Footpath Report – 24th July 2017

July 24, 2017 by Duncan Smart

HO6 exit from The Furlongs onto Munstone Road

This covers footpath activities since the original July report until 24th July

1) HO8A between Attwood Lane and The Furlongs checked and found to be cleared of overhanging branches etc – by someone else! Thank you!

2) HO6 exit from The Furlongs onto Munstone Road is still not complete but has been opened using offset fencing until safety rails have been fitted and final surfacing to the road.

3) HO13 bridge and stile overgrown again at SO 516425. Both cleared but handrail support post needs fixing and top rail of stile needs replacement.

4) HO13 overhanging bushes needed clearing by stile at SO 518425. Stile cleared and then investigated by some of the locals!

5) HO13-HO14 Junction stile needed clearing at SO 520426. Job done

6) HO14 at SO 521425 path still not reinstated to Burcott Farm and stile in need of repair. This was logged on the Herefordshire Council website on 8th June and a Balfour Beatty reference number of 11044177 was allocated. This was checked on 13th July and was advised that a letter was sent to the farmer on 8th June (date that enquiry was raised) – still no change as at 18th July.

7) Tuesday 18th July Honda 4 stroke petrol Brushcutter purchased from Ron Smith & Co, as authorised by the PC along with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & Safety equipment (not all from Ron Smith) to include Warning Signs, safety helmet, visor and ear defenders

8) Wednesday 19th July – first use of new Brushcutter to clear Bridleway HO18 again from gate at SO 5337 4214 back towards Roman Road. This was the section previously cleared in March and April with Ramblers’ assistance. It had become very overgrown again, but not so severely. Path cleared over a 4 hour period with the Brushcutter

Duncan Smart (DGS),
Holmer & Shelwick Parish Footpath Officer

Holmer & Shelwick Footpath Report July 2017

July 11, 2017 by Duncan Smart

Opportunities to get out clearing Parish footpaths have been limited since the last report and each path that was walked has needed time consuming attention because of the rapid growth of the vegetation at this time of year.
1) HO6 exit from The Furlongs onto Munstone Road remains tantalising close to completion, waiting for safety rails to be fitted and final surfacing to the road.

2) HO8 has been cleared again from Attwood Lane through to Roman Road

3) HO9 at Path Diversion still needs improvement at the exit onto C1127 (Munstone Road) but the overgrown weeds have been cut down

4) H09 has had the stile at SO 516431 cleared of undergrowth and nettles – again!

5) HO10 was cleared again at the Patch Hill end. At this time of year brambles are growing back across paths at an amazing rate.

Duncan Smart (DGS),
Holmer & Shelwick Parish Footpath Officer

Footpath Report May & June 2017

June 7, 2017 by Duncan Smart

1) All footpaths were walked in May and early June with the exception of Bridleway HO18 (walked previously in April) and HO14 from stile at SO 521425 to railway bridge at Burcott Farm (path not re-instated – see picture)

2) HO1 walked from Roman Road to Parish boundary and light clearance work carried out

3) HO3 walked and A49 gateway cleared (see picture). Finger post still missing at pond end of path

4) HO4 walked from Coldwells Road to the Parish boundary – no particular problems were noted except that the field path south of the stile at SO 509432 had been reinstated on foot, not by farm equipment. The stile was cleared of undergrowth and new waymarks added.

5) HO6 exit from the Furlongs onto Munstone Road nearing completion (see picture). Safety rails and finger post still to be supplied and fixed

6) HO8 path through from Attwood Lane to Roman Road was almost blocked with cut down holly bush debris and nettles. Cleared a path through but the residents
responsible should clear their garden debris from the path. Finger post still required at Roman Road end of the path.

7) HO8A walked from Attwood Lane up to the Secret Garden (former Rosie pub). No problems except that finger posts are still required where the path meets roads (Attwood Lane and road into Meadows Edge development). Waymark fixed to gate at bottom of the enclosed path up to the Secret Garden (SO 512425)

8) HO9 Path Diversion Order 2016 commencing at SO 515 432 has been confirmed by Herefordshire Council but Mr Peter Newman, Open Spaces Society Trustee and Local Correspondent, has challenged Mr Will Steel of Balfour Beatty about this as there are important issues still outstanding from the Order. These include the lack of a finger post, the surface and position of the diverted path and a non-existent gate.

In addition waymarking round the diverted path is confusing and inaccurate

9) H09 – separately to the above comments the path has been walked and the stile at SO 516431 has been cleared of undergrowth and nettles and a new waymark attached to a side post

10) HO10 was walked from C1127 (Munstone Road) through to Shelwick Lane. The most overgrown sections were at either end – up to Patch Hill and leading down to Shelwick Lane, both of which have been cleared, as shown below

11) Waymarking and stiles on the HO10 section from SO 520433 to SO 523433 is in need of improvement, especially as some field divisions shown on the map no longer exist.

12) HO13 was walked from Munstone Lane through to Shelwick and stiles were cleared of undergrowth at SO 515425, SO 516425 and SO
517425. The bridge at SO 516425 needs to have a loose handrail fixed. The HO13 field path at SO 520426 had been reinstated by walkers and not by farm equipment.

13) HO14 was walked from Shelwick Lane to the stile at SO 521425, after which the path was not reinstated to Burcott Farm (as shown in Item 1)

14) Paths HO15, HO16 and HO17 were all walked from Shelwick Green down to the Lugg Bridge on the A4103 (Roman Road). The stile and access were cleared on HO16 Bridge-Stile at SO 531429

15) On HO17 the stiles at SO 533423, SO 533422 and SO 532421 were all cleared but south of SO 533422 the meadow was so long that it was not possible, sensibly, to cut a path through the grass and undergrowth by hand. The exit stile onto the A4103 (Roman Road) was also cleared.

Duncan Smart (DGS),
Holmer & Shelwick Parish Footpath Officer

Bridleway HO18 is Now Cleared

April 4, 2017 by Duncan Smart

On 3rd April 2017 a Four man Ramblers’ Working Party cleared Bridleway HO18 right through to join up with where the Balfour Beatty team had chain sawed fallen and overhanging trees.

To mark the occasion I fixed a Bridleway waymark to the second gate from the Roman Road to clarify the route.

I still have to walk the complete Bridleway though to Sutton St Nicholas to ensure there are no other problems but I believe that HO18 is now “Fit for Purpose” and hope to see it used by horse riders and other permitted users.

We deliberately left the first corner wide enough for a horse but too narrow for a car to discourage any motorised traffic from attempting to use it.

Duncan Smart

Footpath Report 13th March 2017

March 16, 2017 by Duncan Smart

1) Request received from a Roman Road resident to clear brambles and obstructions on Parish Footpath HO1. Path cleared on 8th March 2017 including cutting brambles back and moving tree obstruction (between steps and bridge into field)

2) Advised by Manny Smith this morning (11/03/17) that some clearance work had been carried out on Bridleway HO18. Also, that the missing /broken finger posts had works orders issued and should be resolved in due course.

3) DGS checked HO18 after talking to Manny Smith and found that the trees had indeed been cleared plus some other brush work. That leaves about 100 yards of brambles and undergrowth near the Roman Road gates which need to be cleared if a horse is to use the Bridleway. At present it is too narrow and too close to barbed wire to be used by a horse and rider.

4) DGS participated in strimmer training course organised by Balfour Beatty for the Ramblers on 27th February 2017

5) The “Public Notice of Making” fixed to the Furlongs end of H08A has been removed by DGS as agreed with Jill Addis at Herefordshire Council/Balfour Beatty Rights of Way and “temporary” waymarks have been attached to Attwood Lane end of path and Furlongs end of path pending erection of fingerposts.

6) The 2nd footpath from Furlongs onto Munstone Lane has been closed off and earth piled onto where path was. The official exit of HO6 onto Munstone Lane is now close to completion. Are rails to be fitted at the exit?

Duncan Smart (DGS),
Holmer & Shelwick Parish Footpath Officer