Heavy rain during the summer made the new door swell so that it wouldn’t close, and on one occasion flooded the bothy floor. So a work party was called for 25th October to improve the drainage from behind the bothy and to trim the door. As in April, we are grateful to Nash of Honister Mine for a hairy landrover ride over the rain-eroded track to Dubs Hut with materials.
Alan Dawson and Nash (at left) loading planks, the carry in, the door, and bench assembly
Another problem has been that the fixed benches installed in 2016 work well for up to 3 people sleeping or wanting to sit near the stove and window, but not for more; as a result, some visitors have carried in folding beds and chairs which sadly after a few uses get broken and have to be carried out as rubbish.
Back in April when we fitted the new door, I had an idea for robust movable benches that would store under the fixed ones:
Model for benches, April 2023, at 1:10 scale
Ben Tindall put me in touch with master blacksmith Alan Dawson who turned our sketches into two robust benches, made from scaffolding planks to match the fixed benches, and to slot under them:
Plan for benches, a finished bench in Alan’s workshop, and one stowed away in the bothy
The biggest task was clearing out stones, mud (and worse) from behind the bothy, laying and fastening down a length of agricultural drain to persuade future downpours to bypass the bothy. Luckily Alan had brought along a dozen friends from his walking group, who made light work of the job: it’s the first time I can remember that the majority of the volunteers at a workparty have been able to complete their work and get to the pub before lunch! I am very grateful to them all for making such light work of what I’d been seeing as a major task.
The view, the installed drain (hidden under stones), the workers, and Yewcrags viewed on the walk out
While this was going on Alan sanded a bit off the hinge side of the door that we suspected of causing its problem of not shutting when damp.
I scrubbed off some graffiti – but decided to leave those on the noticeboard as being less harmful than elsewhere – and pinned up new up-to-date MBA notices.
When the volunteers had left I enjoyed a peaceful lunch, talked to some of a constant stream of passers-by, and walked slowly back to Honister with a quick inspection of Dubs Hut – where all appeared well – en route.
While the weather wasn’t as good as on the earlier workparties of the year, it was calm and dry – a great deal better than most current UK weather. There were just mist and a slight attempt at drizzle while I was walking out, after which the weather improved significantly, with very beautiful views of hills, sun and clouds reflected in a flat calm on Crummockwater as I began my drive home.
Warnscale Head 