Members of Middleton Quarry, supported by a couple of staff from Divet Hill (and one escapee from Bletchley Coating Plant – James Burrell), enjoyed the first Lend-A-Hand day in the NE in 2017 supporting the North Pennines AONB Partnership reinstating the worn section of footpath between Low Force and High Force Waterfalls.

In total ten members of staff filled potholes and boggy areas of the footpath with approx 3T of 10mm- dust aggregate by hand. Access is not good as the footpath runs parallel to the river on the opposite side to the main road. The aggregate had to be bagged and either carried or wheel barrowed to the point of use (the furthest point was estimated to be 1500m from the closest access point by our company pick-ups) so not a small task. To put it in context, the last time a similar task was attempted helicopters were used.

Kevin Cage commented: “It certainly kept us all fit (for the day at least) and luckily the weather was kind.  Many thanks to Maurice Burrell for arranging the day and to all those taking part. We received multiple thank yous on the day from members of the public using the route which I think made the guys realise it was a worthy task. The picture was taken from the local Teesdale Mercury paper.”