Out of danger

Stabilising buildings and a natural stone retaining wall leaning precariously over the river Stockghyll near Ambleside in Cumbria has been a vital task for Roger Bullivant this year. But of equal importance are environmental protection measures required by the site's location and significance. The river feeds Lake Windermere and not only are its banks part of a popular route for walkers of south Lakeland but brown trout and salmon return to spawn every October. The offending 6m wall was built in the 1850s as part of a mill that took its water via clay pipe work from a manmade weir upstream. Made from flags of Tuffe, the local bedrock, it was classified as dangerous in January 2002 with a warning of the dire consequences of collapse to the finely balanced ecology. The wall was immediately propped with a scaffold frame, which also served to protect buildings and structures downstream from the risk of flooding.