At the end of February, Leeds City Council started work to improve the path in the area of the Slabbering Baby. There has been a longstanding problem because a large amount of the spring water from the moor no longer flows into the Slabbering Baby but emerges about 10 metres away – onto the path leading up to Buckstone Road. The result is that the path and the Meanwood Valley Trail have frequently been covered in very deep mud.
Over the years, FOAW and Steve Joul and his volunteer team have tried to improve the area by scraping off mud, adding hardcore and doing our best to create a channel across the Meanwood Valley Trail so that water can flow away into the undergrowth on the lower side of the trail. However, it has been difficult because the path surface below the mud is very hard – and the mud returns very quickly!
At the instigation of Cllr Buckley, the Parks and Countryside Department investigated the cause of the problem and have laid new drainage pipes to take the surface water away. The area is already looking a lot better.
The area of brown earth shows where new pipes have been laid to take away the surface water.
Friends of Adel Woods 