STUDENTS have turned a country park's muddy track into a dry, gravelled footpath.

First-year students on Huddersfield Technical College's countryside management course have transformed an area of Oakwell Hall Country Park in Birstall.

They have laid a 90-metre length of footpath and widened and relaid a flight of steps, including a new wooden handrail.

Oakwell Ranger Patrick Crowley said the track had always been waterlogged and got very muddy.

The 18 students also built a small wooden bridge over a waterway and put in drainage pipes to relieve flooding in some areas.

They re-sited a seat and also put in two new ones.

The students spend every Monday at the country park, gaining practical experience and learning traditional methods of land management.

The footpath and steps project took them eight sessions to complete.

Four students have also been involved in creating an arc of eight new benches by the pond in the wildlife garden.

They made the benches by felling trees to make the legs, shaping the seats out of a fallen ash tree.

They then installed the completed benches in a specially cleared and gravelled area.

They also helped to build a woven willow fence which will grow to create a windbreak and sun shelter.

Patrick said: "There is no point just doing the college or university course and finishing up with a qualification.

"The competition for jobs is fierce and people need something more to make them stand out.

"They need hands-on experience."

Anyone who is interested in the two-year countryside management course should phone the Technical College's Taylor Hill Annexe on 01484 437184.