Formby 25 July

Five manchester volunteers turned out to Formby, and met up with the local warden and a number of volunteers from the Merseyside group.

The task was replanting a pine trees in a small plantation where unplanned for, rabbit and wind damage had had an unfortunate death toll on the saplings. New plants were put in - this time with rabbit guards. A second type of tree with more branches and greater salt wind tollerace was planted on the most exposed edge.

We finished early as we ran out of Rabbit guards.

"Hayfield" 18 July 2010

Due to damp weather the original task planned for today was cancelled, - you can't collect cotton wool like "cotton grass" seed when it has been rained on. Instead of nice white fluffy stuff to collect you would just get a rotten mess.

So plan b - was to tidy up the brash (side branches) where pines had been felled in a small patch of trees above South Head Farm. The brash was used to build rings around the remaining trees to discourage sheep from stripping the bark off them in the winter.

You mustn't stack the stuff directly against the tree as that would make the bark rot, but you need a complete ring - high enough to keep the sheep out. We were working with a youth discovery holiday who were on their first day and looked quite keen. A second task was to load up cotton grass plants into cubic meter bags ready to be air lifted (hopefully on Monday) onto the Kinder plateau ready for the youth discovery holiday to plant later this week. This was quite simple with the two groups working together to form a human chain shifting the trays of plants to where the bags were packed.

Shugborough 11 July 2010

Five of us travelled down the M6 today to Shugborough for our second visit this year. We spent the day trimming back the hedge above the stream that flows past the Ticket Office and cutting off vegetation that had gained a foothold in the stream’s sandstone wall. Those who had Wellington boots stood in the water and those without worked from the bank. The water was crystal clear and during the day we saw about 20 white-clawed crayfish and several small trout.

Joe Hawkins, head gardener, was his usual ebullient self, and during the tea breaks talked at length about the estate’s history and his vision for the garden. He’s recently taken on management of the 14-acre arboretum too. He wondered if we’d like to have a weekend trip to Shugborough – camping in the grounds, using the toilet blocks and shower in the Ticket Office complex and cooking our meals on camping stoves!! He’d need to clear it with his bosses. Anybody interested?

We ended the day with a demonstration of the £37,000 state-of-the-art composter (a 25’ long stainless steel tank that takes in chipped vegetation at one end, heats it up to 65 degrees C and churns out fine compost at the other end) and a tour of the walled garden to see the many varieties of fruit and vegetable that are being grown.

Slug and Lettuce Altrincham, 6 July 2010

Tonight the group enjoyed a leisurely meal and/or drink at the Slug and Lettuce in Altrincham. Although the venue was selected for it's proximity to the metrolink and railway stations, everyone drove. At least I tried!

Maybe there will be more people using public transport for the August social so they can try one of the reknowned cocktais at Cloud 23!??!

Styal 4 July 2010

Four volunteers turned out to Stayl and spent the day working in the gardens clearing undergrowth.