Sunday 28 November 2010

Hayfield 28 November 2010

View of Lantern Pike from Middle MoorNine volunteers turned out on a beautiful crisp clear winter day. It was cold in the car park, waiting to meet up (in the shade), but on the work site the sun was pleasant and we soon warmed up. We spent the day cutting and burning Rhododendron on the south facing side of one of the valleys on Middle Moor near Park Hall Little Hayfield, we cleared an area about the size of a tennis court along the upper edge of the valley - with ice underfoot it was not practical to venture on to the steeper slopes nearer the stream. So that will have to wait for another day.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Speke Hall 21 November 2010

Untouched birch on left fire in middle, thinned on rightFive volunteers turned out to Speke hall, and continued work that has been going on for some time to clear Rhodadendron from the woodland. This has also been recently extended to include thinning some of the Birch that is also present.

We rescucitated a fire that had been lit the day before which gave us a hot fire very quickly. This rappidly consumed everything we cut.

The photograph shows a largly untouched area of birch to the left of the fire, and more open woodland to the right. The Rhodi (what remains of it) was mostly behind the camera.

Monday 15 November 2010

Dunham Massey 14 November 2010

Thirteen volunteers turned out on a cold morning to Dunham Massey.
Four volunteers had the opportunity to watch the warden give the deer their first feed of the winter. While the rest of the group started clearing fallen leaves from around the main gates.

Once the traffic levels started to rise with more "normal" visitors to the park beginning to arrive, we moved to the end of Charcoal drive nearest the lodge, where we cleared a large bank of leaves from the wall of the lodge, along with a heap from outside the gate.Cut back edge of grassCobbled gutter


We also cleared the cobbled gutter alongside the drive itself and edged the grass back on the opposite side - if left to its own devices it would completely cover the drive within a couple of years.

Sunday 7 November 2010

Burton wood 7 November 2010


Daniel has asked me to post the following text.
Today we went to Burton Wood on the Wirral and rhodybashed with the Chester group and warden Phil. In June when we last visited we cleared small clumps of regenerate growth but this time attacked the big stuff. Tim Jarvis would have been proud! The ten of us cleared a large area and kept the bonfire stoked all day. Several passersby asked what we were doing and one man reminisced about the rhody “castles” in which he played as a child (and which were going up in smoke before his eyes!).



In the absence of marshmallows to toast we had Daniel’s homemade bara brith at the tea breaks. Not bad at all, but next time I must remember the butter!

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Meal at Dilli 3 November 2010


Despite the stormy weather and floods causing mayhem on the roads, 9 of us met at Dilli in Altrincham for an Indian meal with a difference. There were some more unusual choices (not to mention the spelling!) on the menu so we enjoyed a change from our usual favourites. The food was delicious and we had a great evening catching up and reminiscing about the Snowdownia weekend.

Monday 1 November 2010

Snowdon Marathon weekend - 31 Oct 2010

the group had a weekend away without me - thanks to Daniel for text and Karin for pictures

Ten of us went to Snowdonia this weekend to help at the marathon. This visit to North Wales has become a yearly fixture for some of us and was Adrian’s 18th time! We were very pleased to be joined by Tim Jarvis, our honorary member, who had made the long journey up from Essex.

The race began at 10.30 on Saturday. Five of us manned the Bryn Gwynant feedstation (9 miles) and four did the Llyn Dinas one (11.5miles) – handing out drinks, sponges and chocolate to the passing runners. Later they all went to Llanberis and worked behind the finish line wrapping runners in foil blankets and giving them their slate drinks coaster "medals." As always, many thanks to all the feedstation volunteers without whose time and energy the race couldn’t happen and for stoically enduring the spells of heavy rain and hailstones!


Daniel ran the race for the fifth time and finished in 4 hours 5 minutes, a personal best and 20 minutes faster than last year. Some things do get better with age… but my knees and quadriceps are sore today! The marathon route is one of the most scenic in the UK and the autumn colours were particularly beautiful this year – yellow, orange and brown leaves everywhere.


Supper at the basecamp (pasta main course followed by Karin’s scrumptious pear & apple crumble) preceded an evening of Spin & Shout (Sarah won), Monopoly (Alison won) and the Daily Telegraph’s general knowledge crossword.


On Sunday morning we had bacon rolls for breakfast, did Karin’s 500-piece Simpsons jigsaw and then departed at lunchtime, either directly home or via Plas Newydd or Bodnant Garden.