Sunday 31 August 2014

Biddulph Grange 31 August 2014

Nine volunteers turned out and spent the day working in the area of Wellingtonia Avenue (also known as the long walk).  The work consisted of removing the remains of a yew hedge which is getting in the way of grass cutting, and removing invading scrubby trees (mostly birch and pussy willow) from what were grassy banks on either side.




At the end of the day 2 newer volunteers were given a whistle stop tour of the garden, and we were all treated to tea and biscuits in the garden room.

Sunday 17 August 2014

Balsam bashing on Speke estate: Sunday 17th Aug 2014

Seven of us met in the car park of the Speke estate and went to find Norman, the assistant Ranger, who took us over to the dam to where the balsam was. As we started to pull up the balsam, evidence showed that many other groups had obviously done this previously!

It was definitely a 'sunshine and showers' day, alternating between us working in our T-shirts and almost sunbathing at lunchtime, to short showers where we were rushing to get our jackets on to keep dry.

We were very fortunate that, at coffee and lunch time, the weather was lovely, so we were able to just sit on the field while we ate and admire the view.

We did our best with bashing the balsam, pulling up and breaking the stems of many many plants so their seed pods didn't scatter, but there was so much there that we really only made a small impact on it. Nonetheless, we felt we had made a difference and were pleased with what we have achieved. We spotted some wildlife while we worked; little frogs that were being disturbed as we pulled on the balsam roots and 1000's of black ladybird-type insects(see photo)!




We finished at 3pm and, before heading off home, we decided to go round the maze to find out what it was like. We surprisingly completed it very quickly but soon discovered that there was a reason for this as, when we came out and read the instructions on the board by the entrance, we realised we should have been finding each of the 12 metal gates within the maze on our way round - woops!...didn't do that!

Despite the showers, it was a great day out, with a couple of new volunteers joining us:-)

Saturday 16 August 2014

MNTV Social: Guided walk around Altrincham and Dunham Massey on Saturday 16th August 2014

Liz, Hazel and Sue met outside the Griffin at Bowden at 10.45am:-)

Liz, who had kindly offered to lead the walk, was armed with many interesting facts which she shared with us as we started to walk towards the centre of Altrincham, passing Chapel Street, famous for providing so many volunteers to fight in the trenches of WW1 and, for doing so, was aptly dubbed as 'the bravest little street in England' by King George V.

Onward we went and visited the Market Hall before heading for the Town Hall, which Hazel realised was open. Being a keen local historian, Hazel took us inside and showed us around, including taking us into the Council Chambers where we admired the stained glass window.
Council Chambers stained glass window

As we continued our journey and headed towards the old market square (thought to stand on the site of the original town settlement), Liz told us that Altrincham was granted Market Charter status in 1290 by King Edward I, enabling it to be a self-governing township. We walked past the Old Market Tavern which was originally an old Coaching Inn, and headed out of Altrincham towards St Margaret's Church whilst hearing a brief history of 300 years of Booth and Grey family dramas!

From there we headed towards Dunham Massey, passing Dunham Village, as Liz told us about the Earls of Stamford and the WW1 Stamford Military Hospital with Dunham’s role as a First World War auxiliary hospital from April 1917 to January 1919.

After walking through Dunham Massey park, spotting lots of deer as we went, we headed over the golf course and back to the Griffin for a bite to eat.

It was a great day, dry and bright, and interesting hearing all the facts that Liz had gathered, combined with the information that Hazel added. The timing was also spot on - Liz said we'd be back at the Griffin by 1.30pm and we were!!

Thanks to Liz, supported by Hazel, for a lovely day:-)

Monday 11 August 2014

Scrub clearance at Hare Hill on 10 August 2014

Five volunteers braved Hurrican Bertha and turned up to help in the woodland garden at Hare Hill. The task was clearing brambles, nettles, shrubs and trees from part of the perimeter fencing, so that the (no longer) rabbit-proof mesh could be checked and, where necessary, replaced.  The day finished earlier than usual due to the volunteers being in need of a warm bath and clean, dry clothing and also because we finished the last stretch of fencing.

The tea break and end-of-task lunch were both taken in the information room, so we had the luxury of a table from which to eat our food (including a fine cherry cake). The group is back at Hare Hill in a few weeks and the task may include replacing the rabbit-proof mesh now that it is accessible.

Monday 4 August 2014

Log splitting at Styal on 3 August 2014

There were eleven of us today including two newcomers, continuing the run of good turnouts.  Simon Hiley had planned two jobs for us in/near the toolstore yard and therefore, unusually, the worksite leader did not need to bring any tools to the meeting point in the Quarry Bank Mill car park!

Most of us spent the day splitting logs from trees felled on the estate into log burner-size logs and adding them to the huge pile of split logs stored around the perimeter of the yard.  The Trust plans to sell the logs to local residents.  We split the logs using either a hydraulic log splitter (a fantastic labour saving device!) or using axes and chopping blocks.  Separately, four or five of us worked in the copse behind the toolstore and at the back of Styal Primary School cutting out dead holly trees, sycamores and general brash.

Daniel and Neil operating the log splitter