Sunday 26 July 2015

Moving logs etc at Edale on 26 July 2015

Today seven of us carried on the task of the group out at Hayfield on 31st May (log splitting), moved logs for the Edale bunkhouse fire and went up to Mam Tor to collect larger timber felled in the car park woods. A short tale to tell of the day, but it included morning sunshine, beautiful views and some refreshing Derbyshire rain. Not to mention the microwaved (!) lemon cake.


Mick.

Sunday 19 July 2015

Deer herding and thistle thrashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 19th July 2015

Nine of us met Ranger Gary in the main Lyme Park car park and, instead of being taken to where we would be thistle thrashing, we were asked if we'd help move some Fallow deer from Hampers Wood. We drove up to the Stables and left our cars there, then walked the rest of the way. Hampers Wood is almost surrounded by a dry stone wall but there are gaps in the wall for people to walk through. We went in and tried to spread out to cover the width of the wood, walking slowly so the deer could see or hear us and, because they are very timid, would run out through one of the gaps. Some deer saw us as we approached and, we hope, left the wood. As we walked along, the Rangers put fencing over the gaps so the deer couldn't get back in. As we retraced our steps to leave the way we entered the wood, some of our group saw a couple of deer still in the wood so we had to go back in and try and encourage them to leave. I've never been 'deer herding' before, so yet another 'first' with MNTV:-)

We went back to our cars and moved them again, this time to the wood store, so we didn't take too long to walk to where we were using slashers to cut down the thistles in part of the deer sanctuary. If they were left for another few weeks, they would start to spread their seeds enabling new thistles to grow. Some of the thistles easy to find and slash but some were in long grass making it a bit tricky to get down near the base to slash them.

It was a varied day and, having missed an early downpour before we got to Lyme, the weather improved throughout the day. The views of the Cheshire plains, when we stopped for lunch, were magnificent. Two of our group couldn't stay for the afternoon so, by the time we took a group photo at the end of the day, there were only 7 of us remaining.

Sunday 12 July 2015

Biddulph Grange Gardens Sun 12th July 2015

 
Eight eager volunteers made their way to Biddulph Grange Gardens this week to work on the renovation and improvement of a section of the garden we have been involved with for ten years. The job this time was removing weeds from between laurel planting and covering the area with a two inch layer of sterile mulch. The very dark brown mulch not only prevents the weeds restabilising but also retains water and heat to maximise the growth potential of the laurel which look very pretty popping up out of the dark soil.
Before we started

Almost finished:-)
It has been very satisfying to see and be a part of the transformation of this section of the gardens from a brick strewn waste land to peaceful area with a lovely swath of lawn besides an elegantly curved path. The project is still ongoing and the planting of the laurel is just part of the on long term plan for the area so hopefully we will continue to work here and see the metamorphis continue.
 
The weather was dry all-day with just a hint of rain in the morning and bright sun shine in the afternoon, some of us really caught  the sun with Tim going a very fetching shade of lobster pink. After we finished for the day we had time to tour the gardens, always a great place to explore and one of those spots where you seem find something new and delightful every time you visit.

Thanks to Paul the top banana and his team for providing a very interesting work day plus chocolate rolls at brew time and ice cream at the end of the day.

Text provided by Tim. Photo's by Adrian.

Sunday 5 July 2015

Footpath repair at Bosley Cloud on Sunday 5 July 2015

Six of us spent today at Bosley Cloud with Tim Ryan (Ranger) and Colin (Alderley Edge volunteer) repairing sections of the Gritstone Trail near the summit.  Andy and Christine drove there direct and Daniel, Adrian, Jo and Paige carshared from Quarry Bank Mill.  We rendezvoused on Tunstall Road at the junction with Gosberryhole Lane at 9:15.

The worktask was to build stone 'run offs' to prevent water running down the path and instead drain across it.  This should mean the path is drier and encourage walkers to stick to it and not walk on drier ground either side thereby widening the path through erosion.  The first step was to dig diagonal trenches across the path using mattocks and spades and the second step was to unearth boulders from the path/heathland and manoeuvre them to the trench by rolling and/or using wrecking bars, then set them in place slightly proud of the path.  Gaps between the boulders were filled with stones and spoil.  The footpath was easy to dig into (compact sand) and the boulders could be chipped to size with blows from the mattocks.


We ate lunch at the summit of the Cloud and enjoyed wonderful views to all four points of the compass.  The viewing disc informed us that Land's End was 264 miles away, Snowdon 81, Liverpool Cathedral 38, John o'Groats 380 and London Charing Cross 143.


We are returning to Bosley Cloud on 16 August and will be building more 'run offs' then.

Daniel

(PS volunteers from the Congleton group and Congleton Harriers also repaired footpaths at the Cloud today but worked on the west side and not at our worksite.)