Rhodybashing at Hayfield on Sunday 25th November 2018

Laura and I met Sue Daber and Issy in the carpark at Hayfield.  We were then met by the two rangers who then escorted us to Park House estate from where we took all the tools up the hill to the work site.

The first job, which Issy and one of the rangers set about, was to winch out the tree branches that were hanging, whilst we went on to the site behind Park House to remove the rhododendrons.  Unfortunately the winch had broken the shear pin so after walking to see if the spraying of the rhodies at a previous site by contractors had been successful (mixed success), Issy joined us to destroy some more of the rhodies.

The weather was kind to us and we spent most of the day destroying rhodies.  We couldn't burn them as the rangers needed to sheet over the ground to stop the peat burning and they had not had time to set the burning area up, so we just piled the cuttings up for future volunteers.

By the end of the day we had reached a precipice above Park House which required ropes to cut down the rhododendrons above the house and we reached the area which we had cut down previously.  We then collected the tools and made our way down the hill to our cars and made our way home.

Neil

Fencing, planting and rebuilding at Quarry Bank on Sunday 18th November 2018

A big turnout for my return to leading after a very long time....  11 of us turned out on a chilly but beautiful autumnal day for a spot of cleft fencing around the village pond (finishing off a job previously started in October).  We were working with Ranger Vicky.  

We started by measuring out the section that needed to be finished... could we finish the fence without shortening the last piece... wait and see!

Meanwhile a small group of us made our way over to Norcliffe Chapel to plant bulbs...

Vicky had purchased a large quantity of bluebells, lesser celandine and wood anemone to plant at the side of the church in the shaded woody area where a septic tank is buried.

We planted 1000 bluebells in a swathe between these two trees.



Lesser celandine and wood anemone were planted in large clusters under trees and along the fence line.  

Hopefully in Spring there will be a gorgeous mix of blue, yellow and white flowers covering this previously bland area.

Time for tea, cakes courtesy of Denise's mum; a selection of brandy fruit cake, ginger cake and lemon drizzle loaf went down a treat.

After break the cleft fencing continued and the bulb planting had finished so a group of us headed over to the wood at the side of the chapel to spread wildflower seeds, meanwhile...

Tricky work getting the last section of fencing to fit!

 

Cleft fence completed (no need to shorten anything as we had it measured out perfectly) and looks stunning in the late afternoon sun!

Our last and final task of the day was building a new pathway support in the wood...

Not quite finished result as we ran out of time but looking pretty sturdy.

We all had a fabulous day, will you see Denise leading again anytime soon, watch this space!

Scrub clearing at Erddig on Sunday 11th November 2018

Today five of us (Andy & Christine, Daniel, Andy Screen and John Walsh) travelled to the Welsh border for our third workday of the year at Erddig, an NT house and estate near Wrexham.  We spent the day cutting down saplings and scrub from below a high voltage powerline on the edge of the property.  Andy lit a bonfire about 100 metres away in a clearing in the woods and we dragged the cuttings over to it.  James (Head Ranger) said it wasn’t safe to have a fire below the powerline because there was the possibility of electricity discharging to ground down the plume of smoke!

Before

After

Today was Remembrance Sunday and the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War One.  At 11 o'clock we observed two minutes’ silence to remember those who fell in WW1 and all wars.  Christine streamed the BBC’s coverage of the service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall as we stood around her flag in silent reflection.

Daniel

Fencing at Lyme on Sunday 4th November 2018

The annual rut at Lyme has just come to an end, and the deer in the park have moved up to the hill called The Knott to feed and rest. Not a good time to be taking down and repairing a big drystone wall that prevents the deer from entering a nearby wood.

Sadly MNTV weren’t working on the wall. Instead we were moving and re-erecting a temporary deer fence just behind the wall, to allow the walling contractors to begin work on the next section of the repair.

We had a team of nine, and split up so that some of us were detaching the fence from the existing posts, some were uprooting the posts from their current positions and others were knocking posts in further along the wall where the fence would be moved to.

The work of detaching the fence was reasonably straightforward while removing the posts took a bit of heave-ho. Knocking the posts into their new positions was more precarious. This involved standing on a raised step (on a 1:3 slope!) and using a post driver to knock the posts in. Some good teamwork and help from ranger Dan helped us to get the posts in on the steepest parts of the hill.

After morning break the now detached fence was ready to be reattached in its new position. It was a bit tricky to maintain tension along the whole fence while dealing with the changing steepness of the slope, but we managed to put up something that not only looks ok, but more importantly should stop any adventurous deer with thoughts of wandering.

The fence was attached just in time for lunch, and just in time to deter the first would-be invader, a stag with magnificent broad antlers (we must have done a good job as he turned back 100 yards away).

After lunch we cleared bracken from alongside the wall before an early 2pm finish. You can’t beat efficiency like that!