Today's workday at Bosley Cloud was cancelled owing to insufficient numbers. The task planned by rangers Tim and David required a large turnout.
Daniel
Sunday 24 February 2019
Wednesday 20 February 2019
Fencing work at Styal on Sunday 17th February 2019
This week nine of us worked with ranger Alex Bond (substitute for Vicky) at Bank House Farm near Styal, taking out old fencing in the area near Altrincham Road. We had a slightly delayed start due to some confusion over the meeting point as some members who haven’t been to Styal recently weren’t aware of the ‘new’ reception building.
After we met up we had a 15 minute walk to reach the workplace but the weather was perfect, dry and cool, so the hike was an added bonus. We really needed a tea break by the time we got there but after the safety briefing we started clearing the vegetation growing round the fencing. The terrain sloped quite steeply down to the river so care was needed; two of us took a tumble but no damage done.
Some of the fence posts were rotten and almost fell over to the touch but others were solidly in the ground and needed digging out. There was a double strand of barbed wire as well as normal mesh, so after the staples had been taken out of the posts coiling the wire had to be done very carefully. We were joined by a group of about ten youth rangers for a couple of hours so they added extra muscle power.
We had two first timers with us, Fiona and Daniel, and hope to see them again soon.
Thanks to Vicky for the cake and Alex for the intrepid leadership and to everyone for their hard work and for making my first foray into leadership such an enjoyable experience.
After we met up we had a 15 minute walk to reach the workplace but the weather was perfect, dry and cool, so the hike was an added bonus. We really needed a tea break by the time we got there but after the safety briefing we started clearing the vegetation growing round the fencing. The terrain sloped quite steeply down to the river so care was needed; two of us took a tumble but no damage done.
Some of the fence posts were rotten and almost fell over to the touch but others were solidly in the ground and needed digging out. There was a double strand of barbed wire as well as normal mesh, so after the staples had been taken out of the posts coiling the wire had to be done very carefully. We were joined by a group of about ten youth rangers for a couple of hours so they added extra muscle power.
Cake sustained us as usual at tea break. Today it was chocolate brownies and madeira cake. Vicky had kindly donated a lemon drizzle cake even though she couldn’t work with us and that was demolished by the youth rangers just before they left.
We had two first timers with us, Fiona and Daniel, and hope to see them again soon.
Thanks to Vicky for the cake and Alex for the intrepid leadership and to everyone for their hard work and for making my first foray into leadership such an enjoyable experience.
Jean
Sunday 10 February 2019
Lyme Park sorting drainage and creating a cycle path Sun 10th Feb 2019
A great turnout of 14 MNTVer's joined by 3 Rangers, 2 teenage cyclists and 2 older cyclists, making a grand total of 21!!
We already knew before we arrived that there were 2 tasks on offer
: one being the creation of a one-way cycle-only path starting from beyond the gate at Knott car park, along the length and to the right of West Drive - this, when finished, would be signposted as a one-way cycle-only path to try and encourage cyclists who would normally head down West Drive, maybe at speed, to use the new path, thereby enabling walkers, families, dogs and horses to have a bit more space as they walked along West Drive
: the second task was to unblock some of the drainage pipes under West Drive and dig out the channels at the side of the drive where they'd become filled with leaves and grass, so the water could gather in these then drain away instead of washing away the drive.
Volunteers for the tasks were decided by who had wellies with them (they did the drains) and the rest (including all the cyclists) worked on starting to clear the undergrowth for the cycle path along a pre-selected route.
It was a great day, overcast occasionally but the sun also shone and it was dry all day. Sue D and Sue B both brought cake to share for morning break - fruit cake and sponge cake.
The 'drainage' group petted lots of passing dogs and talked to their owners, which was a nice respite from smelly drains, while the cycle path clearance group made a significant impact on their task.
The Lyme Rangers, Chris, Claire and Jack, were all pleased with the work we'd done by the end of the day:-)
We already knew before we arrived that there were 2 tasks on offer
: one being the creation of a one-way cycle-only path starting from beyond the gate at Knott car park, along the length and to the right of West Drive - this, when finished, would be signposted as a one-way cycle-only path to try and encourage cyclists who would normally head down West Drive, maybe at speed, to use the new path, thereby enabling walkers, families, dogs and horses to have a bit more space as they walked along West Drive
 |
| Clearing undergrowth along the cycle path |
: the second task was to unblock some of the drainage pipes under West Drive and dig out the channels at the side of the drive where they'd become filled with leaves and grass, so the water could gather in these then drain away instead of washing away the drive.
 |
| The drainage group at the end of the day |
Volunteers for the tasks were decided by who had wellies with them (they did the drains) and the rest (including all the cyclists) worked on starting to clear the undergrowth for the cycle path along a pre-selected route.
 |
| Making great progress along the path |
It was a great day, overcast occasionally but the sun also shone and it was dry all day. Sue D and Sue B both brought cake to share for morning break - fruit cake and sponge cake.
The 'drainage' group petted lots of passing dogs and talked to their owners, which was a nice respite from smelly drains, while the cycle path clearance group made a significant impact on their task.
The Lyme Rangers, Chris, Claire and Jack, were all pleased with the work we'd done by the end of the day:-)
 |
| Lunchtime! |
Saturday 2 February 2019
*CANCELLED* Workday at Erddig on Sunday 3rd Febuary 2019
Sadly, today's workday at Erddig was cancelled because of the forecast of more snow and very cold conditions. Winds over 35-40 mph and snow, both of which are classed as high risk for staff, volunteers and visitors, mean that the property and estate get closed. This happened on Wednesday 30th January.
We are next at Erddig on Sunday 19th May and hopefully the weather then will be much more pleasant!
Daniel
We are next at Erddig on Sunday 19th May and hopefully the weather then will be much more pleasant!
Daniel
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