Record numbers at Dunham Massey
A spectacular turnout but one gets lost!
Starring: Abbey, Adrian, Ally (Myself), Andy H, Andy S, Anna, Christine, Daniel, David, Esther, Jenny, Neil, Tim L, Simon, Valentina and introducing MNTV Newbie Olly
Guest starring: Ranger Nat
With plans to travel to Snowdonia in place, Daniel and I were ready to welcome the group back to Weekends but when the weekend was advertised and with people still hesitant about travelling and sharing dorms we cancelled the weekend. As I had the time off work anyway I made a guest appearance at the rearranged workday at Dunham Massey. Although the team in Snowdonia were disappointed about not seeing us, they understood and I promised we would be back soon.
We were last at Dunham in November 2020 when Craig Buckley from Styal was in charge. We had had lots of visits there so when he was seconded back to Styal I didn't hold up much hope of us returning to Dunham in the near future, but little did I know that with a new Ranger in town the call would come through sooner than I thought, so when Snowdonia was cancelled Dunham was my go to property to replace it. That new Ranger is Nat from Hardcastle Crags and she was looking forward to seeing us again and we were looking forward to getting back to Dunham.
In the run up to the day the replies to Daniel's email about the workday just kept flooding in until we had 16 volunteers signed up, the most we have had in a long time. The day started bright and warm, we met in the carpark at Dunham at 9.30 and introduced everyone as we had relatively new people, old timers and one who just makes surprise appearances. Those who had worked for 50+hours between March 2020 and March 2021 got given their Volunteer Cards and then we set off for the clock tower to meet Nat at 9.45. Our task for the day was rhodybashing in a plantation that had previously been fenced off to avoid deer damage, near the outer reaches of the park. We put the tools and cake into Nat's truck and walked to the worksite. Once there Nat gave us a tool talk and told us about our task which was to pull out the plants or chop down the rhody to knee height so that in future it could be winched out. We toiled all morning - some were tasked with exposing trees that had been engulfed by bracken, the rest of us sawed, lopped and pulled at the rhody. At coffee time we enjoyed Daniel's delicious Chocolate Cake and Jenny’s tasty Bakewell Tart.
After break we went back to our tasks adding in picking up discarded tree guards. By lunchtime we had finished the tree extraction and rhody chopping. Lunch was called and Neil was nowhere to be seen after many shouts of "Neil" and "Neil, Lunch" Daniel called him on his mobile to let him know it was lunch time. He had been so busy extracting trees from the bracken that apparently he had got lost! He appeared a short time later and joined us. Nat went back to the yard to pick up some bin bags for our tree guard task and eat her lunch and whilst she was away Daniel and I presented four 5-Year and one 10-Year Long Service Awards to members of the group. Congratulations to all recipients!
Once some of us had stepped in the bog in the ditch, up to our knees, and picked up lots of bits of tree guards with bin bag in hand, in pairs, we headed in the direction of Nat's truck. Some had gone that direction earlier than others when Olly and I appeared back at the lunch spot it was just Jenny and Andy S waiting for us and others to let us know it was time to move on. We put our ten bags of tree guards in the back of Nat's truck and the group that had got there earlier made sure all the young trees in the area were not swamped by bracken.
By now it was mid-afternoon and it was a little too hot to do any more work so Nat offered a visit to the Gardens. Some of the group accepted and some didn't. As we walked back in the direction of the garden we could see the park was quite busy with lots of day trippers. Once at the Garden gate we had a group picture in front of the mansion and we picked up the tools that Nat dropped there.
Those who were going to the garden entered, those who didn't headed to the car park with the tools to be put in Daniel's car. Jenny and I changed our shoes and then headed for an ice cream using my newly received and signed volunteer card. I had Raspberry Ripple and Jenny had Strawberry - it was just what was needed after a hot day in the sunshine.
It's Monday now, the weather looked pretty dreich over the Cumbrian Fells as I headed north on the train home, but as the bus from Edinburgh came off the A1 the sun made a brief appearance just as I was getting home.
It was great to see you all and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Ally
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