Workday at Stubbins, re-scheduled to Hayfield, on Sun 31st July - cancelled

Unfortunately the workday at Stubbins, up on the moors, stapling sheep netting to posts, needed a minimum number of people to make it viable as we'd be trying to cover a large area of moor.

With Sue (worksite leader) getting Covid and subsequently not having enough MNTV'ers to attend, we managed to find work at Hayfield thistle topping at the edge of the moor but again, covering a large area so we needed a minimum number of volunteers that we couldn't get, so this was cancelled.

Hopefully a week off will help swell numbers at Hardcastle Crags next Sunday.

Himalayan Balsam Pulling at Erddig on Sunday 24th July 2022

This week we joined the Merseyside Group for Himalayan Balsam pulling along the river which hasn't been touched in 3 years.  

Balsam outside the Outdoor Centre

We met in the Felin Puleston car park which on the outskirts of the Erddig estate with the worksite being a two minute stroll past the Felin Puleston Outdoor Centre.  We started pulling Balsam by the River Clywedog near the Outdoor Centre and worked our way along the riverbank.  

Some areas of Balsam were located on the other side of the river so some volunteers ventured into the water to cross over the river.

To pull Balsam correctly the plant has to be snapped between the root and the first notch on the stem as show above.

Birdwatching 

Some Balsam plants were huge!

In some areas Balsam was growing within brambles so slashers were used.

Balsam within a jungle of brambles

The day started off bright but by mid afternoon we had heavy rain and had pulled most of the Balsam so both groups finished early for the day.

Denise, Worsite Leader

Balsam and thistle bashing at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 17th July 2022

Four of us from MNTV joined Hardcastle ranger James and local volunteer Anthony for some thistle and Himalayan balsam removal, on the hottest day of the year so far.

Before.....

Thankfully there was some cloud cover in the morning, when we were pulling thistles in an open field near the estate office. By 11am we had cleared almost all of the thistles in the field.

.....and after!

After a morning break under the trees, we moved into the cool shade of the woods, via a stop-off to see a family of young horses that were born last year.

As the day got hotter, we were glad of the shade as we removed patches of balsam that had regrown in some areas of woodland where it had been removed in recent years. It was slightly tricky work on a steep slope among lots of brambles, but by 3.30pm we’d cleared a wide area, and ranger James was a happy man.

Text and photo's from Matt, who was the worksite leader

Balsam bashing at Gawthorpe Hall on Sunday 10th July 2022

Today five of us made the journey to Gawthorpe Hall which is just on the outskirts of Padiham near Burnely.  It was to have been six but unfortunately Hazel Longton, a former MNTV colleague who has recently moved to this area, was going to join us but tested positive for covid this morning so didn't make it.

We met Kayleigh the ranger, who joined Gawthorpe last August and is the sole ranger at the site, before making our way to the work site.  As we were walking Kayleigh was telling us how much the balsam had taken hold in places due to the lock down and not having volunteers to help clear it.

It was quite a large area of dense balsam and in some areas it was quite marshy.  We set to and started pulling and breaking and crushing as much as we could in the time that we had and apart from Andy H getting stung by a bee we had a really good day.  Kayleigh was more than made up with the difference we had made and couldn't believe how much we had cleared.

As a reward for our endeavours we had a tour of the hall.  It is such a beautiful place built in 1601 and it had remained in the Shuttleworth family until the 1960s when unfortunately due to the two world wars direct descendants had either been killed or died and the heir, being a cousin who already had an ancestral home, left it to the National Trust but still has some say in its running.  The hall itself is on lease to Lancashire Council so is not run by the Trust.

We had a lovely day, thankfully shaded from the sun as it was rather warm!  Thank you to Kayleigh for her hospitality and giving us the chance to view the hall and thank you to my colleagues for their hard work.

Christine 

Brash bashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 3rd July 2022

Today's workday was due to be at Speke but staff illness and leave forced its cancellation.  Thank you to Lyme for providing us with this alternative workday at short notice.

When we arrived at Lyme we were met by Flo.  We then took my car with all the equipment in up to the Staff & Volunteers car park behind the stables.  We then made the long walk to Coalpit Clough where we had previously bashed the rhody.  But today's worksite was further on and eventually we got to the enclosure.

Victor with his long legs reached it first and climbed over the ladder gate which was 7 feet high.  Martin then did followed by David who gave us a good laugh as he struggled to get through it.  Christine was the most nimble and disappeared through it followed by Andy and Adrian.  Flo was easily over it but Jenny and I both struggled as we clambered over.

The task was to clear around the best looking trees and then throw all the debris over the fence for the deer to eat.  We did suggest opening the fence and letting the deer in, but Flo said that they were not as careful as we were!

We cleared an area for us to have our coffee break and then extended that ready for lunch break.  It was a hard back breaking job which saw us all clutching our backs at some stage.  Adrian decided he had had enough and left us after lunch.  The rest of us carried on and we saw the result of our effort as we could see the saplings standing out from the rest.  We then faced the task of climbing under, through and or over the gate to get back out again.

Neil