Hedge trimming at Speke Hall on Sunday 21st August 2022

Five of us made the trip to Merseyside today to spend the day at Speke Hall.  It was Daniel's first visit since April 2019!  He and David carshared from Styal (crossing the Mersey Gateway bridge both ways) whereas Andy, Christine and Chris went direct.  Ranger Ian met us at 10:30 and set us off on the task which was to cut back a hedge on one side of the car park.  We used our loppers and Speke's shears (very sharp and a joy to use) and formed brash piles at intervals along the hedge for Ian and his colleagues to fetch up next week.

It was a bright sunny day and we were glad of the shade from the trees that we worked under.  All day long aircraft, particularly Easyjet, took off from Liverpool airport next door.  The later than usual start meant we didn't have our morning coffee break until 11:30 and then took lunch at 1.

The car park got very full after lunch.  Ian spent the morning repainting white bay markings in the car park so that in anticipation of a busy August bank holiday weekend more cars will be able to squeeze in.

Before we left some of us took up Ian's offer of a look round the Hall.  We finished the task at 3:30 and as a thank you Ian gave us 20 Easter eggs to share between us!!  They were surplus stock from April's Easter activities with a best before date of the end of September.  Thank you Ian!

Daniel

Scrub bashing at Hayfield on 14th August 2022

Six volunteers braved the gorgeous weather to spend the morning at Hayfield on Sunday 14^th August.  As it was so hot plans were changed so we did not go up onto the open hillside but stayed in the shade of the wooded area around Park Hall.  We used the slashers to cut back vegetation - bramble and bracken mostly - around paths and in a long, neglected garden area that the rangers are planning to open up again to use as a small tree nursery.

Lovely lemon drizzle cake was provided by Pip who had baked it in the microwave to avoid adding the heat of the oven to a very hot kitchen:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/microwave_lemon_drizzle_76127

The work was done by lunchtime so a couple of people headed off for a walk whilst others simply headed home for an unexpected free afternoon.

Pip

Balsam bashing at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 7th August 2022

Just three MNTVers met ranger James at 10:00 for the third balsam bashing session of the year at Hardcastle Crags. It was a hot day but not too uncomfortable - except for the flies!

We spent the morning on the steep hillside working in the same area as the last two sessions then after lunch continued further down the hill to the car parks. It can be difficult to see progress when tackling balsam so it was encouraging to see all the hard work we’d done here a few years ago had paid off and we just needed to concentrate on clearing a couple of pockets of ‘infestation’.

It was a bit late in the season for balsam bashing and some of the flowers were ‘popping’ their seeds as we pulled them so it will be interesting to return next year and see, or rather not see, the result of our hard work.

Jean