Staking out the Dahlias @ Biddulph Grange Gardens - 1st June 2025

I could just refer you to a previous blog for Biddulph...late spring, but that would be unfair.

Our annual pilgrimage to Biddulph to put the stakes in for the Dahlias along the famous Dahlia walk.   

The day started well with some sunshine poking between the clouds.  The Biddulph gardening team had organised everything with the end stakes in each bed set out, and the right number of stakes set out by each bed.  

 We had to put a line across between the stakes measure the gap divide the gap by the number of SPACES required in the map. Then place the stakes equal distance apart.   It turns out that despite my maths degree, arithmetic  is harder than it looks. But we did get the hang of it eventually.  The stakes were hammered in to make a solid support for the Dahlias.   

 We had a break for 11's when the local church bells peeled. 

                                                            

We went back to work and managed to get all the stakes in by lunch time. 

We just about managed to dodge the short shower. After lunch we set about digging holes in front of each stake so the gardeners could easily plant the Dahlia corms out this week.  We met a lots of members of the public during the day. We often paused to explain who we were and what we were doing, despite our earnest efforts no one  believed that the stakes would bloom once watered. 

We plan to be back in the autumn to take the stakes back out and label up the Dahlias ready to rest for the winter. 

Sunday 25th May 2025 - Spring Bank Holiday weekend - no workday

Removing fencing and tree guards at Lyme Park on Sunday 11th May 2025

Today should have been at Erddig but unfortunately they had to cancel at the last minute so a big thank you to Lyme Park for coming up with a workday for us.  It is much appreciated.

We met ranger Jason in the main car park and as there were only four of us he said we could park in the volunteer car park by the stables.  Phew!  That saved a steep walk.

Our job was to remove deer fencing up in Lantern Wood, so Jason loaded up the Kabuto with our bags etc. and we met him up at the top.

Youth rangers had been working on the two sections in the week so it turns out that we didn't need to remove many staples or lift out many of the inner posts we mainly had to collect the posts and stack them.  Then we pulled all the metal fencing down onto an even path and rolled it up.  Easy bit done now we had to take out the straining posts.

Well to cut a long story short, after a lot of hard work, especially in the heat, we managed it, and I do mean hard work as they were tall posts that were in the ground by a good 3 feet.

After we had moved everything from both worksites and stacked in one spot ready for collection, we made our way down to an area behind the gardens where we started to remove tree guards.  On the way down David and Victor decided that the way to get from one side of a wall to the other was via the dog hole rather than the stile!

It was a very hot day and a big thank you goes out to my colleagues and Jason for their hard work in these conditions, and also for their company.

Christine

38th AGM on Thursday 8 May 2025

We held our AGM tonight by zoom starting at 7:30pm.

Eight members attended:
Adrian Potts, Ally Hardy, Daniel Black, Denise Clark, Emma Summerhayes, Hazel Pryor, Jenny Pitcock and Sue Bonner.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Andy Hill, Christine Hill, Andy Screen, Charlie Spiller, Jean MacDonald, Neil Bonner and Karin Frood

The following matters were covered:

Minutes of 2024 AGM

Chairman's Report for the year ended 31 March 2025

Treasurer's Report for the year ended 31 March 2025

Election of the committee for 2025-26

AOB

After the AGM we had an interesting talk for an hour (including Q&A) from Issy Bovaird, ex-MNTV and now Lead Ranger, Alderley Edge.

Issy joined Alderley Edge from Lyme Park one year ago and has been getting to grips with what’s happening and what’s not quite right.  It’s been a difficult first year impacted by funding cuts post-covid (recruitment freezes, spending freezes) and to mitigate enforced cost increases (National Minimum Wage, employer National Insurance).  Alderley Edge has had to make cutbacks, for example plans to give visitors a better welcome (car park project) have been paused.

 

She talked about current and future projects at Alderley Edge in the context of the Trust’s recently announced new strategy for the next decade and beyond:

 

To restore nature – not just on National Trust land, but everywhere

To end unequal access to nature, beauty and history

To inspire millions more people to care and take action

 

To restore nature:

Examples at Alderley include insect surveys (to get a baseline for the insects Alderley has today) and “veteranising” trees (deliberately damaging their bark) to make them more hospitable to bugs.

Nine volunteers have been trained in baiting and trapping badgers so the badgers can be vaccinated against TB.

New groups are volunteering at Alderley: five schools have made bug hotels and some companies have done footpath work.

 

To end unequal access

Alderley have removed some gates and widened others.  They are doing lots of footpath work so that people can get around the woods.  The new Holy Well bridge went in to today.

 

To inspire people:

Trust staff are getting older and it is very important to get young people involved with the Trust and its work.  Alderley have an apprentice ranger for another year (who can work with us on Sundays) and Hare Hill is getting its own apprentice ranger.  Meanwhile, Tim Ryan (also ex-MNTV) continues to work two days per week.

See above re other volunteer groups getting involved at Alderley.

  

Bosley Cloud is a property covered by Issy and her team.  We talked about the access difficulties (uphill slog with tools to worksites) that we know deter members from going and wondered if anyone in MNTV has a 4x4 to drive tools up Gosberryhole Lane to the boundary with the open land.  The Congleton Harriers no longer do workdays there with Tim.

 

All in all, Issy’s first year at Alderley has been busy and next year is likely to be busier still with the requirement to do more for less.  We have several Alderley workdays in the programme and look forward to helping her out.

Daniel Black
MNTV Chairman

Sunday 4th May 2025 - Early May Bank Holiday weekend - no workday

Fencing and footpath repair at Styal on Sunday 27th April 2025

Six MNTVers met Ranger Stu on a warm and sunny morning to do various fencing tasks around Bank House Farm.  This is in preparation for cattle to be grazed in the surrounding fields.

The first job was to repair a couple of gateposts.  The base of one support post had rotted away but was still embedded in hard ground.  It needed lots of brute force with various post hole diggers and bars to clear it out.

The second gate had an unstable support post that was still usable.  Once the upright was reseated and level, stones and soil were used to anchor it in place.  As good as new!

The second job was to put a patch on a section of fencing that had been completely cut through by vandals.  A fresh strip was cut then ‘woven’ into the existing fence, filling the gap.

The last job was footpath repair.  A new path has opened up the area near Giant’s Castle steps for walkers but erosion has increased near the boardwalk.  This is at the bottom of a steep slope so we had to wheelbarrow stones down the hill and lay them amongst tree roots as a protective layer.

A picture of a pile of stones isn’t of much interest - unless you turn it into a group photo.  This was an unusual day, lots of smaller jobs instead of one big one, but it shows how the NT is balancing use of the area for farming and leisure.

Jean

Sunday 20th April 2025 - Easter Sunday - no workday

Cancelled - workday at Speke Hall on Sunday 13th April 2025

Unfortunately, today's workday at Speke Hall was cancelled at short notice because of a lack of staff availability.

There is no workday next week because it's Easter Sunday and so we resume our activities on Sunday 27th April at Styal.

MNTV Committee

Broom and gorse clearance and log bagging at Formby on Sunday 6th April 2025

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the sea ... well we almost were.

Six of us made the trip over to Formby to work with ranger Jess on what started out as a rather cold morning but with a beautiful blue sky.

We walked from the rangers offices to the worksite at Larkhill Heath.  This is an area we have worked in before when we laid the hawthorn hedge.  Today we were to chop down the broom and gorse which was growing very well and if not controlled would kill off the heather and overshadow other plant species as well as damage the hedge.

It didn't take long before the layers of clothing came off and the sun became quite hot - so much so that when we broke for lunch we changed jobs to give us some cover.

Formby cut and sell their own timber for log burners, so in the afternoon we moisture tested samples from each bay and as long as they tested below 19% they were bagged up and put into storage.  We also moved bags around to make room in the sheds nearest to the logs that are still drying.

Currently Formby have plenty of trees to be processed because they have started clearing the area that is going to be the new car park, so plenty more logs to be cut and split.  Some of these trees will be used to make more tables and benches - maybe a job for MNTV next time we visit.

Thanks to Jess for looking after us and thank you to my colleagues for their hard work in very warm conditions.

Christine

Constructing a cleft fence at Alderley Edge on Sunday 30th March 2025

We gathered at Alderley Edge carpark at 10am on clock change day, a little later (or earlier) than usual depending on whether you were on Saturday's time or Sunday's.

We left most of our cars in the main carpark and took one and the NT pickup loaded with equipment round to the Mottram Road quarry where there is only a small carpark.  The job was to remove the old fencing and replace with cleft fencing next to the carpark.

The new fence posts and cleft rails were being made from trees cut down on the Alderley Edge estate and are untreated wood, which means they are better for the local flora and fauna and have a low carbon footprint.

As the logs are locally sourced they didn't come presplit or with rail holes so we had to split one of the logs  to create a half post using wedges and hammers.  Splitting the log by following the natural grain of the wood gave it a rustic look.

We also shaped the ends of the cleft rails using hand axes so that they would fit into the holes we had to cut in the posts.

It was satisfying taking local timber and creating a fence with (mostly) hand tools. 

Jenny 

Woodland work at Chirk Castle on Sunday 23rd March 2025

Three of us met up at Quarry Bank Mill at 8:40 to carshare to Chirk Castle for 10am where we met up with four more members of the group.  The castle is an impressive sight on the hill.  We were working just inside the entrance (on the right) so we took two cars round the one way system to get to the worksite.

The mixed wood has had extra trees planted there over the last 10 years to fill in the gaps.  The trees still had plastic guards round them that had been put on to protect the saplings from rabbits.  Our job was to remove the guard from any tree with a stem bigger than our thumbs in a glove.  We set to work removing the guards and bagging them up.  By morning break we had filled two bags, so the ranger went back for several more.

By lunchtime we had filled enough bags to put on the back of a flat-bed truck, so one of the group went to help empty the truck.  The tree guards will be recycled by a specialist company and the stakes and reusable cable ties will be salvaged and reused.

We had another break for lunch.  Although the weather remained dry it was a bit cold to sit around for long so we went back to work.  By the end of the day we had collected guards from over half the trees and filled two flat-bed truckloads of large rubble bags with guards for recycling.  We drove back up to the castle to reunite people with their cars and travelled home.

The ranger was very happy with our progress and asked how to get us back to help again.  At the moment there are only two staff to look after the whole estate land so they really appreciate help from volunteer groups like MNTV.  The next time we visit the ranger. who we met on Sunday, will actually be living in the castle as warden.  What a fabulous address!

Jenny

Rhodybash at Lyme Park on Sunday 16th March 2025

The programme said Styal, but due to staff illness there they cancelled and so we contacted Lyme Park and asked if they would like some volunteers on Sunday.  Chris said he would be delighted to have our help and confirmed that the staff rota showed they had someone who could join us.  Ten of us gathered in the carpark at Lyme at 9:30, joined by Duty Ranger Claire, who had been in the park since 7am, enjoying the countryside.

We made our way up to Lantern Wood via the stable yard to pick up tools and fire lighting materials.  We followed the Kuboto up the right hand side of the wood until we reached the path taking you across to the Lantern.  Halfway along the wall up the hill beside Lantern Wood there is work being done to create a vehicle entrance and move the ladder stile.  When we stopped to catch our breath and take in the view across the Cheshire plain Claire explained what was going on:

The deer to the right of Lantern Wood have been overgrazing the moor and struggling to survive.  Although numbers have been reduced to an estimated 80 deer, Lyme decided that the best thing to do was to move the deer to the deer reserve along East Gate road on the other side of Lantern Wood.  They started to feed the deer with deer nuts from the back of the Kuboto whilst driving across the moor.  Over a few weeks the deer were happy to follow the vehicle to get the nuts.  Once they had about 60 deer willing to follow the vehicle they opened up the path through Lantern Wood and Pied Piper style led the deer through the wood following a trail of deer nuts!  The deer then mingled with the herd on the other side.  Buoyed by their success they decided to go through the same process to gather the remaining deer.  The remaining deer were more cautious but after a while they would recognise the vehicle and follow it.  This time they collected another 50 deer, more than expected, and after several more weeks they managed to lead this group through the wood to the better pasture on the other side as well.

After morning story time we made our way to the rhody to cut and burn.  There was a lot of rhody already cut and quite dry so we managed to have two fires going and also cut more rhody ready for another group to burn.

Jason swapped places with Claire in the afternoon and explained that the cutting season in Lyme is a bit longer than other places because the weather is a bit harsher up there and bird nesting is a bit later.  We did hear several birds, including a curlew.

Jenny

Rhodybash on Middle Moor, Hayfield, on Sunday 9th March 2025

Six of us went to Hayfield today and worked with rangers Chris and Mark.  We parked our cars in the rangers compound at Park Hall Manor then had an exciting drive onto Middle Moor in two 4x4s.  The worksite was at around 350m high and had wonderful views all round, especially of Kinder Scout and the Downfall.  It was a beautiful sunny day but with a cold wind blowing off Kinder.

The main plantation of rhoddies has been cleared from around the hall but there are still seedlings and young bushes that have spread up onto the moor and throughout the heather.

We pulled out the rhoddies by hand or cut them down with loppers and bowsaws and filled almost three large bags.  The rangers then hammered herbicide "bullets' into the stumps to kill the rhoddies.

A great day all round.

Martin

Cancelled - workday at Alderley Edge on Sunday 23rd February 2025

Daniel's days as workday leader are jinxed at the moment.  First he had to miss one in October because of flu, then Christmas in Cymru was curtailed because of a storm, the Hayfield day in January was cancelled for the same reason and then today's coppicing and tree planting at Alderley Edge was cancelled first thing in the morning because of high winds.  Such a shame, and not least because 13 had signed up so it was set to be our biggest turnout since last August.

He hurriedly at 8:15 emailed the group and sent texts to those who were coming to say it's off.  Nonetheless he went via Adrian's to Alderley to check if anyone had not got the cancellation messages and had turned up and so met Charlie, Mike and Martin.

What to do with 24 slices of chocolate cake?  It was much enjoyed by Megan, his parents and in-laws over the next week!

Next week we are at Lyme Park for our last rhodybash of the season.  Hopefully that day goes ahead and we see you there!

There are five workdays to go until our year end on 31st March, so if you are close to 50 hours for the year (since 1st April last year) then come along for a day or two to reach 50 hours and you'll earn a Volunteer Card as a thank you for your commitment to the cause and get the benefits for a year that go with it.

Daniel 

Hedge planting at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 16th February 2025

Four from MNTV travelled to Hardcastle Crags on a dry but very cold day, to help Ranger Alice and three of the Hardcastle Crags volunteers continue planting a hedge along the side of one of the paths.

It was to be a mixed hedge containing 68% hawthorn, 16% hazel, 11% crab apple and 5% dog rose.  There were also some rowan trees that were planted every 10 metres or so where there weren't existing overhanging trees nearby.

The 2,500 hedge and tree saplings, support canes and spiral protectors were all provided by the Woodland Trust and were being used to create wildlife corridors so small animals could travel more safely from one wooded area to another.  To help with that, the hedge was planted two saplings deep so there'd be plenty of width to the hedge for the wildlife to hide in, once it was fully grown.

Other volunteers had already planted 350 of the hedge saplings on previous occasions, and our group managed to finish the full length by planting a further 250 hedge saplings during our workday.

We had a coffee break in the field around 11:15, but walked back to Hollin Hall, the Rangers base, for our lunch break so we could sit 'al fresco' on proper picnic chairs and tables.

It was here that we were surprised to see a frame and the internal workings of a piano propped up, so asked Ranger Alice about it.

Sadly it had been fly-tipped on the Hardcastle Crags estate, down into a dip so it had to be winched out due to its weight.  What to do with it now was a bit of an issue, and there was discussion about whether it could be repurposed into a harp or other musical instrument, or whether it should be disposed of.

As we were finishing our planting in the afternoon, Victor's conversation started telling us about his running and yoga and how, during a recent yoga class, they were asked to do a headstand, but not many could do it.  He said that he'd been able to and, quick as a flash, walked further into the field and demonstrated it for us - amazing!!

We had a great day working with Alice and were delighted that we'd managed to do so much.

Sue B

Maintenance tasks at Dunham Massey on Sunday 9th February 2025

Today was our first workday at Dunham since 15th October 2023, because of ranger changes and Dunham reducing the opportunities for volunteers to help with estate work.

The weather was cold but dry so it was a very busy day at Dunham with lots of family groups and dogs.

The first task of the day for the nine-strong group of MNTVers was to give some TLC to the oldest tree on the estate.  This ‘veteran’ oak is about 500 years old and because it’s at the main entrance to the estate it gets a lot of attention from visitors.  So we spent about 90 mins spreading mulch in the surrounding area.  This will protect the roots and also provide nutrition.

Not much change to the scene but hopefully the work we did will help our ‘veteran’ survive another hundred years.

The next 90 mins was spent clearing out the cobbled edging to the path by the mill. 

This was another basic job but it will reduce the chances of the path flooding.

It was a short day due to reduced Ranger availability and both of today’s tasks were routine maintenance jobs. But that’s what keeps a National Trust property running.

Jean

Ivy clearance at Quarry Bank Mill on Sunday 2nd February 2025

Today eight of us continued the work started by our group on Sunday 15th December on Apprentice Lane of clearing the ivy that was growing through the hawthorn hedge (and in places, likely holding it up!).  By clearing the ivy and giving the hedge some space to flourish it’s hoped that in a couple of years it will be in a better condition to be able to lay it and create a decent barrier between the lane and the fields.

Although it was harder work on one side of the lane than the other to remove the ivy without getting scratched, it was a nice day, dry weather, cold but occasionally sunny, and there was some good banter between everyone.

We were pleased to welcome a new volunteer who joined us today.

We managed to fill a lot of hippo bags with ivy and they were taken to the nearby compound, and it was satisfying by the end of the day to see how much ivy we had cleared.

Sue B

Cancelled - workday at Hayfield on Sunday 26th January 2025

Sadly, today's workday at Hayfield was cancelled on Friday by the rangers because of forecast bad weather and the aftermath of Storm Eowyn.  The storm will have blown through by Sunday but they are still expecting winds of 40pmh+ with sleet/rain on Kinder where they had planned for us to carry out some footpath work.  Conditions not conducive to safe work!  The other option was carrying out rhody control in the woodland but following the storm the rangers need to do post storm inspections in the woods to ensure it is safe for any works to go ahead.  In addition, they have post storm inspections to carry out across the whole Kinder estate.

So, no workday today but we will see you at Styal next Sunday, 2nd February.

Birch thinning at Alderley Edge on Sunday 19th January 2025

After collecting tools from the rangers store, seven of us car-shared down to the work site at Mobberley Quarry.  We were working here at the end of last year doing the same job of clearing self-seeded birch.

As we found it very tiring last time, working individually as they had deep spread roots and were bedded in moss, we decided to work in teams.  Starting in the lower quarry it soon became apparent that it was far too wet and the tree poppers were just sinking into the ground.  Plan B ... we moved to the upper area and what a success!  We cleared the area!

What a team effort!!  Thanks to my colleagues for their hard work and perseverance.

Christine