Sunday 30th August 2026 - Summer bank holiday weekend - no workday

Footpath work and balsam bashing at Erddig on 23rd August 2026

We went to Wales this week and joined forces with the Merseyside NT group.

The task was to flatten the ground ready for a wheel-friendly footpath along the river. It was a warm day by any standard, but cooler than some this summer, and we had some shade. It was hard work with pickaxes, spades and shovels making sure that the rise from the new bridge over a stream wasn’t too steep to push a wheelchair up (or so steep on the way down that the wheelchair would end up in the stream).

We took it in turns and had the usual break for cake in the morning. By lunchtime we had the path level enough for easy access.

We sat and ate lunch in the shade, with the smell of wild garlic, which we had dug up when widening the path.

In the afternoon, we went on a seek and destroy mission along the riverbanks, looking for Himalayan Balsam. We found plenty to keep us going until it was time to leave for home.

We also found a few balsam hidden in trees that had grown rather large: 

It was great to see the Merseyside group again and thanks to the ranger for giving up his Sunday so that we could work on site.

Jenny

Ragwort pulling at Hare Hill on Sunday 16th August 2026

Today's planned workday at Hayfield was cancelled by ranger Chris due to the extreme fire risk and the need to allow for fire patrols and ranger response if required so instead five of us met ranger Issy at Hare Hill for a day of ragwort destruction.  Thanks Issy for providing us with a work task at short notice!  We hadn’t worked at Hare Hill since September 2018 because it is a garden property, not landscape where we normally work.

The estate includes farmland and the field we worked in is currently not useable for grazing because ragwort is poisonous to animals.  A corporate group had already done some work but there was still more than enough to keep us occupied for the day.

We used forks designed specifically to dig out the ragwort but it was still tiring as it was another hot day and the ground was so hard.  David managed to burst into life again after a supply of stem ginger cake.

We didn’t manage to clear the whole field but we did our bit to make the field useable for grazing.

Jean

Scything and raking at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 2nd August 2026

Five of us from MNTV met up with five volunteers from the West Yorkshire National Trust Volunteer group and Hardcastle Crags Rangers Alice and Lily with high hopes that the 12 of us would make a big impact on today's tasks.

We loaded the Rangers' vehicle with the tools we'd brought with us and our rucksacks and walked from the Midgehole upper car park to a small area of grassland called Rom's Folly, which was on the left of the path as we walked towards Gibson Mill.

We quickly realised that most of Rom's Folly was a steep slope with a flatter area towards the bottom, which was nearer to the river.  There were lots of flies and midgey things about so we liberally applied our anti-mosquito spray to avoid getting bitten.

There were various tasks that needed doing today.  The whole area needed scything to get rid of the overgrown vegetation, but to ensure the land remained nutrient deficient we then had to rake the cut grasses and carry them to the side of the area and throw them over the wall.  After a demonstration of how to use a scythe by Ranger Alice, and the advice to 'walk' the area first to ensure no sleeping hedgehogs were hiding, Kate, James and David went down to the flatter area to work.

The rest of us stayed at the top of Rom's Folly, on the steep slope.  Some started removing the fern either by pulling up the smaller plants or slashing them or scything them or by using secateurs.  Again, we piled up anything that was cut down so it could be gathered together and thrown over the stone walls, so it wouldn't rot down in Rom's Folly and fertilise the land.

The third task was to gently remove the seed heads of the flowering Himalayan balsam that were on the steepest area, near the path.  We don't usually tackle balsam in this way.  Usually, earlier in the season we would pull the whole plant and its roots out of the ground, and snap the roots from the stem so it can't re-root and throw it to the floor to die.  However, the balsam today was so ripe that the seed pods were on the verge of bursting to spread seeds over a large area, for plants to grow next year.  If we had tried to pull the plants out as usual, the action would have spread the seeds at the same time, which we didn't want to do, so a gentler approach of using secateurs to cut the flowers and seeds off and disposing of them in a black bin bag was the best way of dealing with them.

I have to confess, the tasks were quite hard work, particularly because we were also on a slope in the full sun, but we kept ourselves hydrated, took breaks when needed, ate lots of cake at mid-morning break, and home-made flapjack (courtesy of the West Yorkshire group) at lunchtime.

It was, all in all, a great day, we got loads done, met some lovely fellow-volunteers, and chatted to members of the public that were walking past and curious about what we were doing.

Sue B