Biddulph Grange Garden 23 May 2010

Seven of us went to Biddulph Grange Garden near Congleton for a joint workday with Wolverhampton NTV. The twelve of us spent the day weeding a patch of ground beside Lime Avenue. We left the foxgloves, hollies and yew saplings in place but hoed, pulled and dug out everything else and left the weeds in neat piles dotted around the area.

It was the hottest day of the year so far and we were glad to be working in the shade of the limes. The garden was thronging all day long with people enjoying the beautiful weather and vivid spring colours. Hopefully lots of them rated their visit "Very Enjoyable" and helped Helen Wilshaw meet her "customer satisfaction" target.

The more active members of the group now have name badges. Remind Daniel to give you yours when you next see him.

Erddig

Thirteen volunteers travelled to Erddig near Wrexham for the weekend.

We arrived on Friday night at the Yale Hostel and were welcomed by Charlie who had salad, jacket potatoes and two pots of Chili (vegetarian, and not) - on the table ready for us. After an evening chatting at catching up we drifted of to bed in one of the three dorms, and resurfaced on Saturday morning at a various times but all quite early.

We had breakfast - cereal / porridge and bacon butties, and prepared lunches. We were ready in time for the warden who arrived at 9:00. Most of the group collected bikes and dropped their kit off in the land rover, some people listened to the description of where the work site was - but most people just followed the person at the front - who turned out to have been one of the ones who was not listening! After a short detour we cycled back to a field where we met up with the walkers and the land rover.

The task was to build a post and rail fence ready of a carriage driving event later this summer. We started the fence in the middle and worked in tow teams towards the ends - as the ends do not need to connect directly to other fences this method worked well here - allowing all of the group to get involved. The fence we built is one of a pair that define an area for the audience between two "arenas".

We started painting the fence on Saturday afternoon once we had reached one end.

At the end of Saturday we were pleased with out efforts and so was Bryn the warden. We returned to base, got cleaned up, and cooked supper - chicken casserole followed by Rhubarb Crumble, then walked to the pub.

The walk was far better than the pub - and it had been a long day so we drifted of a little earlier, and again resurfaced in the morning with different people reappearing at different times ranging from 5 am to 8:30. Still we were ready for work at 9, and walked to the field, we finished the fence (approx 120 yards), and got it all painted .


We ate our sandwiches in the garden of the hostel, cleaned up after ourselves, and then went for a tour of the house before returning home. The weather on both days was bright with sunny spells, cool with quite a strong breeze, the promised rain did not materialise which made the conditions ideal for getting a lot of work done.

More pictures can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/MntvMemSec/ErddigWeekend201002# and http://picasaweb.google.com/MntvMemSec/KarinSErddigPhotos#

Dunham Massey

Eleven volunteers turned out and spent the day making good progress with the edging of charcoal drive.

The beauty of this job is that you can safely work close enough together to talk, and you can see the difference you are making.


We had an interesting break at lunch time - a tour of the house which was populated for the day by some of the "staff and family". Arthur was keen to be photographed with the footman - we obtained permission and did not use a flash.

Over the course of the day we did a considerable length of both sides, though it is difficult to judge from the photographs.The distance to the trailer in this last picture is about 1/3 of the total that we trimmed

24th AGM on Monday 26th April 2010

We held our annual agm,

Dealt with the election of committee members, accounts etc

Ate a selection of quiches, scones, cakes and biscuits baked & supplied by our voluteers

and received a short talk on interacting with visitors and enhacing their experience of National Trust properties.

Styal 25/4/10

No suitable photos this week - due to camera shake - unless one of the other volunteers sends me one!

Eight volunteers turned out to Styal, met up with the head gardener on his day off and were set a task clearing up an area which he plans to develop as a picnic area.

This involved clearing three piles of assorted prunings and dead wood, digging out tree roots, and re stacking the debris beside the drive so that it could be easily removed during the following weeks. Wildlife seen including a mouse, a rabbit and a robin.

We had sunshine and showers with it getting heavier towards the end of the day - which we finished with a guided tour of the garden - stopping to admire a variety of Magnolias, Rhododendrons, camellias, and bulbs including dogs tooth violet and tulip.

Dunham Massey - drive edging and biker watching

Today four of us went to Dunham and with John Mann (warden) edged a 100m section of Charcoal Drive near the house. We have done this job periodically over the past few years but the grass/soil soon spreads back over the road surface and we often had to cut back six inches of growth to reach the original kerb. The park was thronging with people all day and it felt good to be working in the public eye.

Where was everybody else? You all missed a good workout in the "green gym" and a spectacular motorbike procession:

At 14.00 the tranquillity was broken by the sound of 300 revving engines as bikers appeared at Charcoal Lodge, drove slowly up the drive and parked near the house. The occasion was the Bike & Bikers' Blessing, now in its third year. A fifteen minute remembrance service - broadcast over a PA system from a makeshift platform - saluted fallen bikers and gave the Lord's blessing to the assembled crowd for their adventures this year on the Open Road. The bikes looked magnificent, especially the Harley Davidsons with their immaculate paintwork and gleaming chrome - clearly their owners' pride and joy. After the service the bikers roared off to Dunham Village for the blessing as they rode past the church.

Hayfield - 11 April

Eleven volunteers turned out and spent the day "Rhodi bashing" near hayfield. The original plan was cotton grass planting but there wouldn't have been enough plants to go round we would have run out of plants in less time than it would have taken to get to where they needed to be planted. So that job has been put back in the callendar until more plants are available.

The work was on a steep slope but we made progress and the wardens managed the fires.

The weather was wonderful, we had a good turn out and stopped for a drink in the pub and a chat before heading home.