Log splitting at Styal on Sunday 22nd February 2015

12 of us braved the predicted awful weather at Styal to cut logs and burn felled trees from the estate.  Simon the ranger is trying to clear trees to restore the view to the village, clear damaged trees and also for a possible new home for newts!

 

A group used the logging machine to clear some felled trees.  Another two groups started to build fires and cut branches ready for burning.  The logging team did an amazing job and filled two trailers full of freshly cut logs.  With a lot of work and some help from the rangers we eventually got two fires going.

Unfortunately the weather made a turn from bad to awful and we finished early, being tagged out by the junior rangers.  I think Simon was quite pleased with how much we achieved in the conditions. 

 

Some of us went for a hot drink next to radiators in the cafe to dry out before driving home.
Thanks for all the hard work volunteers! See you all soon.
Lisa

Rhody bash at Lyme Park on Sunday 15th Feb 2015

Another great turnout with 15 of us rhody bashing in Lyme Park including 7 'newbies'.

We met in the main carpark but took a while to sort out which cars we would take to the smaller Knott car park and who would share lifts with who. It worked out okay though as we were waiting for a couple of new ladies who had had got the train from Manchester to Disley station and were still walking up the main drive to meet us. Once we realised this, Craig (NT Ranger) headed off in his vehicle to pick them up and then we all headed off to Knott car park. Once we were parked, we climbed up onto the ridge on the left and walked to just below Paddock Cottage. Luckily we were going to be working on a relatively flat area and there was a previous firesite that we could re-use to get a fire going, which was a bonus! - Adrian quickly got a fire started.

We spread out along the length of the rhody 'hedge' and worked hard to cut down the rhody branches, drag them nearer to the fire, where others were cutting the branches into smaller lengths to be burnt on the fire.

The weather was crisp and dry and the views were wonderful!

A few volunteers couldn't stay all day so left around lunchtime, so our numbers fluctuated a little. Fortunately for Sue (worksite leader), Tricia kindly donated her lunch before she left because, for the first time in over 15years of being a NT volunteer, Sue had forgotten her rucksack containing her lunch as well as her work boots! Her wellies were in her car boot so she wore those and didn't starve because of Tricia's delicious lunch:-) Sue's excuse for this lapse in memory was that she'd been so busy making sure she took her home-baked lemon drizzle cake for our mid-morning break, that everything else went out of her head!

We had a great day.
By late morning, parking spaces at Lyme were in short supply with cars queuing on the A6 to get in, so Craig had to head off to supervise the parking. A bit later, Jamie(Ranger) and a DofE helper came along to assist us and Chris (Lyme Lead Ranger), who was on his day off and running through Lyme Park, heard we were on site and found where we were to say 'hello'. Later in the afternoon, Sue D who is a Lyme Ranger and a MNTVer, came over to see how we were getting on and have a chat.
It was a busy but very enjoyable day and, at the end of the afternoon, most of us were still on site to have our photo taken.

Grateful thanks to Tricia for giving Sue her butties!

Hedgelaying at Alderley Edge on 8 February 2015

15 of us, including a newbie and couple of recent starters, braved the wilds of Alderley Edge to continue the hedgelaying task that was started in January.  We split into groups tackling the hedge, the fire and taking down the wire fencing.  Tim the ranger told us that some members of the public would be paying to have a go at hedgelaying soon so we were very lucky to be getting to do it for free!!

A fire saga ensued, possibly due to us working in rather dense fog.  To Adrian's credit he did not give up and, assisted by lots of the group, got a fantastic fire going by the afternoon!  We battled thorns and sheep and in my (possibly biased) opinion did the best job of hedgelaying I have ever seen.  Whatever is left will likely be our job for our next trip out to Alderley so hopefully we will see you all again for round 3 on 22 March.

After the mile walk back involving mud slides and areas looking like something out of Wuthering Heights a rather muddy group arrived back at the car park.  A few of us headed to the pub for a hot drink or pint.

Thanks to everyone for making it a great first leading experience for me.  Even more fancy cakes are promised for next time.  A special thank you to Tim, John, Matt S and Mick for showing their groups how to manage the task and for keeping things on track through the day.  Lisa

Social: curry night at The Griffin on Weds 28th January 2015

Riddle: when is a curry night not a curry night?
Answer: when they've run out of curry! (............but fortunately it can still be a great social occasion)

The story goes............... having booked a table at the 'recently re-furbished' Griffin Hotel at 7.30pm for 11 people, Sue rang to find out which curries were on offer that evening, and was told that there was a choice between Chicken Tikka and Beef Madras.

Most of us met at the bar by 7.30pm and, after a short while standing chatting, we were shown to our table and continued chatting for a bit longer as two of our group were arriving a little late. Once we were all there we, individually or in pairs, started to go up to the counter to order our food (most of us wanted the chicken tikka). However, we quickly found out that they only had one portion left and the first person to order from our group, got it!

Then we had the dilemma, did we choose something from the standard menu or did we go for the beef madras (which we knew was a hotter dish)? In the end, because we had intended having a curry on the curry night, most of us had the beef madras.....but it was much hotter than a tikka and certainly brought Andy out in a bit of a sweat!

Although it was great to get a good turnout and the opportunity for a social chat, instead of just meeting on a worksite on a Sunday, it wasn't quite the curry night that we expected!

 

Tidying up on the Styal estate on Sun 25th Jan 2015

We had a great turnout of 17 volunteers to help NT Ranger Tim clear the grounds around a couple of the thatched cottages on the estate.

There were lots of smallish tasks that needed doing so, after Tim had shown us what they all were, we broke off into smaller groups and started work.

The first task was to get the fire burning so it could be fed with branches, ivy and dry undergrowth all day.

 The weather was great - dry and crisp :-)

We spread out and started the tasks that needed doing: thinning undergrowth at the side of the car park; reducing the height of the laurel hedge at the side of the car park; clearing ivy from the walls, windows and doors of one of the cottages; helping clear an area where Tim the Ranger was chain-sawing some tree's that had grown too high; thinning and tidying up a hedge that was being used to show the youth Rangers how to lay a hedge later in the afternoon; clearing the garden area at the front of the larger cottage; clearing the path at the front of the cottage of mud and moss.

We had a break for coffee and, for the first time!, Sue took a home baked cake with her to share round - a banana loaf!!

We continued with the tasks after break and worked for another hour and a half before stopping for lunch, after which Tim the Ranger felled a large tree in the back garden of the cottages, creating extra work. We had to remove the smaller branches and ivy from the tree and put them on the fire. The tree was going to be cut up for logs later.  

The larger of the cottages.

We ran out of jobs around 2.30pm so finished earlier than usual, after most of us posed for a group photo.

 It was great to have 4 'newbies' out with us and we hope they enjoyed the day and will be back again with us soon:-)

Hedgelaying at Alderley Edge on 18 January 2015

Quite a large turn out this week with 14 volunteers braving the snow and ice to carry out hedgelaying at Alderley Edge.  We met in the main car park at 9.30 and walked the muddy mile to the worksite.  We split into four groups: three groups of two to carry out the hedgelaying, one group of three who dug a post hole through solid sandstone (quite a feat with nothing but hand tools) and one group of four to trim the hedge and have a bit of a chat.  Unfortunately the fire never got going so the four girls decided to decamp to the local pub for hot chocolate (one stalwart managed to find her way back to the worksite!).  At the end of the day we had laid about 12 meters of hedge and concreted in the fence post and erected a short section of fence. The ranger Tim Ryan seemed very happy with our work and it was with a feeling of a job well done that we left the site and adjourned to pub for a quick one.  Tim O'Donnell

Rhodybash at Lyme Park on 11 January 2015

The battle against rhododendron ponticum continued on the West Drive at Lyme.  Fourteen MNTV volunteers ensured that more progress was made, despite the slope and the mud.  It was a cold, but clear day and a good amount of rhodi was cut and burnt.  Later, the rangers will chainsaw the stumps and treat them.  Grubbing them up is not an option, as their roots are holding the steep bank together.

A good start to the MNTV working year.

Mick