Pond work and Buckthorn removal at Formby on Sunday 13th October 2024

Seven volunteers met up with ranger Al at the Lifeboat Road car park who gave us directions to the worksite which was a good 10 minute walk from the car park in the dunes behind the caravan park.  We did manage to get slightly lost on the way to the pond and on the way back to the car park later!

Al explained that the ranger team have created a series of pond slacks with a hope that these could be used for newts to lay their eggs, over time the ponds have become overgown with vegetation.  Al showed us one pond that had been cleared by volunteers the previous week, it looked good and I thought easy task this will take no time..... how wrong was I.  

Each pond is double fenced (to stop dogs from entering), the first hurdle was actually getting over the fences as they were quite high and some of us have little legs!  This is where Al's step stool comes in, Al thinks of everything and even brought a tub of biscuits - thank you.

Pond - before vegetation removal

Shovelling out vegetation around the pond was quite hard work as the sand was quite wet and some plants had fairly deep roots.  There were three tasks around the pond: remove vegetation from the outer edge of the pond, dredge pond using plastic rakes and pulling out buckthorn using a tree popper.  We split up into groups around the pond and got to work.  

  

Pond dregding

After an hour or so it really was time for a break and we were able to sit down and sample Mr Kipling's finest fruit pies, bakewell tarts and chocolate logs.  We definately needed this break, the weather was fine and the sun was peeping through the haze so it was getting quite warm with the physical work and mild day.

We saw a few frogs and some newts...

Frog leaping into the water (top left)

Newt

At lunchtime Al was telling us about the plans for the overgrown dunes area (500 acres), the rangers are looking at the possibilty of grazing cattle in the dunes over the winter months as the vegetation is so dense that in places it is waist high and cattle grazing is the only way to reduce it.  The rangers have estimated that one cow and calf could munch through one acre per year so they are going to need quite a few cows and it will be a very long project!  The cows will be fitted with GPS collars that act as a virtual fence that will buzz if the cows are straying out of the area.  

Pond - after clearance

After lunchtime we had removed as much vegetation as was possible and it was decided to move onto removing buckthorn from outside the pond compound.  Again we split up into groups with some people choosing to use the tree poppers (this definitely needed two people as the roots of the buckthorn are very deep and the tree popper effectively snaps off part of the root) and other people used the good old loppers which were much easier to use.

Buckthorn removal with tree popper

What a lovely day we all had, we didn't get to see the beach or the sea (think the tide was too far out) and the worksite was too far to walk anyway.

p.s. apparently there are over 30 slack ponds.... to be continued at a future workday, no doubt.

Denise
Worksite Leader  

Rhodybash at Park Hall, Hayfield on Sunday 6th October 2024

Today, we had a good sunny day rhodybashing at Park Hall, Hayfield.  There were two bonfires going which is always fun.  Most of the rhodies have been cleared from within the walled area of Park Hall with a few scattered areas hanging on and small areas of regrowth - a big improvement on how it looked a few years ago thanks to many visits by our group and others.  The ranger thanked us for all our work.

Martin

Birch pulling at Bickerton Hill on Sunday 29th September 2024

 Three of us returned to Bickerton Hill for the first time since June 2014, we were working with ranger Sam and his spaniel dog, Will.

It was a beautiful sunny autumnal day, the worksite was a short five minute walk up the hill from the car park.

When we arrived at the worksite Sam explained that the birch had taken over the heath and had been sprayed approx a year ago.  The team were trying to bring the area back to heathland with ferns, heather, blackberries, bilberries, gorse and bracken.

The birch tress were small enough to pull out of the ground so we didn't need any tools.

Heathland before birch removal

Birch before removal

Area cleared of birch

Birch pulling

During the day Sam drove his tractor onto the site and started to remove the stacked piles of birch that we had pulled.

Sam's tractor removing birch from site

Volunteers with Will the Spaniel

Will the spaniel had a great day running around the heath, there were lots of people walking dogs so he met lots of lovely four legged friends.


During the day I took photos of the various plants/fungi in the area.

Area cleared of birch

At the end of the day we were all shattered but felt a great sense of achievement, such a small group had achieved a big task.

End of the day photo

We are due to return to Bickerton later in October and will be joined by the Merseyside group.  

Denise 

Worksite Leader

Clearing undergrowth below the Giant Redwoods at Biddulph Grange Garden on Sunday 22nd September 2024

Seven from MNTV met ranger Holly and Biddulph volunteer Nigel on a damp Sunday morning in the main car park at Biddulph Grange Garden near Congleton.

This was an 'extra' workday for MNTV at Biddulph Grange as usually we only visit in the Spring to stake out and plant the Dahlia tubers and in late Autumn when we dig up the tubers so they can be stored for the next year.  Sadly though, we never get to see the dahlias at their best, in full bloom, unless we visit the garden independently between times.

For this workday, we'd asked if we could view the dahlias before we started the task(s) for the day and, although it started raining on us, it didn't deter our delight at seeing the different varieties, colours and shapes of the dahlia blooms.

We'd already dropped our rucksacks off in the volunteer room, so after seeing the dahlias we walked to the Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Redwoods) on Wellingtonia Avenue (Long Walk) where we met up with Holly, who had brought all the tools we needed in the NT vehicle.  We then started clearing the brambles and small trees from under the Giant Redwoods using shaped hoes, loppers and tree poppers.  The poppers helped to get up the roots of the small trees and large brambles.  Some of us also scraped the weeds from the edges of the path to tidy it up.

It drizzled and rained on us most of the day, so we went back to the house for our morning break and our lunch to sit indoors, in the drawing room.

By the time we had to leave, we'd tidied up the Long Walk path edges and had cleared the brambles and small trees from under more than half of the Giant Redwoods.  Although it was disappointing not to have been able to finish it all before we left maybe, if we get a good turnout when we're back in a few weeks to lift the dahlia tubers, we may have enough people spare to finish today's task as well,

Sue

Hedge, fence and bench work at Styal on Sunday 8th September 2024

The weather was damp but not warm as seven of us gathered to meet ranger Ashley.  There was a mix of tasks, but all in the field next to the carpark.  We split into three teams, one trimming back the hedge on the exit to the overflow carpark, another removing an old fence and a third moving a bench so it has a better view.

After a mid-morning break under the education centre's lovely wooden shelter, we all went to move the bench, which was now out of the ground.  It was heavy so it took all of us to carry it to the new location.

After lunch the bench team joined the fence team and we managed to get all the fence out and the rubbish loaded on the truck.  The hedge team also managed to bag all the rubbish, which was taken to compost.

Jenny

Log spitting and fence repairs at Formby on Sunday 1st September 2024

We thought we were in for a hot sunny day, well that's what the forecast said earlier in the week, but it was not to be.

Six of us met with ranger Al who had a plan A and a plan B.  We plumped for plan A to start which was log splitting and stacking said split logs.  Unfortunately, the log splitter decided it wasn't playing and started to leak oil very badly.  Two of us stayed and tried using long handled axes to split some logs that wouldn't go through the splitter, to no avail.  I suppose if a log splitter can't do it what made us think we could!

So to plan B.  Four of the group went to dismantle some of the damaged benches and tables and tried to repair them.  The bolts holding the benches together had other ideas, and although they managed to remove most of them at least one wouldn't budge. So... end of plan B!

Plan C was to make new benches.  We managed to complete one, almost complete another and half completed a seat with back.

We had a wonderful day and the weather stayed dry right up to us going home then the heavens opened.

Thanks to my colleagues for their hard work and ingenuity, and thanks to Al and all at Formby for a great workday.

Christine

Sunday 25th August 2024 - Summer Bank Holiday weekend - no workday