Grassland management at Alderley Edge on Sunday 11th October 2026

Today we were joined by three new volunteers James, Ollie and Annie, making a very respectable turnout of 11, for our workday at Alderley Edge.  We were given seven jobs in total which made for a very varied day working in the top meadow at the old quarry.

I have to say thank goodness we had five young fit volunteers today because we needed to use tree poppers and mattocks.  They are not the lightest of tools to carry up to the worksite.

We made a massive impression, even though I do say so myself, on the birch trees, broom and brambles that needed removing including the roots, as well as topping off trees growing up from the bottom meadow.

Thank you to my colleagues for their hard work and good company and we hope to see all of them joining us again soon.

Christine

 

Weeding at Shugborough on Sunday 20th September 2026

Five of us met up with SSNTV (Shropshire and Staffordshire) at Shugborough on a warm and sunny morning.  It was our first time back at Shugborough since 21st August 2011, more than 15 years ago!  We were working with one of the gardeners, James, so expected to be in the garden, but instead we ended up in a big car park!

It’s coming to the end of the ‘Shaping Shugborough’ project which involves creating a second garden and building a completely new entrance, including reception building and carpark. 

The carpark is divided into sections by a combination of hedging and plants. The hedges are already in place and our job was to do the weeding before plants are added.

It’s a big car park and our combined group of 19 managed to clear 26 sections - but there's a long way to go yet.

James took us on a quick tour of the new Forest Garden. It’s a demonstration/teaching garden and includes only plants that have a use - in cooking, medicine, industries such as dyeing.  It also shows what beneficial plants can be grown in planters, small urban gardens, even industrial areas. The whole project has taken four years and has only been possible due to the hard work of volunteers.

But today at Shugborough will be forever remembered for cake!

The day was another successful collaboration with SSNTV and it was worth the drive to see the new garden. The grand opening will be in early 2027 and I highly recommend a visit.

Jean

Rhodybash on Park Head Moor (Hayfield) on Sunday 13th September 2026

Ten of us, including Jack who was with us for the first time, met Ranger Mark and new Ranger John in the Sett Valley Trail car park at Hayfield in the High Peak.

Once everyone was accounted for we drove the short distance to a small parking area near the access to Park Hall Moor.  We were going to spend the morning removing rhody re-growth from the moor.  Rhododendron ponticom is an invasive non-native shrub that severely damages native UK woodlands, habitats and wildlife, and many National Trust properties have spent many many years cutting it down and burning it to get rid of it.

I had a look and, on our current blog, the earliest entry I could find was on 6th January 2008 when nine of us did a rhodybash on the moor - but we'll have been doing rhodybashes even before then, but they aren't recorded on the blog we now use.

Before we started working, Ranger Mark told us that he had devised a system to ensure that the whole moor would eventually be covered by different groups of volunteers.  He had divided the moor into 'blocks' in his mind, and was ensuring each new group started in the correct place covering the area he wanted so he could minimise the risk that some areas were missed.

The moor was steep, so lots of uphill walking for us, plus it was uneven underfoot which was hidden by the bracken and heather.  There was also a steep slope down to the stream on one side, which was tricky to navigate, but we persevered and managed to fill many 'hippo bags' with the rhody branches.  The weather stayed dry so we had our coffee break on the moor but later, after completing the areas we had been assigned, we walked down to the Rangers shelter and had our lunch there.

After lunch, we went into the woods around Park Hall and found more rhody to destroy, also finding some Fly Agaric fungi under a tree.

We had a great day and also got lots done.  There was plenty of chatter and we learnt a lot from the tales told by Rangers Mark and John.  We hope it won't be long before we're back to tackle more rhody on the moor.

Sue B

Dune stabilisation work at Formby on Sunday 6th September 2026

Seven of us from MTNV met up with a big group of Merseyside volunteers (12 of them!) for a day's sand dune stabilisation work at Formby with ranger Jess.  The dunes were a 10-minute walk from the rangers compound on Blundell Avenue.

A lot had changed since Daniel's last visit to Formby in September 2023.  The worksite was at the red chevron on this OS map snip and since then the carpark has been demolished and relocated further inland.  The project in the cleared plot is to plant dead hedges that will trap sand and build up the dunes so they link to the duneland to the north and south.

We split into groups with some people building the fences and others including Daniel, Adrian and David collecting up bricks and broken glass in the former car park and piling it up for removal in the rangers' pickup.  At elevenses we shared a treacle traybake that Daniel had baked the day before:

The views from he tops of the dunes were splendid with countless wind turbines out at sea and Blackpool Tower distant to the north.

It was great to spend a day at the seaside in the fresh air and sunshine, reunite with our Merseyside friends and between us get a lot of good work done.

Thanks to Jenny for giving four of us from MNTV a lift from/to Styal.

Daniel

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