Sunday 13 December 2009

Birch bashing at Dunham Massey 13/12/2009

The last few visits we have had to Dunham Massey have involved taking out Birch regrowth near the carpark. These small trees had grown up since the National Trust took the estate over, because the land arround the car park could no longer by grazed.

The birch itself is not really a problem - but Himalayan Balsam is growing under it, and the birch greatly complicates efforts to eraicate the Balsam.

16 volunteers turned out and spent the day cutting and burning the Birch and some Ash regrowth - recreating a more open pattern of vegitation which should be simplify the longer term aim of getting rid of the Balsam.

Monday 7 December 2009

Hardwick Hall weekend - 4-6th December 2009

Early in day - start of jobA number of our volunteers spent the weekend staying near Hardwick hall.

We arrived on Friday at various times - some had a cup of tea in the pub, others arrived just in time for a light supper of home made soup, cheese, pate, French bread and grapes - while still more arrived in time for bed.

Cleared area with large fireSaturday dawned bright and clear - and we set off on foot to a patch of alder coppice - beside one of the lakes. It was very wet underfoot, but on our second attempt we got the fire going, and managed to burn a significant fraction of the brash that resulted from recoppicing the area.

Where possible wood was saved for stakes that will be used elsewhere on the estate. Although there was some cloud building up by lunch time there was no significant rain until after we had returned to base where hot showers, mince pies, tea, coffee and mulled wine were all available.

We had a very good dinner centered on a local turkey - followed by Christ mass pudding. The evening was then spent in jovial company playing a variety of team and individual games.

On Sunday morning those who did not need to return immediately - had a walk in the park and looked / listened in in at the hall where carols were being sung.

more text / photographs - if I can get someone to write it - and when I can get this computer to behave

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Pub Theatre night 3 December 2009

Tonight we went to the pub at The Royal Exchange Theatre. The studio was remarkably transformed into a realistic pub, complete with a functioning bar, pool table and darts board. We sat at tables dotted around the room while the actors, who were also dotted around the room, discussed their experiences of fatherhood. After the interval (during which we played dominoes) the flirting and agressive behaviour so often seen in pubs were cleverly re-enacted by three actors. The flirting was quite entertaining but the violence of a man to his girlfriend was rather horrific and left most of us in stunned silence. I would have preferred to have been on one of the nights with some light-hearted stand-up comedy and live music but it's always good to experience something new. It was certainly a novel idea that gave us something to think about.

Sunday 29 November 2009

Helsby Hill 29//11/9

I overslept and missed this - words mostly copied from Sue's email

We met with 7 from the Merseyside volunteers and did a litter-pick, cut back overhanging branches from the pathways and cleared fallen leaves where there
was a safety issue. Although the work wasn't taxing, it was nice to work
with the Merseyside group.

Unfortunately it rained on us a few times and, as the Merseyside group keep
the property well maintained anyway, once we'd done a circuit of the paths
and cleared them, we decided to call it a day.

Monday 23 November 2009

Styal - 22 November 2009

Fire photo and brash (fuel pile)
Today's workday at Biddulph had been cancelled mid-week owing to a waterlogged worksite. Thanks to Dave Standen (Cheshire Properties) and Alan Knapper we were able to change the venue to Quarry Bank Garden. Four of us and Marilyn, a Sunday garden volunteer, worked on a bonfire in the top meadow.
D. feeding fire
We teased apart the nearby "intwigulated" brash pile and then wheelbarrowed the cuttings - branches, leaves, hay, etc - over to the fire. A stiff breeze fanned the flames all day and the matter was quickly consumed. The expected rain failed to materialise and it was pleasing to get something out of the day when on Wednesday it had looked like we might be idle.

Saturday 21 November 2009

Poynton Ceilidh 21 November 2009


Six of us went to a ceilidh at the Poynton Community Centre and had a fun evening do-si-do-ing, galloping and stripping-the-willow to the tunes of The Committee Band. There were about fifteen dances throughout the evening, some with names like Substitution Square and Boston Tea Party, and with mis-steps and laughs aplenty we muddled our way through them all!

Sunday 15 November 2009

Styal (Quarry bank house gardens) 15 November 2009

Five volunteers turned out on another sunny sunday that turned up in a string of wet days. The work was in the orchard associated with the garden, and consisted of tidying up bricks, edging stones, and the remains of some trees that were cut down at least a year ago. As the wood and brash was well seasoned hard wood the fire was very hot with comparatively little smoke or flame.

Sunday 8 November 2009

Lyme Park 8 November 09

Nine volunteers turned out to Lyme park for what turned out to be one dry day in a very wet week.

Photo of group and fire at lunch timeLantern wood is a site where we have been before on more than one occassion. It is a comparatively young part of the landscape 0f Lyme park and consists of mostly short lived tree species with an understory Rhodadendron. In time the trees will die out and there is no natural regeneration due the the grazing pressure of deer - so a number of areas within the wood have been cleard fenced and replanted. The plan being to have some sort of continuation in the 40-60 years time that it is needed! Photo of cleared area next to fenced enclosure
One large area in the corner of the wood was cleared of rhodadendron by our group over a series of days including 2 megabash weekends (a year appart) where we had arround 30 people out 2 days running. Half of it was later planted and the sapling in this area were being overrun by birch and rhodadendon seedlings - so one group weeded that. A second weeded the cleared area outside the fence that handn't been planted and a third cut and burned rhodadendron that was encroaching on one of the smaller fenced areas.

The fire was a pain to start due to the previous wet weather but once going we did manage some jacket potatoes. As usual by the time they were cooked everyone had eaten their sandwiches and were full!

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Pie night 4 November 2009

As the weather suddenly became colder, we appreciated a hearty pie supper at the Coach and Four in Wilmslow. There were a range of homemade pies on offer and we were spoilt for choice, chicken and asparagus, pork and stilton, turkey and cranberry, exotic fish.... The pies had proper short crust pastry, which had been cooked with the contents, and were served with peas, carrots, chips and gravy (quite a plateful!). They tasted as good as they looked and fuelled some heavy discussions, ranging from quantum physics and Archimedes to underpants and floor boards.

Monday 26 October 2009

Snowdonia Marathon

The raceI missed this one - thanks to Daniel for words and pictures

Nine of us travelled to Wales this weekend to spend Saturday marshalling at the 27th Snowdonia Marathon. The weekend has been a fixture in the MNTV calendar since the 1990's and for some of the group putting the clocks back one hour and spending Saturday night at the Hendre Isaf basecamp go hand in hand!

Feed stationTim, Karin, Arthur, Mick, Pip, Hazel and Adrian manned the Bryn Gwynant (8 miles) and Llyn Dinas (10.5 miles) feedstations between them and handed out drinks, sponges and words of encouragement to the passing runners. Thanks for all your efforts guys! Successful staging of the race relies on a host of volunteers and you did a great job.

The runners - Daniel and PatrickDaniel and Patrick completed the pact they made last year and both ran the race this time, clocking respectable times and battling through some foul weather on the higher ground. Their hopes of reviving at the finish with mugs of sweet tea were dashed by a power failure at the local sub-station that plunged the Community Centre into darkness!
Hearty Supper
We all met up back at the basecamp from 6pm and after hot showers were soon tucking into a hearty supper of spaghetti Bolognese, garlic bread and pineapple-upside-down cake with custard. Meanwhile the drying room worked overtime drying our cagoules, overtrousers, boots/trainers and assorted clothing. With all the exertions of the day we were glad of the extra hour in bed.

The weather cleared overnight and we spent sunday morning at Bodnant Gardens, using our 50-hour and/or membership cards to get free entry. The gardens have recently featured in the BBC Two series "A Garden in Snowdonia" and we enjoyed the beautiful autumn colours and saw the changes made by the recent £3m improvements.

Sunday 18 October 2009

Thurstaston Common

9 Volunteers and 2 members of staff turned out and spent the day, cutting birch and chipping to maintain the heathland habitat in areas than cannot be practically grazed.

Thurstaston common is on the Wirral and for our group the trip involves meeting up in Styal and car sharing for the 100 mile round trip. This may explain why 7 of the volunteers were from the Chester group.

They appeared to enjoy the victoria sponge I took. The weather was grey but mostly dry.

Saturday 17 October 2009

Victoria Baths


A small group of our volunteers turned out on saturday to help a different charity.

By all reports they enjoyed their day working behind the scenes.

Sunday 11 October 2009

Dungham Massey 11/10/9

Nine volunteers turned out - no photos here yet as I forgot my camera...

We worked with Andrew, the warden, at the side of the recently extended carpark clearing birch, rhody, brambles and hymillayan balsam, partly to tidy up the area, and partly to simplify the elimination of the Balsam in the longer term.

He had a fire going when we arrived and we burnt everything we cut. It rained a litle in the morning, but brightened up and the sun shone in the afternoon. Sue provided rather nice lemon cakes at coffee time. A good workday all round:-)

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Stalybridge station pub night, Tuesday 6 Octiober 2009

Tuesday night in the Buffet Bar proved a big hit with those who braved the awful weather. There was some unexpected additional entertainment as we had to share the the cosy little bar with the ghost story telling group, the local quiz team, and the Stalybridge Bikers Club. It's a bit of a one off this place. We also gave the black peas a try to soak up some of the great real ale we sampled, and were presented with free crumpets later on in the evening. A quirky fun evening! Hope to introduce more of you to this unique place in the future.

Sunday 4 October 2009

Shugborough 4 Oct 09

I took a weekend off.... thanks to Daniel for words and picture.

MNTV had a joint workday today with Wolverhampton NTV at Shugborough near Stafford. The 16 of us did two jobs for Joe, the head gardener. The larger group spent the day cutting down elder saplings in the old pheasants enclosure and burning them on a big bonfire, while the smaller group worked in the gardens proper, trimming back a tall holly hedge. We all met up for lunch and swapped news about the two groups, demolished Daniel's lemon drizzle cake and heard all about the Staffordshire Hoard (the Anglo Saxon gold & jewellery that was found by a metal detective in July). Liz from WNTV had queued patiently for 3.5 hours last week to see it in Birmingham Art Gallery! We didn't meet Earl Thomas this time. He has recently got engaged to Lady Henrietta Conyngham so perhaps was away planning their wedding

Sunday 27 September 2009

Peak district near "Hayfield" 27/9/9

Photo of full bags and the landscapeFive volunteers turned out, and were taken by land rover up into the mists on the moors near Edale cross. We set out on foot from the land rover with two staff, each carrying ten empty 1 tonne sacks. It took a while in the limited visibility to find our target - the site of a minute anchient quarry. After the initial delays we spent the day 3/4 filling the sacks with stone from the rubble associated with the quarry. The mist lifted exposing the wonderful landscape and the sun shone briefly, and the end of our alloted time (some volunteers needed to get back to their families) there were only four empty bags left - 66 "filled"

In due course the stone will be lifted to the top of Kinder Scout for use in the ongoing gully blocking program - which aims to retain the peat on the top (keeping it out of the reservoirs), and by improving the water retention perhaps eventually lead conditions where peat is created rather than lost.

Saturday 26 September 2009

BBC Manchester Tour, 26 September 2009




This afternoon we had a fascinating tour of BBC Manchester. We saw the recording studios for radio dramas, and experienced the oppression of spending any length of time in the dead room. This room is designed so pure voice, no echo or other interference, can be recorded. Other sounds can then be added to give the impression of the required outdoor scene. We saw the set of NorthWest Tonight, which is much more shabby than it appears on TV, and learnt exactly what Gordon Burns is contending with as he chats to us so naturally. It was great learning about all the processes that go on for a show to go on air - lots of buttons and precision timing. During our lesson on presenting the weather, we learned that it is the poor weathergirls who have to speak quickly or ad lib to ensure that NorthWest Tonight is exactly 27 minutes and 45 seconds long. I was the 'lucky' person volunteered to have a go at presenting the weather. It's much harder than it looks, but was an entertaining experience. The others starred in a radio horror story. All in all a great afternoon's entertainment!

Sunday 20 September 2009

20 September - Quarry Bank Gardens, Styal

Three volunteers turned out and spent the day clearing brash from 2 or 3 large conifiers that were removed some time ago. Last post from the holiday backlog - hopefully more detail next time!

Sunday 13 September 2009

13 September - Biddulph Grange gardens

Seven volunteers turned out to work at Biddulph Grange Gardens, they spent the day working near som e recently excavated water features - near the avenue. Again I was on holiday so details are sketchy.

Sunday 6 September 2009

6 Sept - - Styal Country Park

Seven volunteers turned out for a day working in the country park at Styal

Wednesday 2 September 2009

Didsbury Quiz NIght 1 September 2009

This evening the MNTVers tested their brain power in a quiz at the Hogshead in Didsbury. We scored an impressive 41 out of 50, which put us in 3rd place. Our score could have been higher if only we had stuck with Geri Halliwell instead of Fergie and Goldilocks instead of porridge... It was good fun trying to work out the brain teasers in the first round, but then, if it were not for the rest of the team, my limited entertainment knowledge would have left me doomed. I must make time for the likes of 'Hello' and 'OK'!!
There was a good crowd of us and we had a great night, even if we did feel old complaining about the loud music!

Did you know that Paul McCartney bought the rights to all Buddy Holly songs in 1976?

Saturday 22 August 2009

Central Manchester Guided Tour 22 August 2009



MNTV member Liz Whalley gave a great tour of Manchester City centre. It's amazing how many obvious things one becomes oblivious to in their local city. We were all made to realise how much there is to see in Manchester and what a great city it is now. The sunshine had drawn everybody out to sit on lawns and chat or enjoy a drink in a beer garden so there was a vibrant atmosphere. Although is was quite sobering as we remembered Manchester's impressive industrial history and saw key areas now packed with crowds enjoying the sun with a drink. Walking along the canal to the Castlefield area the canal was overflowing; initially we were able to dodge the floods but there came a point where the entire tow path was underwater. I was impressed by the determination of the group to continue regardless; we paddled along the tow path or shimmied along the hand rail undeterred. We ended the afternoon with tapas and a well-deserved sit down!

Sunday 16 August 2009

16 August - Speke Hall

Seven volunteers from the our group turned out to Speke, and spent the day Rhodi bashing with volunteers from the Chester group.

Three fires were lit, and a reasonable area cleared. Though the day was complicated by both bumble bees and wasps.

Sunday 9 August 2009

Hayfield 9 Aug

Ten volunteers turned out and spent the day cutting Rhody - due to recent comparatively dry weather we did not have a fire and built a large stack of cut material instead. Top Photo - the pile of cut material
2nd Photo - the open area created
It may be part of our task to burn it on our next visit to the area. The area we cut was a steep bank above a stream on "Park Moor" - Its difficult to tell from the photos - the pile (in the top photo) is about 6 feet high most of the way along, in the second photo you can see the ground dipping away to the left of the pile, the birch trees started off completely surrounded.

Like the Rhody in the foreground of the photos the area cut will be allowed to regrow for a while until there is enough leaf area to be treated - hopefully eradicating the problem.

It was a very hot day and we got through considerable volumes of drinking water (I drank 2.5 litres and gave away 1 litre to other volunteers who were running low!)

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Lymm Dam Walk 4 August 2009



In very humid conditions we explored the Bridgewater Canal, had great views of Manchester silhouetted against an orange sky, and completed a circuit of Lymm Dam. Thanks to one of the footpaths being closed for repair, we had to make a bit of a detour and the GPS devices on the walk confimed that the walk had been 4.87 rather than the promised 4 miles. However, the conversion of a sports field into a housing estate did not succeed in throwing us off route! We arrived back in Lymm just as the light was failing very much in need of refreshment. This we enjoyed in a beer garden in the village centre, whilst being amazed at all the things modern mobile phones can do.

Sunday 2 August 2009

Formby 2 Aug 2009

Photo - fixing timbers with 8 inch nails
Photo -Team in gap in fence
Thanks to Sue for leading the day, bringing sticky cakes and generally looking after ua all at Formby. I did get a swim - but due to cramp stopped after about 5 yards! In the past (3 out of 4 previous trips) I've got further. I enjoyed to the work and the sun - but the 8 inch nails were a bit of a challenge.

In Sue's words.....
Work task - finishing revetment work started by wardens, which involved layering and fixing horizontal half round timber to form a barrier to prevent the sand from blowing off the dunes onto the field.Photo of job - half finished Also put up 2 chestnut pailing fences either end of the revetment to join with an existing chestnut pailing fence thereby preventing people from walking on the sand behind the revetment, and then laying a carpet of hay (3 bales!) on top of the sand within the fenced area to reduce movement of the sand. This work was done along a section of the circular walk around the property to enable prams and wheelchair users good access to the property.

The sun shone!! and at lunchtime we went onto the beach (in 2 groups so the tools could be 'guarded') and Gordon went for a swim (not for the first time I believe - this seems to be a fairly regular Formby event!!) As we finished work early, we dropped our stuff off at the cars outside the Countryside offices and went in search of an ice-cream and red squirrels. We found the ice-creams okay but unfortunately, due to the recent outbreak of pox, we didn't see any squirrels (apparently numbers have fallen from 300 to around 30!)

Wednesday 29 July 2009

Biddulph Grange Garden 26 July 09

Trimmed ivy on wallTTrimming ivy on wall
Edge trimming & hand weeding
The group and a scare crow
Text from Daniel who organised the day - photos from various cameras

Six of us went to Biddulph in Staffordshire today to work in James Bateman's 19th century garden. It was a different workday to our normal Sundays in several respects:

1. we spent the day weeding flowerbeds and edging the lawns outside the visitors' entrance (more delicate work than usual!)
2. Daniel got to drive the 4x4 all-terrain vehicle
3. we had our tea breaks and lunch in the gardeners' hut, and
4. we ended the day with clotted cream teas in the tearoom

Despite the wet weather we had a great time in lovely surroundings and aim to repeat the visit later in the year, possibly for a joint workday with the Wolverhampton NT group.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Sttal 19/7/9

Another one that I've missed.

I'm told it was a very wet day - and four volunteers turned out - spending the day pulling Himalayan Balsam.

Shugborough 12 July 2009


I was elsewhere for this one - thanks to Daniel for text and photo

Five of us made the trip down the M6 today to Shugborough. Joe Hawkins, head gardener, gave us his usual warm welcome, aswell as providing us with pineapple & apricot cake from the tearoom! Joe had recently returned from a three-week holiday in China where he'd visited the gardens of the Imperial Palace in Beijing. He had a lot of interesting tales to tell.

We did two worktasks during the day, one either side of lunch. In the morning we cut back branches from yew trees next to the coach house. This involved ladder climbing - a first for me in all my days with MNTV! After a picnic lunch on the banks of the River Sow we spent a couple of hours liberating a stretch of iron fencing on the edge of the car park from the holly, rhody and oaks that smothered it. Revived by ice creams (thanks Tim!) we wandered back to the cars via the marquees of the "People & Pets" weekend event. For pets read dogs...and a few ferrets!

5 July Dunham Massey - Island pond / pool


About 8 volunteers turned out to work in the pond at Dunham Massey.

Island pond / pool is an integral part of the system that drains the park at Dunham and so requires periodic maintainance to allow water to flow.

Two large trailer loads of Iris were removed and no one got completely soaked, most of the open water visible in this photo was solid Iris before we started - I was unable to get a before photo as I was need to help in the collection of the tractor / trailer, and therefore the job started before I got there

Sunday 19 July 2009

Monsal Dale Walk 18 July 09



In less-than-clement conditions, 8 of us plus a baby left Ashford-in-the-Water in high spirits. Many of the paths we followed were lined with a wealth of wild flowers and we had great views across Monsal Dale, despite not having to make any demanding ascents. The weather had improved considerably by lunch time (largely thanks to the fact that I had been slowly broiling in full waterproofs) and we were able to take in the renowned views from Monsal Head in the sunshine. People were even stripping off as we found a good rocky outcrop on which to enjoy our afternoon tea. Following the river back down the valley, we saw the most unexpected sight of a water buffalo wallowing in a muddy pool! Back in Asford, we rewarded ourselves with ice creams and more relaxation in the sun. A great day, thank you to all those who helped make it such.

Monday 29 June 2009

Sunshine Shade

Three of us spent today making temporary repairs to footpath in the northern woods with Tim Ryan (warden) and Andy (long-term volunteer). The Nationalt Trust's Cheshire Countryside Wardens have taken over the land management of the estate and a priority is to drain and repair sections of footpath that have become waterlogged and boggy.

We started the day by "shovelling slop off the path" - to quote Tim - and wheelbarrowing it to one side. Next we dug a drainage ditch across the path and finished by edging the path with two large beech logs. In due course the edges of the path will be defined with more logs/fencing and the path surfaced with stone chips.

At 2 o'clock the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour for 30 minutes. It didn't dampen our spirits too much and we saw proof positive that our drainage channel worked!

Thursday 25 June 2009

update on some previous work

I thought I would share a quote out of an email from a member of staff at Dunham Massey....
I have had the opportunity to look at the progress of the hedge that you
guys laid earlier in the season. It looks great, it's all taken and it's
shooting away like mad. Hopefully it'll be possible to continue the work
next year.

If you could possibly pass on my thanks for the hedgelaying work to the
other members of the group when you get the chance, I'd appreciate it.
Nice work!

Sunday 21 June 2009

Lyme Park 21 June 09

fence at the start of the dayfence at the end of the daySix volunteers turned out to Lyme park and spent the day replacing a section of fence on the boundary.

The sections either side had already been done by other volunteers - so it was "just" a
question of filling in the gap and sorting out the slightly odd endings on the previous sections.


One new "king" post (large post with bracing that is used to tension the wire) had to be dug in and there was a layer of stone that made this quite hard work. The intermediate posts were driven by hand before the new netting was tensioned and fixed. I think you should be able to spot the differences between the before and after photos!

Saturday 20 June 2009

Bracken Bash - Hayfield 13 June

I was on holiday for this one - so thanks to M. for the words...

We had a great day out at Hayfield today, as per usual. We were 10 of us in attendance

With us was Shane and Mark and we had a very good productive day backen bashing with Jungle Bashers (long, almost like mashetie style or sword like "weapons"). We cleared most of the hillside and Shane is planning to get us back in autumn next year to plant trees there. They have been contacted by a local lady who has said that she wants to donate money for tree planting. Fingers crossed, would be great to go back and continue the project.

In fact, MNTV has been tree planting there before and you can see that the trees are well established and are making a real difference to the look of the countryside.

Great day all together with the sun shining, good banter and loads of bracken being NO MORE:

I'm wondering if I planted any of those trees.... as one of my first sundays with the group was tree planting up there some years ago - I'll have to check!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Whaley Water Festival 13 June 2009


A fun day was enjoyed exploring the various activities at the Whaley Bridge Water Festival in the sunshine. From the feedback I received (unfortunately I was away with work) it appears that everyone was impressed by Philippa's swing band; so much so that they attended 2 performances. Well done Philippa! The other highlight seems to have been a free ride along the canal. I still haven't managed to find out whether anybody tried the hog roast.

Monday 8 June 2009

Big Catchup...

I've got so far behind on this -- and it will now all display out of order -- but for the record...


  • 26 April 09 - we had to cancel,

  • 3 May - five volunteers from our group and a number from a Macclesfield group turned out to get on with the drainage problems in the fields around Hare Hill Gardens.

  • 8-10 May - A number of volunteers enjoyed a weekend awauy at Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire

  • 17 May - Six volunteers and three local staff installed a larger drain pipe to take surface water off "the Edale road" ~(not a road - hardly a track in places) and under the dry stone wall - this involved taking down the wall, removing the old inadequate pipe, installing the new one and rebuilding the wall. We retreated to a barn for lunch and timed it just right to avoid a torrential downpour and reemerged into sunlight to almost complete the job! - The staff had to go back with a joining piece to connect the two new sections of pipe together....

  • 31 May Nine volunteers turned out on the hottest day so far this year and worked in a section of Quarry Bank Garden that is not yet open to the public. When the garden was initially purchased it appeared to stop at a large bank of bushes with the path curving round in a bend and continuing up the hill back towards the center of the garden. It has been since discovered that another path used to continue - and work has begun to explore what remains of the garden beyond. Tree work has been started removing certain conifers that didn't belong and we spent the day clearing the debris from the slopes into pilse that will in due course be chipped....

  • 7 June Eight volunteers spent the morning removing "Himalayan Balsam" from areas of "grass" - most ly bare soil - in the new carpark at Dunham Massey. The balsam is a annual plant (grows from seed each year) and is a pain because it doesn't belong here and smothers everything else. It can only spread itself 8-10 feet unless it catches a ride so the hope is to erradicate if from these areas now there are tentative plans to get rid of it from the areas round the carpark - but that is a longer term project. Some of the afternoon was spent removing Birch saplings from among planted oaks (to allow the oaks to get going and take over)- but in view of heavy rain we called it a day a little early.

Friday 5 June 2009

Visit to Macclesfield heronry, 3 June 2009


The beautiful warm sunshine was an added bonus this evening and a good crowd of us collected in the beer garden of the Leather's Smithy. The warmth had obviously encouraged the hatching of mayfly as they swarmed everywhere, which was a spectacle in itself. After a quick drink, we wandered alongside the reservoir and through the pine forest to the heronry reserve. Fortunately, there was a fair amount of heron activity; we saw several heron returning to their nests from fishing excursions and were amazed by the noisy welcome they received. I think the other chap at the heronry, however, enjoyed overhearing the MNTV banter more than the herons!! On climbing up to the view point, we saw more heron in their nests and perched on the very topmost branches, which appeared to us rather precarious. As the herons settled down, we made our way back along the other side of the reservoir to the pub. Since it was still warm and sunny, we brought our drinks out to the beer garden but by this time the midges were also out and we proved to be a good food source! Despite our itchy souvenirs, the evening proved popular and was enjoyed by everyone.

Saturday 23 May 2009

Comedy night 22 May 2009


There was a good turn out for the comedy night and we all enjoyed a good chuckle over some beer. There were 6 varied acts and none was disappointing. There seemed to be a recurring theme about the good looks of the audience and the spruced-up MNTVers were likened to the cast of 'Hollyoaks'! I haven't seen the programme myself, but I understand it is full of 'beautiful people'. All in all a great night - we must do another!

Thursday 14 May 2009

Italian meal 5 May 2009


We made a return to 'Tarantella' on Gatley Road for the May social. The turnout was not as impressive as last year, but everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.


Wednesday 29 April 2009

Royal Exchange Theatre trip, 15 April 2009

Theatre visits are a particular favourite among the group and we often take advantage of the half-price preview nights at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. This time we saw the Bernard Shaw play 'Widower's Houses'. It was a very amusing play that kept us needing to know what would happen next. It also had a topical theme - trying to make money from property. We were all waiting for the market to crash and the characters to lose out from their greed, but the play ended before that had chance to happen. It was another very enjoyable evening.

Monday 20 April 2009

Lyme Park 19 April 2009


I stayed at home this week, so thanks to Daniel for the text and photo

Eight of us enjoyed a varied workday at Lyme Park in fabulous spring sunshine. The chairman made his first worksite appearance of 2009! We split into two groups of four in the morning: one group attached chicken wire to tree guards near Lantern Wood and the other group edged the lawn outside the stableyard. After lunch we worked as one group near the shop bowsawing up a black poplar and oak tree that had blown down in the winter gales. The trees had fallen on top of a drystone wall and we were beginning the process of cutting them up so that they can be chainsawed, cleared away and the wall repaired. Lyme has 20 miles of drystone wall and there is a team of mid-week volunteers dedicated to patching them up!

The warm sunny weather brought out the crowds and the wardens had to leave us after lunch to manage the carparking. The main carpark below the hall can take about 550 cars and on bumper days like today more than 1200 cars come through the gates

Pie night 8 April 2009

Tonight we enjoyed a variety of homemade pies at the Coach and Four in Wilmslow. The pies (and portions) exceeded all expectation and a fun night was enjoyed by all.

Monday 6 April 2009

Dunham Massey 5 April 09

A number of new volunteers and a few of the usual suspects turned out to Dunham Massey on sunday. We divided into two groups and 5 volunteers spent the morning finishing the last 10 feet or so of hedge (see 1 March 2009 - Hedge Laying at Dunham Massey). Technically it is to far into spring to be doing this (as the sap was rising and there will soon be nesting birds), however as there were no birds yet in that last section and it looked a bit silly stuck up at the end it was decided to finish the job.

These five then travelled back to join the rest of the volunteers among the oaks we platned within a large fenced enclosure in the deer park a few years ago (preblog). Where the other job was removing birch scrub that were in danger of overshadowing the slow growing oaks.

Brambles were a bit of a pain - though Bramble the warden's dog was lovable.

Biddulph Grange 29 March 09

We were warmly welcomed by the head gardener at Biddulph, and after a precautionary boot disinfection (to avoid the spread of fungal diseases) set to work clearing Rhodadendron and planting sapplings of - yew, holly and a small desciduous tree - who's name I've forgotten.

We didn't get all the planting done in time so a percentage of the plants were "healed in" to keep them alive till the regular staff / volunteers could finish the job. We briefly met the gardener's family, disinfected the tools and our boots before returning to Manchester

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Park Hall Moor (near Hayfield) 22 March 2009

Only four volunteers turned out on Mothers Day - to spend the day with more Rhodi bashing on a slope in the peak district. The local staff / volunteers here have been practicing - no firelighters, no newspaper, just Rhody and a little help from a match and a tissue, gave a good well behaved fire. A shovel full of hot embers from this gave a second nice well behaved fire closer to where we worked after lunch. We really should have taken some potatoes!

Lyme park 15 March 2009

Eleven volunteers turned out to spend the day "Rhodi Bashing" on West Park drive.

The work was on a steep slope, and feeding the fire was "interesting".

Lakes weekend 7&8 March 09


Thirteen volunteers travelled to High Wray for a weekend Hedge Laying.

The staff were very helpfull and knew exactly what they wanted us to achieve.

The hedge looked somewhat different when we left - more or less what was wanted.

The weather on Saturday was wet and windy - very windy that night, and sunday gave us driving hail with sunny spells

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Indian Meal Tuesday 3 March 2009


Ten of us met in the Shandaar restaurant in Timperley and enjoyed a great curry and chat. It was a very enjoyable evening and the food was good, although the curries were milder than expected. As so often happens after going out for a curry, I left filling as though I had definitely eaten too much!


Monday 2 March 2009

1 March 2009 - Hedge Laying at Dunham Massey

stiched panoram of hedgeAbout 12 volunteers turned out to try to finish the hedge that we started in the winter last year. Unfortunatly we didn't quite manage it - you can still see a small tuft of un layed hedge at the left hand end of the stitched panorama above (double click on it for a far more detailed view). Due to the advancing year it we will not be able to do any more to this hedge as the birds will be nesting and the hedge itself is starting to grow. I was a little supprised to be given a belated birthday card, and cake - though I do believe in any excuse for cake!

Thursday 26 February 2009

22 FEb 09 Styal

Eight volunteers turned out and spent the day clearing a patch of land between the mill pond and the mill.

Ivy, bramble, and nettles were removed from the area, so that a preliminary survey can be performed.

There is a long term plan to install a fish ladder to allow migration past the weir. No photographs - I didn't manage to take any that were worth publishing.

Tuesday 17 February 2009

15 Feb 09 Alderly Edge - Hedge

11 volunteers turned out on a damp morning and spent the day hedge laying. There was also a group of volunters from (I think) BTCV on the same site.

The hedge had been started by a third group on a previous day - leaving a large pile of brash that needed to be burnt.

This hedge needed to be laid "Cheshire style - and so looks quite different from the one we have been doing at Dunham Massey. We were quite suprised to find that we managed to burn all the brash by the end of the day - the fire that was lit on corrugated iron in an area with the turf removed to protect the vegetation from it. It was the most difficult fire lighting I've had for a long time but once it got going it went well.