Tuesday 14 December 2010

(Not the usual) Hardwick weekend, 11-12 December 2010



Every year we spend the first weekend in December at the Hardwick Hall basecamp celebrating Christmas… but not this year. The early Friday arrivals found a flooded basecamp kitchen (burst pipes in the flat above) and new plans had to be made. They returned to Manchester on Saturday morning and Daniel & Megan hosted the Christmas evening meal in Heaton Moor.

Charlie cooked the turkey – a lovely bird from Glossop – and Daniel and Megan cooked the rest. By 19:30 after glasses of mulled wine 16 of us had taken our seats around an extended dining table. Previously we’d not entertained more than eight! It was very convivial and everyone enjoyed the meal… and better than at Hardwick there was a dishwasher to wash everything up!

During and after the meal we played party games. The “team in the corner” won the quiz, Daniel won pass-the-parcel, Charlie and April won the cornflake box game and generally we had a lot of fun.

On Sunday some of us went for a walk at Styal and Daniel forked over the soil in his flowerbeds!

Daniel

(with thanks to Megan for welcoming 15 people into her home on a Saturday evening that she’d planned to spend rather more quietly, and to Judith, my mother-in-law, for all her help in fixing us up with extra dining chairs, crockery and a steamer for the Christmas puds)

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Communicating Doors, Wilmslow. 7 December 2010

We saw an excellent play at Wilmslow's Green Room this evening - Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn. It's quite an intimate theatre and we had front row seats, so we felt as though we were almost part of the action. The play really has to be seen to be appreciated; we were certainly enthralled. One man was murdered just moments before he 'accidentally' fell out of a 6th-floor window 20 years earlier! Yes I have written that correctly.

Sunday 28 November 2010

Hayfield 28 November 2010

View of Lantern Pike from Middle MoorNine volunteers turned out on a beautiful crisp clear winter day. It was cold in the car park, waiting to meet up (in the shade), but on the work site the sun was pleasant and we soon warmed up. We spent the day cutting and burning Rhododendron on the south facing side of one of the valleys on Middle Moor near Park Hall Little Hayfield, we cleared an area about the size of a tennis court along the upper edge of the valley - with ice underfoot it was not practical to venture on to the steeper slopes nearer the stream. So that will have to wait for another day.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Speke Hall 21 November 2010

Untouched birch on left fire in middle, thinned on rightFive volunteers turned out to Speke hall, and continued work that has been going on for some time to clear Rhodadendron from the woodland. This has also been recently extended to include thinning some of the Birch that is also present.

We rescucitated a fire that had been lit the day before which gave us a hot fire very quickly. This rappidly consumed everything we cut.

The photograph shows a largly untouched area of birch to the left of the fire, and more open woodland to the right. The Rhodi (what remains of it) was mostly behind the camera.

Monday 15 November 2010

Dunham Massey 14 November 2010

Thirteen volunteers turned out on a cold morning to Dunham Massey.
Four volunteers had the opportunity to watch the warden give the deer their first feed of the winter. While the rest of the group started clearing fallen leaves from around the main gates.

Once the traffic levels started to rise with more "normal" visitors to the park beginning to arrive, we moved to the end of Charcoal drive nearest the lodge, where we cleared a large bank of leaves from the wall of the lodge, along with a heap from outside the gate.Cut back edge of grassCobbled gutter


We also cleared the cobbled gutter alongside the drive itself and edged the grass back on the opposite side - if left to its own devices it would completely cover the drive within a couple of years.

Sunday 7 November 2010

Burton wood 7 November 2010


Daniel has asked me to post the following text.
Today we went to Burton Wood on the Wirral and rhodybashed with the Chester group and warden Phil. In June when we last visited we cleared small clumps of regenerate growth but this time attacked the big stuff. Tim Jarvis would have been proud! The ten of us cleared a large area and kept the bonfire stoked all day. Several passersby asked what we were doing and one man reminisced about the rhody “castles” in which he played as a child (and which were going up in smoke before his eyes!).



In the absence of marshmallows to toast we had Daniel’s homemade bara brith at the tea breaks. Not bad at all, but next time I must remember the butter!

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Meal at Dilli 3 November 2010


Despite the stormy weather and floods causing mayhem on the roads, 9 of us met at Dilli in Altrincham for an Indian meal with a difference. There were some more unusual choices (not to mention the spelling!) on the menu so we enjoyed a change from our usual favourites. The food was delicious and we had a great evening catching up and reminiscing about the Snowdownia weekend.

Monday 1 November 2010

Snowdon Marathon weekend - 31 Oct 2010

the group had a weekend away without me - thanks to Daniel for text and Karin for pictures

Ten of us went to Snowdonia this weekend to help at the marathon. This visit to North Wales has become a yearly fixture for some of us and was Adrian’s 18th time! We were very pleased to be joined by Tim Jarvis, our honorary member, who had made the long journey up from Essex.

The race began at 10.30 on Saturday. Five of us manned the Bryn Gwynant feedstation (9 miles) and four did the Llyn Dinas one (11.5miles) – handing out drinks, sponges and chocolate to the passing runners. Later they all went to Llanberis and worked behind the finish line wrapping runners in foil blankets and giving them their slate drinks coaster "medals." As always, many thanks to all the feedstation volunteers without whose time and energy the race couldn’t happen and for stoically enduring the spells of heavy rain and hailstones!


Daniel ran the race for the fifth time and finished in 4 hours 5 minutes, a personal best and 20 minutes faster than last year. Some things do get better with age… but my knees and quadriceps are sore today! The marathon route is one of the most scenic in the UK and the autumn colours were particularly beautiful this year – yellow, orange and brown leaves everywhere.


Supper at the basecamp (pasta main course followed by Karin’s scrumptious pear & apple crumble) preceded an evening of Spin & Shout (Sarah won), Monopoly (Alison won) and the Daily Telegraph’s general knowledge crossword.


On Sunday morning we had bacon rolls for breakfast, did Karin’s 500-piece Simpsons jigsaw and then departed at lunchtime, either directly home or via Plas Newydd or Bodnant Garden.

Sunday 24 October 2010

Hayfield 24 Oct 2010


11 Volunteers turned out and spent the day Rhodi bashing at Park moor near Hayfield.

There was a heavy frost which made the footing a little awkward, so we restricted out efforts to the top of the slope, but with the numbers present including the national trust staff who looked after tjhe first, we made a dent in the alien weed.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Alderley Edge 17 Oct 2010


Eight volunteers turned out to Alderley edge and spent the day removing trees stumps, with hand winches. Although the edge is known for its woodlands, for much of its history it has been open heath land. As the heathland is the rarer more important habitat there is an ongoing project to thin some of the woodland around small patches of remaining heath, to allow more light down to ground level and increase the space for heathland species. The stumps are removed and burnt as heathland soil has a low nutrient content, and it they were allowed to rot the nutrients would enter the soil - altering the balance of species.

The day started cold but with bright sunshine and still air we soon warmed up - especially near the fire!

Sunday 10 October 2010

Victoria Baths 10 Oct 2010

When it came to setting up this autumn's program we were unable to make arrangements for this session.

As our program planner is also a volunteer at Victoria Baths - we decided to fill the gap with a session there (and sneak a peak at progress).

Our planned task was to clean the gallery around the gala pool (Gents first class), as some dirt/debris had been left behind by recent work on its ceiling / roof, but is was a glorious day so most of use spent the day marking out bays in the car park. One volunteer took on the unenviable task of pressure washing the gents first class gents - that hasn't been in official use for many years. We are told this is the first step to resurrecting them as usable facilities as part of future plans.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Wilmslow Pie Night 6 October




There was a good turn out tonight for a pie supper. As usual, there were a range of delicious homemade pies on offer. I was suprised that the turkey and cranberry was most popular - are people becoming Christmassy already?! The portions were huge and came with plenty of chips and veg too. Everyone was extremely full by the end, but we still managed to keep talking! Much fun was had playing 20 questions to guess the occupation of some of the new faces.

Sunday 3 October 2010

Thurstaston 3rd Oct 2010


I've been on working holiday with the NT - so thanks to Daniel for the following text and photo.

Four of us travelled across to Thurstaston on the Wirral for a workday with ranger Phil and three Chester volunteers. It was pouring down when we arrived and had been all the way across on the M56/M53. Despite the rain we agreed that having travelled 50 miles to get there we should do some work and set about cutting down Scots pines in paddock 3. It was a surprise to hear from Phil that a local farmer grazes sheep and cattle in this enclosure, carpeted as it is in thick heather! It rained hard all morning and the only shelter we had was under a tree for coffee and gingerbread at 11.30. By lunchtime we were all beginning to dissolve and we said our goodbyes at 13.00. My workboots are still sodden three days later!

Sunday 26 September 2010

Styal 26 Sept 2010

Four volunteers turned out and spent the day working on newly acquired land adjacent to the existing national trust property at Styal. The land has been bought to prevent unsympathetic development and to reunite parts of the wider estate that was held by the original mill owners.

They spent the day cutting down a conifers and bamboo plants. This and a certain amount of scrap wood resulted in a very hot bonfire.

Waiting for the fire to die down allowed a certain amount of time to "inspect" the new property.......

Sunday 19 September 2010

Daniel Hill nr Alderley Edge 19 Sept 2010

Six volunteers turned out on a damp morning and met up at the National Trust carpark near to the "wizard tea rooms". Three walked to Daneil hill, and three rode in the car with the tools.

We spent the day cutting and burning Rhodadendron towards the northeastern corner of the wood that crowns this hill. The fire lit fairly easily as we found a supply of dead (but not dry) twigs.
We also cleared some of the material left by a previous group of volunteers.

The weather improved over the course of the day, but the sun never really shone.

Sunday 12 September 2010

Hayfield 12 Sept 2010


Eight volunteers turned out and were transported to broad clough where we spent the day removing the lower branches from pine trees. The fate of these trees, like others in recent posts about work near ,Hayfield is to be used for gully blocking on the Kinder plateau though in this area the sequence of steps is slightly modified.... Removing the lower branches first makes it easier and faster to fell them...

These pines were originally a nursery crop they were supposed to just be there to help a variety of other broad leafed trees become established, however they have taken over and are shading out their charges. In the longer term - perhaps even later this year we may be returning to plant more native deciduous trees in this area - though the exact species mix is yet to be decided.

The weather was a little damp to start with but the sun came out in the afternoon - justifying the shorts worn by some of those present.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

White Nancy Walk 7 Sept 2010




After a rather stormy afternoon, the sun re-emerged to make for a perfect walk up White Nancy. The low sun intensified the colours, making the view over to Lyme Park particularly beautiful. We also had fun taking pictures of White Nancy, which has recently been re-whitewashed to cover over the England flag that appeared during the football World Cup. We made our decent back into Bollington just as the light was failing and enjoyed a drink (and Monster Munch, which took me back to my childhood) in the Poacher Inn on a comfy leather sofa.

Sunday 5 September 2010

Dunham Massey (Island pond) 5 Sept 2010

four volunteers in chest wadersFour volunteers turned out and donned waders ready to spend the day clearing Iris from Island pool in the deer park at Dunham Massey....

We don't barrow Iris up wet planks into the big trailer, which is quite tall - (see the last photo) - because of the danger of slips and falls. two in the pond - the warden answers his phone So the best way to fill the trailer is using the tractor's bucket. The disadvantage of this is that the warden has to be there to drive the tractor. Quite early on it became apparent that the warden would have to split his time between this and other tasks around the park, with calls arriving on a mobile phone even in the middle of the pond.

pond at the endTwo people cut the Iris into section with spades. The resulting material was loaded into bread baskets and dragged back to dry land along a line of planks more or less supported on the mat of floating iris. One plank disappeared quite quickly underwater - it was easy to walk on as long as you knew where it was!


trailer at the endSometimes a small team can achieve more than expected as it works efficiently. We cleared a significant area and transferred a lot of iris to the trailer. This was left by the pond for a few days to drain - and to give any hopping or crawling wildlife a chance to move back to the pond.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Speke Hall 22 Aug 2010


Five volunteers turned out via a car share to Speke and spent the day clearing Rhododendron along the edge of the wood parallel to the main drive.

We re lit an existing fire and continued to clear an area that had been started earlier. In the photo above the right hand side of the picture is an untouched area, the left the cleared one. Regrowth of Rhododendron in being removed and where possible the roots cleared without the use of herbicides.

With luck the extra light reaching the woodland floor will allow natural regeneration of the woodland and and increase in the diversity of vegitation in this area.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Hayfield 15 August 2010

Eight volunteers turned out to Hayfield and spent the day working above South Head Farm continuing the task we started the last time we were here. Once we got to the work site we paused to admire the view, and look down on the land rover.

A number of non native pines have recently been felled as they were not thriving and had a tendency to come down over the winters. The trunks had been cut in to lengths that could be packed into bags for Helicopter lifting onto the Kinder Plateau where they will be used for gully blocking - to reduce erosion. The long term aim being to keep as much peat as possible on the top and out of the reservoirs.
Over the day we "filled" (about two thirds full) about twenty four bags, and also spent some time building rings of brash around the remaining (broadleaved) trees. This ring building clears up the brash (side branches) and also forms a tree guard to keep the sheep away from the trunks of the trees - so that the sheep can't eat the bark.

Sunday 8 August 2010

Hare Hill 8 August 2010

Four of our volunteers turned out the Hare hill, and spent the day working with the warden and two local volunteers working to maintain the field drains under the park land surrounding the garden. This land is naturally quite wet and boggy, and relies on a large network of old land drains to remove the excess water. We have spent some time in the past revitalising this network.

In the first photography you can see the line of the drain where the land has sunk slightly, along with the T bar - useful for finding drains less obvious than this one, and a "stag head" oak - which has suffered from waterlogging and died back as a result

This time we revisited some sections that we had worked on previously as it is suspected that the network will require some routine maintenance. As a result we knew exactly where to look for the drain, and how it would be constructed.

The basic proceudure is to dig down to the main junctions in the network, open them up, and use drain rods to "explore" by feel up and downstream. Then to dig down at other points either where the drain rods run out or where they get stuck. Often these points are caused by slipped bricks (as in the photo above) or a broken cap stone. Once the bricks have been reset and the rods can be easily worked from hole to hole, a disk is put onto the end and dragged through to pull out any remaining mud. Finally the cap stones are reset before the drain is reburried.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Cloud 23 Tuesday 3 August 2010







Tonight we dressed up to treat ourselves to a cocktail or two whilst enjoying the great views of Manchester from the bar on the 23rd floor of the Hilton Hotel. There was a great selection of cocktails to choose from, some with ingredients I have never heard of. For example, I had my first encounter with Aperol, a rhubarb flavoured spirit made by Campari. And very good it was too, despite it sounding like a brand of antifreeze!! We had a great night and stood on the glass floor without a tinge of apprehension (it had been so scuffed by numerous stilettos that we could barely see through it).

Sunday 1 August 2010

Dunham Massey

Six volunteers turned out to Dunham Masseey and spent the day cutting back the grass along the edge of charcoal drive in the Deer park. We were invited to take a long lunch break, to visit the gardens where there was entertainment in the form of a brass band, and a punch and judy show. There was also a circus skills workshop - though we got out timing wrong for that and it closed for his lunch shortly after we arrived.
Additional text and photos from Sue.....
It was a nice day afterall while we were edging Charcoal Drive - we made
good progress and Doug, the 'warden in training' was pleased with what we'd
done.
The deer came quite close while we were working and, after lunch, one of
them sat down at the side of the drive watching us work.

We were lucky to be given free tickets by Doug for the lunchtime event in
the garden. Photo's are enclosed of you, Mick, Pip and Arthur taking part
in the Circus skills workshop. There was also a Punch & Judy show and
an orchestra playing, which we could hear as we strolled around the gardens.


Sunday 25 July 2010

Formby 25 July

Five manchester volunteers turned out to Formby, and met up with the local warden and a number of volunteers from the Merseyside group.

The task was replanting a pine trees in a small plantation where unplanned for, rabbit and wind damage had had an unfortunate death toll on the saplings. New plants were put in - this time with rabbit guards. A second type of tree with more branches and greater salt wind tollerace was planted on the most exposed edge.

We finished early as we ran out of Rabbit guards.

Sunday 18 July 2010

"Hayfield" 18 July 2010


Due to damp weather the original task planned for today was cancelled, - you can't collect cotton wool like "cotton grass" seed when it has been rained on. Instead of nice white fluffy stuff to collect you would just get a rotten mess.

So plan b - was to tidy up the brash (side branches) where pines had been felled in a small patch of trees above South Head Farm. The brash was used to build rings around the remaining trees to discourage sheep from stripping the bark off them in the winter.

You mustn't stack the stuff directly against the tree as that would make the bark rot, but you need a complete ring - high enough to keep the sheep out. We were working with a youth discovery holiday who were on their first day and looked quite keen. A second task was to load up cotton grass plants into cubic meter bags ready to be air lifted (hopefully on Monday) onto the Kinder plateau ready for the youth discovery holiday to plant later this week. This was quite simple with the two groups working together to form a human chain shifting the trays of plants to where the bags were packed.

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Shugborough 11 July 2010




Five of us travelled down the M6 today to Shugborough for our second visit this year. We spent the day trimming back the hedge above the stream that flows past the Ticket Office and cutting off vegetation that had gained a foothold in the stream’s sandstone wall. Those who had Wellington boots stood in the water and those without worked from the bank. The water was crystal clear and during the day we saw about 20 white-clawed crayfish and several small trout.

Joe Hawkins, head gardener, was his usual ebullient self, and during the tea breaks talked at length about the estate’s history and his vision for the garden. He’s recently taken on management of the 14-acre arboretum too. He wondered if we’d like to have a weekend trip to Shugborough – camping in the grounds, using the toilet blocks and shower in the Ticket Office complex and cooking our meals on camping stoves!! He’d need to clear it with his bosses. Anybody interested?

We ended the day with a demonstration of the £37,000 state-of-the-art composter (a 25’ long stainless steel tank that takes in chipped vegetation at one end, heats it up to 65 degrees C and churns out fine compost at the other end) and a tour of the walled garden to see the many varieties of fruit and vegetable that are being grown.

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Slug and Lettuce Altrincham, 6 July 2010

Tonight the group enjoyed a leisurely meal and/or drink at the Slug and Lettuce in Altrincham. Although the venue was selected for it's proximity to the metrolink and railway stations, everyone drove. At least I tried!

Maybe there will be more people using public transport for the August social so they can try one of the reknowned cocktais at Cloud 23!??!

Sunday 4 July 2010

Styal 4 July 2010

Four volunteers turned out to Stayl and spent the day working in the gardens clearing undergrowth.

Sunday 27 June 2010

Biddulph Sunday 27th June 2010

I'm just catching up with my admin haveing got back from a good break (National Trust working holiday in Cornwall) - so in Sue's words - here is what we did just befor I went away....

We worked from 10am to 3pm weeding in the Pinetum. The weather was very hot and sunny, although we were lucky enough to work in the shade.
It was a relaxing day and people were able to take time to chat, amongst themselves and to the general public who were walking by.
Although Paul, the gardener, couldn't stay with us, he meet us at the start of the workday, and came back later to check that we were all ok. He'd provided tools in his little buggy trailer and, when any of the little kiddies walking by were interested in it, we offered them the opportunity to sit in it and for their parents take photo's.
We took the A boards and some leaflets were taken but, on the whole, the few people who visited Biddulph on the day, were elderly and not interested - the England match seemed to have kept the visitors at home!!

After we'd finished our weeding, most of us went for a walk round the gardens.

All in all a relaxing enjoyable day, but a shame for Biddulph that so few people visited the property on such a glorious day.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Theatre trip 23 June 2010

This evening we returned to a favourite venue of mine - The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. We thoroughly enjoyed a highly entertaining performance of 'Charley's Aunt'. At some points, however, we were giggling because somebody in the audience sitting below us kept laughing very loudly and uncontrollably even when there was nothing much happening on stage. I think she must have had a personal supply of nitrous oxide!

We were rather thrown by the interval coming so soon after the start of the play, but stuck with tradition and enjoyed our overpriced ice cream nonetheless. It transpired that there were two intervals! We resisted a second ice cream though.

The upcoming events are all rather high-brow and didn't inspire much enthusiasm amongst those present tonight, so I think I'll have to look elsewhere for our next dose of theatrical entertainment.

Monday 21 June 2010

20 June 2010 "Hayfield" - White brow overlooking Kinder Reservoir

Five of our volunteers turned out along and spent the day working with 3 other people on White brow finding and protecting this years tree seadlings.....

White brow (marked on the map linked into the title) is an old worksite - we planted trees here 8 years ago - some have survived but many haven't. The first photograph is the shows the lower half of the slope where we did the old planting so some of those trees should be "ours".

However

"Natural Regen" - native tree seedlings growing on their own where nature has put them will - given half a chance do better than anything we can plant. They have the right genetics and their roots haven't been disturbed in the process of being transplanted. In some cases they are even species that you cannot buy to plant.....

However

As people keep on leaving a gate open on the bridle path, sheep are getting into the white brow area and will given half a chance eat the seedling - halting the natural regeration of the woodlands, and this is where the volunteers come it - finding the seedlings and putting rabbit guards on them - which should protect them from the sheep and give them that half a chance they need.

The example in the photo is a comparatively large seedling - the "downy birch" seedlings were far far smaller and probably would not have been visible in the photo! 250 plants of various species recieved protection, and about 150 more were marked ready for the staff to go back with more rabbit guards - assuming the sheep don't get them first.

Once we had run out of materials four of us walked around the lake on a permitted path, and stopped for an ice cream on the way back to the car.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Dunham Massey 13 June


12 volunteers turned out and spent the day clearing Iris from the inlet to Island Pool in the deer park at Dunham Massey.

We cut the floating mat of root up with spades, dragged it via a human chain to the bank, and then transfered it a little at a time to a trailer - for eventual disposal via a skip.
We filled the skip, and at the end of the day the top of the stack on the skip was about 5 feet above the edge of the skip! We also left some in a hollow at in the ground just upstream of the pool itself.


Its a muddy job but quite fun, no one fell in (though I came close). No one went in deeper then their waders - though some people got very close. The weather started warm and sunny, but became cooler and wetter towards the end of the day. With showers while we were clearing up. We finished the day by hozeing down the equipment (and some of the volunteers!) Spare clothing was distributed to those who were cold or who had managed to miss a large hole in the waders at the start of the day! So I think everyone went home warm and dry even if the trousers didn't quite reach their ankles!

I think everyone was supprised how big an area we cleared.

Sunday 6 June 2010

I dropped out at the last minute this week due to a very late night - thanks to Daniel for the following text and photos.

"Daniel, Sarah, Adrian and Alison travelled up the M56 today to Burton Wood for a joint workday with the Chester volunteers. Burton Wood covers about 30 acres of which 20 are owned by the Trust and 10 owned by the local council. Arthur Kilpin Bulley, the founder of nearby Ness Botanic Gardens, gifted the wood to the Trust once he'd settled on the site for Ness. Today was a rare visit - our work on the Wirral is usually at the much larger Thurstaston Common.

We spent the day cutting down, pulling up and burning rhododendrons. The Chester group had rhody bashed in the wood quite recently and we continued from where they'd left off. There aren't many big bits of rhody left in the Trust's patch because of all the clearing that has gone on over the years and it's now just a case of clearing the regenerate growth from time to time."

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Marpleridge walk 1 June 2010


We had a lovely walk (in the dry!) through a number of horse fields and back along the canal. In each of the 4 fields that were home to horses, the horses raced towards us and then followed us to the stile by which we exited the field. There was a split of opinion as to the reason for the horses being so interested in us. Some thought it was Tim being particularly attractive to horses, whereas others believed it was the polo mints in Jean's rucksack. Whichever was the case, they certainly raced over to us, which was actually quite disconcerting when three young horses charged down quite a steep hill directly at us. On a more tranquil note, we also saw a heron and a mallard mum with eleven chicks enjoying the evening peace on the canal. In true MNTV social tradition, we ended up at the pub for some well-earned refreshment. It was all so enjoyable, I think I'll do another walk in August!

Monday 24 May 2010

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.

Monday 17 May 2010

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.

Photo - painting at the endWe 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".

Photo of photographer, photographing painting volunteersWe 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#

Monday 10 May 2010

Dunham Massey

near the start of the days workEleven 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.

Arthur met the footman
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.photo contrasting before and afterThe distance to the trailer in this last picture is about 1/3 of the total that we trimmed