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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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!