Sunday 11 December 2011

Alderley Edge 11 Dec 2011

Thanks to Sue for putting up the words while I was offline (rain got into my phone line...) - and again thank to Nathan for the photos
Well.................I know it's December, but what a cold, wet, miserable day!!
Still, eleven of us turned out and we managed to 'lay' a decent length of hedge and, despite the rain, got a good fire going so we were able to burn most of what we cut off.
Some members of the group did get a bit cold during the day. Afterall there is a fair amount of standing about to be done when hedge-laying!, but the warmth from the fire and the TWO cakes provided by Sue (a chocolate cake and carrot cake, bought at the Church fair the day before) raised spirits sufficiently to keep the motivation going.
Hopefully next time we hedge-lay, it's be warm, dry and sunny!!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Manchester Christmas markets 6 Dec 2011


Seven regular MNTVers plus friends met at The Windmill House - one of the food and drink area's in the European market in Albert Square by Manchester Town Hall. It was cold and dry and not too busy, so we were able to get some food and drinks quite easily without having to wait for ages. We each got our food from different stalls, so were able to compare what we ate - each were tradtional dishes from various European countries like Lanchashire hot pot from the UK, Pan Hagarty from Ireland, Paella from Spain, a chicken and garlic dish from France and, although no-one had any, there were plenty of Bratwurst from Germany. Most of us had a hot Glühwein to drink, which was great:-)
We chatted while we ate and drank and Marita was the first to wander off and buy something - a £10 bag of various salami's and other spicy sausages. They looked and smelt so good that it wasn't long before Andy was persuaded to get some as well. When everyone had finished eating and drinking, we went for a wander around the stalls to see what delights were available. Some of the group bought their Christmas presents before heading off home.
A lovely relaxing start to the Christmas Festivities!

Monday 5 December 2011

High Wray Weekend social

After work we returned to the base camp, and were welcomed with home made cake and mulled wine, warmed mince pies etc.The food theme continued sometime with a large roast turkey, a vegetarian alternative - lots of trimmings - and even later Christmas pud etc. Many thanks to Charlie and Neil who did the cooking.

In due time secret Santa's sack was found and presents opened, and for some strange reason the evening ended in the early hours of Sunday with a vigorous discussion on the subject of education!


We got up eventually on Sunday to discover another grey day but with white stuff visible on the distant fells.

After breakfast the majority went for a leisurely walk

including the path we had worked on, returning via Wray castle. The rain restarted in earnest as we were heading back - so we cleared up, packed up and came home.

Sunday 4 December 2011

High Wray (Windermere) Weekend 3 Dec 2011

A large group of us celebrated early at High Wray for the weekend. To subsidise the base camp hire most of us worked on for the day, helping the staff "Rangers" as we now must call them to finish some work on a stretch of bridle path alongside the lake.


We started in full waterproofs in the rain at the end of the path near the gate to Wray Castle, and helped load a trailer with fire wood - as this was the fuel that was most likely to disappear. We then walked down to the lake shore inspected the "finished" work, before continuing the work ourselves. The task was simple but did required thought - cut down the "trees" on the sides of the path with pink spots - to open out the views and keep the path clear. The complex bit came next - as you then had to decide what to do with the cut material - cut it to one length for firewood, a different length for a hedging stakes, leave it as long as possible as material for "round wood crafts" (hurdle making etc) - or just burn it on the bonfire!

The sun never got very high of the hill, but the hill was sheltering us from the worst of the weather. We did see quite a lot of rain and some hail. The light was going by the time we finished but I thing the rangers were quite pleased that we had finished the section.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Dunham Massey 29 Novemeber 2011

Thirteen volunteers turned out to Dunham Massey. The original plan was to spend the day cutting and burning rhododendron, but it the weather was to windy to do this safely.

So the group helped the staff to experiment with the idea of a "subsoil" path. I've heard of these in upland areas but no one really knew how it would work out in the deer park.

There is path between the obelisk and farm walk along the edge of the deer sanctuary that had become very muddy due to a combination of rotting leaves, shadow, and poor drainage. We scrapped off the soft mud / leaf mould and found that there was a far firmer layer a few inches down. We then removed the top soil from a trench next to the line of the path, revealing a layer of sandy soil further down. This was then dug out onto the path, shaped to form a "camber", raked smooth and trodden down. We had quite a lot of fun with various combinations of volunteers treading the sand into place while trying to coordinate dance moves or space invader impressions! To finish the job and tidy up the top soil was used to part fill the trench, smoothing it out to leave the area as safe as possible, for both wildlife and humans. The raised bank of sand should stay comparatively dry and we hope will pack down to form a firm stable surface.

It will be interesting to monitor this section of path in the future to see how it behaves.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Victoria Baths

It appears to have become a tradition to go slightly astray from the our usual NT haunts and spend a day in the autumn at Victoria baths. Once again I took the day off - so thankyou to Daniel for the text and Nathan for the photos.

Today ten of us volunteered at the Victoria Baths in Manchester (www.victoriabaths.org.uk). It’s not a National Trust property but we know Neil Bonner, one of the staff there, and visit once a year. The building won the BBC’s Restoration programme in 2003 and with it prize money from the National Lottery. That was spent making the building weatherproof and refurbishing the stained-glass windows across the front. Work continues to restore the baths to their former glory and return them to public use.

We did a number of jobs in groups of twos and threes:

Removing cables from the Males 1st Class cabins
Removing the pool cover mechanisms from the Females and Males 1st Class pools
Vacuuming the flooring over the Males 2nd Class pool
De-weeding the car park

Cleaning the basement windows inside and out
Cleaning the paths at the front of the building

In between work sessions Neil gave us a fascinating tour of the building, from the farthest corners of the basement to the top of the superintendent’s flat and all places in between.

Sunday 13 November 2011

Hare Hill 13 November 2011




Eleven volunteers turned out and spend a bright sunny day digging.

We were on our own working on the drains in the parkland around Hare Hill gardens. The section we had been asked to look at had been replaced at some stage in its history with a length of yellow corrugated perforated plastic pipe. It looked as if the original drain had been damaged when this was done. The yellow pipe was brittle and had collapsed in a number of places as well as being full of sediment. We did managed to find some surviving sections of the original culvert in a couple of places under the yellow pipe. The pipe got deeper both at the top and bottom of the section we were working on and disapeared under water.We didn't follow it all the way as we had to leave the site in a safe state at the end of the day.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Trip to Paradise Golf at the Trafford Centre - Tuesday 8 November 2011

A group of regular MNTVers visited the Trafford Centre on Tuesday 8 November to test out our mini-golfing skills at the Paradise Golf indoor mini-golf centre. There were two courses to choose from, and we pitted our wits against various obstacles throughout the various holes. Some holes proved more difficult than others (with appropriate "rain forest" background commentary from various species proving quite offputting for Sue!), and Megan showed us all how it should be done when she holed-in-one on the very first hole! By the time we reached the 18th, we had all managed at least one hole-in-one each, but I suspect that Daniel has done this before as he seemed to be taking it very seriously with low scoring throughout.













There was a tricky bonus 19th hole which we all had a single shot at (as it collected all the balls) - Alex and I both managed to hole it in one, so we will have to visit the course again to claim our free game! The night was rounded off with some well earned refreshments in the Orient, so thanks to everyone for coming to an enjoyable evening.

Monday 7 November 2011

"Hayfield" Gulley blocking 6 November 2011

On a number of work days in the past we have loaded various materials into white cubic meter bags "to be used for gully blocking on the top" - this time we got to empty some

- Thanks to Mick for the words and Nathan for the photos.

On the morning of a beautiful November day - crisp and cold, with hoarfrost in the dells where the sun hadn't yet reached - thirteen volunteers ventured up onto the Kinder plateau. Such a large number was more than could be taken up in the NT Land Rovers, so quite a few opted to walk up from South Head farm, which was serving as the car park.
The day's task was making small dams out of stones airlifted on to Kinder for this purpose. The dams form barriers in peat gullies and will catch peat which would otherwise be eroded from the moor. Once enough peat has collected behind these mini dams, they can be planted with cotton-grass to further slow the loss of the peat.The rangers estimated that this would happen in about eighteen months. As well as actively trapping peat, the gully-blocking reduces the flow rate of the flash streams that form after rain. As the particle carrying capacity of a stream or river is proportional to it's flow rate, this means that the slower streams will carry less peat and other material off the moor. (If anyone is interested in reading a report about gully-blocking on South Pennine moorlands, you can find one here: moors for the future

The group were working in the gullies of the catchment area of Edale Head, above Jacob's Ladder. We finished the task at 2:30 and those walking enjoyed a more leisurely stroll back to South Head than the uphill trek. The rangers were surprised and pleased that all the planned gully-blocking in that area was finished and were just left with several groups of empty sacks to be helicoptered down for refilling.

Sunday 30 October 2011

Snowdonia Marathon (29 Oct 2011)

I stayed at home this week - thanks to Daniel for the text and photos...
Ten Bryn Gwynant drinks stationof us were in North Wales on Saturday helping out at the 29th Snowdonia Marathon. The race began at 10:30 and we split into three groups to man the drinks stations at Pen-y-Pass (5 miles), Bryn Gwynant (8 miles) and Llyn Dinas (11 miles). The four of us at Bryn Gwynant were joined by two mums and daughters from Huddersfield who worked with us from first runner to last! My ears are still ringing from Sue’s loud cries of “Energy bars… Energy bars at the back… Piece of energy bar…”

We were amazed by some of the runners we saw: the five-minute milers at the front, the man dressed as Batman, the man running in barefeet (!!!) and a blind runner with his guide. Surprisingly on the eve of Halloween there were no runners this year wearing black pointy hats! All of the runners were grateful for our refreshments and one of them christened us “water monitors”(!)

The working at the finsish in Llanberisdrizzle turned heavier as we drove back to Llanberis where we were asked to help out at the finish. We gave commemorative slate coasters to the finishers (several of whom quipped “Do you have a pint of beer to put on this?”) and wrapped them in space blankets. At 16:30 - six hours after the race had started - the organisers began to dismantle the finish gantry and re-open the roads to cars. At that point 60 runners were still out on the course. The last runner crossed the line in a time of 7hr 47m.

Here are some other results:

1st man 2hr 36m

1st woman 3hr 11m

1,424 finishers



Back The group back at baseat the basecamp we had a tasty supper of Lentil & vegetable cottage pie and Apple crumble & custard. The apples came fresh from Hazel’s garden. Hazel and Adrian did a 1,000 piece jigsaw and the others thought up weather-dependent activities for Sunday…



… which dawned dry and bright and we went for a walk and picnic on the Great Orme in Llandudno, returning home at 14:00.

Sunday 23 October 2011

Dumham Massey 23 Oct 2011


9 (or perhaps 10!) volunteers turned out to Dunham Massey and spent the day cutting and burning Rhododendron. Again I missed it as I was on holiday, I think at least 2 people must have been behind the camera......

Sunday 16 October 2011

Hare Hill on Sunday 16th Oct 2011

After some problems in the weeks leading up to the event trying to confirm where we would be going, Sue reported the following (while I was on holiday....)

We had a great workday in the end.

Eight of us turned up and were shown the final patch of rhody near the kiosk
(before you go into Hare Hill) that needed removing.
We managed to cut it all down, even getting all the roots up!
Despite the light drizzle in the morning, we easily got a fire going to burn
all the rhody. It brightened up late morning and, after having had lunch and
home-made cakes provided by Karin and Sue's mum, we raked over and started
planting daffodil bulbs around the kiosk.

It was a great workday, the volunteers on the kiosk chatted to us during the
day, Julia, the Ranger, kept coming back to check that we were okay, and we
handed out some leaflets to various members of the public who passed nearby.

The 'excitment' of the day was, when we disturbed 2 little mice who had been
living in the roots of the rhody, one of whom then tried to run towards the
fire thinking it would be a safe haven. Tim managed to dissuade it by
stamping his foot and making lots of noise and, hopefully, it ran away to
make a safe new home somewhere else.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Styal 9 Oct 2011

No photographs today - unless someone else emails some to me - as I forgot my camera.

Five volunteers turned out to work near the car park at Quarry Bank Mill (Styal), contributing to the setting up of a "camp building area.

There was a certain amound of material (fallen / cut branches and dead leaves) to be burnt and a certain amount of fencing to be done.

A previous group had put in most of the posts for two fences, most of the way in, and more or less in line with each other. We drove ones that were a little high in further till they were at the right level - adjusting their angles where this was possible, We added "dead-men" to the king posts and some braces...
the king posts are the bigger posts that hold the tension in the wire fence.
the deadmen are small pieces of timber nailed onto the post underground
they stop the post rotating - which would let the tension off the wires.
the braced are diagonal timbers that stop the wires from pulling the king post over.
We also put the wire on one section of fence.

The day was supprisingly warm and though a little damp the main rain held off until after 3pm.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Stockport tunnels 5 October 2011

This evening we visited the North West's tourist attraction of the year - Stockport tunnels. Armed with flash lights, we had a fascinating tour of the network of tunnels dug especially to provide a safe haven for the residents of Stockport during the air raids of World War II. We saw row upon row of three-tier bunk beds (which brought back memories of uncomfortable nights in the Snowdownia moutain rescue centre), rows of toliets (flushing and otherwise), tool stores, kitchens, prision cells, and a very swish-looking medical centre.

Being several metres underground, it was very damp and there were droplets of water dripping from the metal mesh of the bunk beds and from the moss growing from the ceiling. I suppose a bit of damp was nothing compared to the risk of having your house fall on top of you!

We spent the evening in admiration; of the proactivity of the minister who commissioned the tunnels, of the engineering skill in 'building' them, of the organisation of thousands of scared people, of the comaradarie that develops in times of adversity...

Why are these tunnels not more widely appreciated? Several people who have lived in the area all their lives had not even heard of them!

Sunday 2 October 2011

Kinder Scout - "Hayfield" 2 Oct 2011

We (almost) always work outside but some work sites are more open than others.....

Thirteen volunteers turned out on a day with a mixed weather forecast. We had tools for a back up plan of Rhodibashing - but the latest forecasts were ok, and the sky looked cooperative - so we proceeded with the primary task - removing a redundant fenced enclosure from the top of Kinder Scout.

As we have done on previous occasions we hitched lifts in land rovers to Edale cross - and were reminded how strange it is that people go "off roading" for "pleasure"+. We then walked north along the pennine way for a while before heading off nearer to the edge of the plateau.

We were told that the area in question was badly burnt in the 70's and was fenced to keep the sheep out while regeneration work was attempted. Initial re seeding was done by hand and later when the technology became available heather seed was sprayed over the area from a helicopter, (the seed is fine enough to go through the jet of a crop sprayer). As the area is now reasonably well vegetated and because theoretically sheep are no longer grazing up there, the fence surrounding this patch was redundant.

So we removed it - we split into two groups and worked our way round in both directions - dismantling the fence and collecting the materials in to piles.
The larger "king" posts were left as "perches for birds of prey".
The resulting materials will be reused where possible on the estate.

At the end of the day a few examples of a club moss were spotted by one of the wardens. This "plant" has been spotted in a few places in the last few years on the estate - it is apparently a clean air indicator and was absent for about 120 years. I tried to photograph it - but my camera was selected for robustness and I didn't get a useful image.

As we had plenty of volunteers there was time for a pleasant walk down - avoiding the rough ride and seeing how some of the places we have worked actually fit together into the landscape.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Dunham Massey 24 Sept 2011


Thanks to Mick for the text and Nathan for the photo
The MNTV group were back at Dunham Massey, continuing the National Trust war of attrition against Rhododendron ponticum. At Dunham, this is only found outside the park in the coverts between the park and grazing for Home Farm. With a large group - seventeen volunteers - quite a lot of rhody was bashed in Headsman's covert and fed onto two fires. As a potential vector for Phytophthorum ramorum (responsible for Sudden Oak Death), the rhododendron is better removed than left. In addition, removing it will allow more wild flowers to return to the covert.


Sunday 18 September 2011

Thurstaston Common 18 Sept 2011

Four volunteers met up at Quarry Bank mill, and car shared to Thurstaston, where we met up with the warden and our colegues from Chester.

The day didn't go entirely according to plan, with some confusion as to which rugby club we were meeting at.

There were other issues which stopped the planned Rhodi bash, leaving us tackling the saplings that were invading open heathland.

We did some usefull work, and after a grey start the sun shone.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Shugborough 3 Sept 2011

Seven volunteers turned out, and shared cars for a trip down the M6 to Shugborough.
We continued the task that we had started last month (21 Aug 2011). When we arrived we found some work had been done in our absence.Once again there a number of waders available, though the last pair belonging to Shugborough (as opposed to "ours") had been put away full of water! - so I didn't bother with them (I wasn't in the water). We had some people in the water pulling the reads and throwing them onto the bank, and some cleaning up the sandstone wall that holds up the "bank" using spades. - (see second photo)
This time I avoided getting completely coated in mud. In fact I found that with the aid of a pitch fork I could transfer the pulled material from where it was thrown on the bank to the pile without getting it on me at all!
This time we were asked to minimise the number of piles of pulled material - so we built two as it was getting to be quite a long walk to the first one by lunch time. The pile in the third photo represents half of the material we removed this time. With the group in the background tucking in to some well earned cake.The final photo is from the same view point as the first, and shows what we have done as well as the muddy marks on the grass which we are told will wash off with the first rain.

Sunday 4 September 2011

Hare Hill 4 Sept 2011

trench before work water flowing above drainSix of our volunteers met up with two locals, and another group - the Sale and Altrincham conservation volunteers and spent the day in the parkland surrounding Hare Hill Garden.

We were returning to a land drain that we had previously visited I think in May 2009 - though as this drain was is particularly deep and very well blocked it more or less defeated us on that occasion. This time a local farmer had been recruited to remove the top 4 feet or so of soil. This had created a series of trenches along the line of the drain. So in theory we only had to dig down one to two feet - naturally we discovered the drain was not straight and it dissappeared out of the side of the trench so we did have to dig one pit to the full depth by hand.

In the first photgraph - you can see water flowing along the base of the trench this is above the level of the drain. It then dispears into a section of drain that wasn't completely blocked by mud. Looking the otherway in the second photo a little later (the stones flat in the mud are where the gentleman was standing in the first photo) - the drain has been uncovered, opened, and cleaned out. The trench has also been made wider to get at more of the drain. trench during lunch break water flowing in drainStanding in the trench is a T bar that allows you to find the drain without digging it up - so long as it isn't too deep, and behind the bucket is a hand dug pit that allowed us to get at the next blockage a little further downstream.

By the end of the day water was flowing along the entire section (these photos only show about 1/5 of the length uncovered). Though there was still a partial blockage under the piles of grass covered soil in the background of the second photo.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Shugborough 21 August 2011

Nine of us travelled down the M6 today to Shugborough, the seat of the Earls of Lichfield. BeforeSandstone CleaningAfterCleaning us

We spent the day working with Derek digging up reeds (glyceria and water burdock) from the riverbank nearest to the mansion house.

After we’d pulled the reeds we cleaned up the sandstone embankment by removing vegetation that had taken hold since the last clearance three years ago.

The group’s new chest waders kept those working in the river dry, but it was messy work and after we’d finished we had a dip in the fountain to clean ourselves up.

From the worksite we had good views of the arboretum and Derek pointed out the new sculptures that had been installed since our visit in March, e.g. Pocahontas, Dream Catcher and a baby elephant.

We ate Daniel’s chocolate cake for elevenses and had a Victoria sandwich courtesy of the tearoom for lunchtime pudding!

There were lots of passersby in the afternoon including a couple who volunteer at Styal/Hare Hill and who had had supper on Saturday night with one of our members!

Derek appeared on the BBC’s Gardener’s World last Friday with Carol Klein! If you didn’t see the episode it will be on the iPlayer for the next few days.

Sunday 14 August 2011

Hare Hill gardens 14 Aug 2011

Seven volunteers turned out to Hare Hill gardens near Alderley Edge for a task originally billed as clearing a pond. There was a small change of plan as it was thought that there might be newts breeding in the pond, so the task became "checking the land drains that feed the ponds". Though in the event we only managed to start on one.

We started with the small pond between the walled garden and the toilet, over the course of the day we located the first 60 odd feet of one of the land drains that feeds it. We dug down to the drain in about three places and found that it was in good condition - but difficult to access as it was under about 4 feet of garden soil which also contained a lot of bricks. This was real work - we've got use to similar land drains in the park that are only about 18 inches down and far easier to find!

We also proved by then end of the day that the bore of the drain was open for a distance of about 60 feet - initially there were a number of regions where mats of root were blocking it - but these were fished out on the end the drain rods with the aid of a "pig tail". We stopped about 3pm to clear up the tools and me - the other volunteers had managed to remain comparatively clean! As I was in the pond with the drain rods, and wellies I didn't take any photos.....

A small group had also visited some of the other ponds on site to investigate where the water feeds into and out of them, but they didn't find much - being wise enough to leave a wasps nest well alone......

A large tree will soon have to be felled near the drain we were investigating - but as they now know where the drain is - they should be able to carry out the work without damaging the drain.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Dunham Massey 7 August 2011


A Group of eleven of us worked in the old car park at Dunham Massey, pulling up Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). This invasive weed can grow to 10 foot tall! It's purply-pink helmet-shaped flowers may look pretty whilst in flower but once they turn to seed-pods these, when ripe, will open explosively dispersing up to 800 seeds a plant up to a distance of 7 metres away!! As if this wasn't enough, it's shallow root system grows in the top layer of soil or decaying leaf matter and, once the plant dies in the winter, there is nothing binding the soil so it is often washed away over the winter, causing major soil-erosion issues. This is particularly a problem when it grows on river banks. Fortunatley, as there was a large group of us today, we managed to clear a large area and, despite a bit of rain on occasion, we had a great day out 'balsam-bashing'!

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Macclesfield Forest 2 August 2011

After a bit of a drizzly afternoon, the sun came out and we enjoyed a warm sunny outing in Macclesfield Forest and some lovely views over Trentabank and Ridgegate reservoirs. As we congregated outside the Leather's Smithy waiting for everyone to arrive, a very cute puppy and his owner joined us. The puppy was only 4 months old and was so fluffy, he was just like a cuddly toy imititation. They had just returned from their walk and the owner was saying how beautiful it was; so on impulse the planned route was revised according to her instructions. We ended up making some quite steep ascents, but were rewarded by fantastic views. Only problem was we were not sure of a quick way back to the pub, so those joining us for a drink were well established and halfway through their drinks by the time we made it to the bar.



Sunday 31 July 2011

Hayfield 31July 2011












Ten volunteers spent today with wardens Shane and Myles checking on alders and mountain ash beside three streams in the Broad Clough area on the west side of Kinder Scout. The saplings were planted this spring and as they grow will reduce the peat run-off from the hillside and improve the clarity of water flowing into Kinder Reservoir. Our tasks were to remove tree guards from those trees that had died (these were counted to determine the number of trees to replant) and to restake those trees where the planters had put the stake inside the guard not outside. We had an exciting off-road drive in Land Rovers to where we accessed the first two streams and then a short drive and ten-minute walk to the third one. Unusually today’s tools were secateurs and Stanley knives – all used to snip through the cable ties attaching stakes to guards. It was an excellent day out in beautiful weather with good company and conversation, interesting work and delicious fruitcake (thank you Sue!) and we all left with a feeling of a job well done.

Sunday 24 July 2011

Speke 24 July 2011





Eight of us enjoyed a fabulously sunny day at Speke. We were pulling up Ragwort (a yellow-flowering plant which is toxic to livestock and also spreads profusely), snapping the stems to ensure that they didn't continue growing if they happened to re-root, and throwing them on the ground to dry and be mashed up when the field is next mowed.
We had almost cleared the field of all the Ragwort, when it was time to meet the warden as we'd agreed to be 'guinea-pigs' and try out the new maze on it's first day. We loved it!! - although the conifers need to grow a bit more to make it a bit harder, the high wooden bridges and wrought-iron gates (that can change position to give the maze a different layout) made it great fun to walk around. One of our Group sussed out the correct route pretty quickly, the rest of us had fun walking down many dead-ends!!
All in all it was a fun, sunny, day out:-)

Sunday 17 July 2011

Ukulele orchestra, 17 July 2011

Despite the inclement conditions, we enjoyed a spectacular evening at Gawsworth Hall being thoroughly entertained by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. We bravely ventured out into the torrential rain; firstly to stock up on goodies for our picnic (yes we persevered with the outdoor eating regardless of the less-than-summer weather) and then again to reach the venue. The most popular saying being bandied about when we reached Gawsworth Hall was 'only the British would do this'!
Several people had put up their gazebo and were having dinner with their best silver and champagne. We were not mad enough to spread out our picnic rug, but hastily found shelter in the spectator stand where we commandeered a few spare seats to use as table and spread out a veritable feast. We enjoyed our picnic with ukulele practice in the background - perfect!
And the performance was truly marvellous; I could not have anticipated anything better. The musical talent was extraordinary and delivered with a flourish of humour. We all had aching cheeks by the end, having smiled continually for two and a half hours. What a superb MNTV social this turned out to be!

Sunday 10 July 2011

Formby 10 July 2011

I had to delegate leading the task at Formby this week due to circumstances beyond my control - thanks to Pip for most of the text and photos

Nine volunteers from MNTV spent a sunny day on the beach at Formby, working alongside volunteers from Merseyside. The Maram grass on the sand dunes has been eroded by the passage of so many feet on the way to the beach. This allows the sand to blow around and move inland, overwhelming the existing vegetation and bridle ways. To reverse this process of erosion, the wardens at Formby (with our help) are digging donated dead Christmas trees into the sand. The trees hold the dunes together and allow the grass to re-establish itself.
The day finished with a paddle in the sea, though no-one was brave enough to swim this year.

Friday 8 July 2011

Theatre Trip

A number of our volunteers, family and friends went to the Salford Arts Theatre and enjoyed seeing "A Gladiator on the Town".

Sunday 3 July 2011

Himalayan Balsam

Thanks to Mick for supplying the words here....
Thirteen volunteers (including three first-timers) took shelter from the heat of the day in Pitstead Covert, a small (about 4 acre) wood just to the West of Dunham Massey Park. Whilst there we made ourselves useful by clearing the wood of Himalayan Balsam. There may have been one or two tiny shoots left, but the group did a very effective job. Extensive and universal nettle stings were in evidence, which showed every one's commitment.

If left to seed, the balsam would be spread by the feet of rabbits or birds, including into the park itself. It is a very fast-growing invasive plant, and causes problems for native plants by competing for soil nutrients. Just before leaving we also made a quick sweep of another patch of woodland, Headsman's Covert, which adjoins the wall of the Park. Here there wasn't much balsam, as the covert had been overrun by Rhododendron. There were just a few balsam plants appearing where the wardens had started to clear the rhody.