Hayfield 6 Feb 2011

Nine volunteers turned out and met up with the warden's team in Hayfield. We travelled part way to the worksite using NT landrovers due to limited space for parking where we were working. It was then a short walk onto Park Moor to continue cutting and burning rhododendron along the edge of a stream where we have worked before.
There had been extensive rain on saturday and the streams were full, with surface water in erosion channels in the paths as well. As most of the volunteers were experienced it didn't take long to get them going, with Shane initially requesting that we clear off the small plants from the flatter part of the moor. Once we had done all that were within a convenient distance of the fire - which the wardens were tending, a few volunteers continued the cutting process down the slope into the valley. The rest of the team dragged the cut material up and along to the fire.


We were making good progress and making a visible difference to the
remaining stands of R. ponticum in the valley when a call was received that an access road was collapsing. As the wardens were needed elsewhere we had to stop and clear up. Alex remained behind to make the fire safe while everyone else trooped off to investigate. If we had had a while longer then the stream might have been visible in the second photo.

On investigation it was found that ground water had caused to the surface of the drive that the landrovers were parked on to blister, and a vehicle had broken through the surface into rather fluid mud underneath. We helped clear an "off road" route around the problem, and eventually went home.