Wednesday 29 May 2013

Cycle ride round the Heatons - 29th May 2013

Tonight we had our May social.  Four of us met up with ten members of Stockport Community Cycling Club for a ten mile ride round the Heatons and Levenshulme.  (At the same time ten other SCCC cyclists left us and did a six mile route).  Our ride was a circular one from Heaton Chapel railway station, across the A6, past Houldsworth Golf Course, along the Manchester Cycleway into Levenshulme, through Cringle Park, along the Trans Pennine Trail and Burnage Lane to the new East Didsbury tram station, through Heaton Mersey into Heaton Moor and back past Heaton Moor Golf Club.

Gordon had cycled from work in Wythenshawe to HC station and cycled back home afterwards.  He'll have clocked up 30 miles today!  I suspect the other three of us, who don't cycle often (Daniel and Sue hadn't cycled since the MNTV bike ride round Gatley and Cheadle last August!), might be waking up tomorrow with sore legs!

Thanks to Sue and SCCC for organising the ride, to Sarah (SCCC) for leading us and to Andy and Jim Court (SCCC) for the loan of bikes.
(L to R) Gavin, Gordon, Sue, Daniel

Sunday 19 May 2013

Spiling at Styal 19 May 2013

Thanks to Mick for words and pictures (I had a weekend off)


Sunshine and apple blossom greeted us at Styal today. The task was spiling - protecting parts of the banks of the Bollin using willow withies. These are 'planted' into the banks and wound around willow stakes driven into the river bed a foot or so from the bank. Some of the withies will grow and help to stabilise the silt which accumulates behind the spiling, and all of it will prevent further erosion of the banks at those points. The three sections of spiling we have put in was mainly to protect the banks where the Bollin is threatening to erode the footpaths. The ten MNTV volunteers split into groups, some working in the water in waders, some harvesting the withies and some being the go-betweens.



 
Withies and stakes being harvested for the spiling
 
Weaving about to begin 
Most of the woven withies are underwater 
Some of the local wildlife came to see what we were up to

Mick

Sunday 12 May 2013

Dunham Massey on Sunday 12th May 2013

Five of our Group joined with 5 Merseyside Volunteers and, together with Colin, one of the Dunham Rangers, walked from the car park, past the pond and headed towards the courtyard, stopping to admire 5 ducklings lazing in the sun. We heard that they'd been the other side of the bridge yesterday in a section of the moat where some of them couldn't get out so Colin had to set up a ladder system to enable them to climb out when they wanted. He was pleased to see that they all had.
After walking through the courtyard and then down South Drive, we watched Colin feeding the deer - not as many turned up as usual as many are now finding their own food around the park, but it was great watching about 70 of them having their meal, a few of which reared up to 'fight' the others off when they thought they were getting too close!
 
Getting to the end of South Drive, we saw our task for the day!! Two large boggy area's either side of the path which were not draining because the drainage pipe from each area was completely blocked. The farmer on the other side of the brick wall had already dug a trench for the excess water to flow into once the blockages were sorted, which would then flow into the Bolin. The boggy area's were undermining the wall and causing tree's to become unstable so we split into 4 groups, in our wellies and waders, to tackle the task Two groups tried to clear the blockages and dig up some of the reeds and roots so the water would flow better, another group went over the wall to rod the blockages from the other side and the 4th group went up one of the slopes to make a trench deeper so water would drain more easily from that area once the rain came.
Here are photo's to show how boggy it was to start off and of one of our volunteers kitted out in waders having dug out a lot of the reeds and roots.
 


Although we got muddy and wet when the rain came!! we had a great time as we cleared both blocked drains and managed to make 'waterways' though the reeds so the water flowed down to the unblocked drains, under the wall to the fields the other side. There is still much to do and the drains may silt up again, but they'll be much easier to unblock next time and, eventually, when the excess water has cleared from the area's, the bricks we dug out will be used to make the drainage better for the future.
We had a great day, working with another volunteer group and also feeling like we'd really achieved something by the end of the afternoon:-)