High Wray in The Lake District - Bank holiday weekend (24th-26th August 2013)

Sunshine and a good rhodybash make the perfect weekend

Starring: Sue , Neil, Hazel, Ally, Tim, Gordon, Matt, Karin, Jamie the Ranger & guest appearance of Charlie

Eight of us travelled to High Wray Basecamp for the Bank Holiday Weekend to work with  National Trust Ranger, Jamie, who is also the high Wray Basecamp warden.

On Saturday morning Sue, Neil, Ally and Hazel arrived at the Basecamp where we were met by Jamie.

On the way up the M6 the weather had not looked good but by the time Jamie met us it was turning into a lovely day. We emptied our cars of our gubbins and made ourselves at home,. At about 1pm Charlie popped in for a visit in time for us to eat our packed lunches. Charlie hadn't brought any so Neil insisted she have half of his ham sandwich and half his scone.

At 2pm Tim and Gordon arrived and again made themselves at home. The plan was to go for a walk in the afternoon but it was just so nice at the Basecamp that most of us just relaxed, chatted and watched the birds on the feeders that Jamie had filled up earlier in the day while Hazel and Gordon went for a walk. Charlie left at 4pm.

As Dinner was being prepared, Matt and Karin arrived having been for a long walk in the Langdales.

That evening we dined on Shepherds Pie and Apple Crumble & Custard and spent the evening doing the Bank Holiday Quiz in the Daily Telegraph that Karin had bought; Matt was particularly good on the sports section. There was a beautiful Sunset that night.

Sunday Morning dawned dry and bright, breakfast was eaten and Jamie arrived at 9am and helped himself to a cup of tea.

The task for the day was rhody clearance at Harrow Slack a densely wooded the area surrounding Pate Crag which is on the West Side of Lake Windermere near Far Sawrey. We travelled there in 3 vehicles and parked up at the shore of the lake. We took the tools that Jamie had provided up the hill to the crag. Some of us wished we hadn’t bought all those layers we always take with us on workdays!

We started sawing and lopping rhody and decided it was probably sensible to burn some of what we were cutting, the plan had been just to cut it and another group was going to come in and burn it after we had finished. The 9 of us cleared a fair amount of rhody and enjoyed chats with other members of the party. There were many trees on the hillside and we set up camp underneath a Yew tree where we ate lunch and kept our bags.

some of the rhody that we cut and burnt!

We headed back down the hill at 3.15pm having cleared more rhody than expected. It had again turned out to be a fabulous day and had seemed a shame for us to have been in the wood all day - but that’s sometimes the nature of volunteering. On reaching the bottom of the hill and henceforth the lake, some of us decided to take a paddle in the lake, it was very refreshing after having had heavy boots on for most of the day. It was at this point we said goodbye to Karin who was heading back home to get ready to travel to Belfast to run a nearly cancelled NT working holiday at Strangford Lough.

The rest got back in our cars and the “Lads” – Tim, Gordon and Matt – took things at “Lads” speed in Tims car. Hazel, Ally, Sue and Neil travelled with Jamie in his National Trust vehicle at a more leisurely speed and also stopped in a National Trust car park so Jamie could check the car windows to see if all the cars had paid to park there, which they had. On arrival back at Base the “Lads” proclaimed they were off down to High Wray Bay to go swimming in Lake Windermere. So the Ladies and Neil chatted to Jamie and had a cup of tea.

After a nice hot shower, we dined on Farfelle with Pancetta and spring peas with Charlie’s Chocolate Bread and Butter pudding for afters.

Monday morning again heralded another beauty of a day. After breakfast we cleaned up the basecamp and Matt headed for the hills while Gordon and Tim headed for home!

Sue, Neil, Ally and Hazel went to visit Wray Castle – it was brilliant – the castle itself is unfurnished and has had several different uses, including being a Conference Centre, which is why, round just about every door that Sue insisted on opening , there was an en-suite bathroom.

As the rooms aren’t furnished, they have been filled with activities mainly to keep the visiting children entertained, there’s a dressing up room, Beatrix Potter Room, build your own castle, decorate your own paper crown, Lake District Room managed by the Rangers of the Lakes, the old library where you can draw your own book on the wall that looks like a bookshelf. Having had a tour round the castle and explored it more we headed into the hot sun to eat our packed lunches. After lunch we explored part of the grounds and discovered many paths that we could have explored if we had more time. As we didn’t have the time, we headed along the path to the lake, where there were many people enjoying the lake and stony beach.

The four of us had an ice-cream before heading home (Ally took the photo which is why she isn't on it!)

Thanks to Jamie for fitting us in and finding some work for us to do – see you in December!

and thanks to Ally for the text and photo's

Drains, and Heathland restoration at Alderley Edge 18 Aug 2013

I enjoyed a muddy day at Alderley Edge - thanks to Tim for leading on the day and for bulk of this report. I had two cameras with me - both with flat batteries! 


Six of us met up in the car park at Alderley Edge and were led to a site where work had been recently done by the Chester volunteers.   Our task, working with a local volunteer, was to clear and extend an open land drain stretching some three hundred feet from a series of drainage ponds to the main road. The drain its self was a ditch some two feet across and three and a half feet in depth. The Chester group had cleared about two thirds of the trench, and by the end of the day we had cleared the rest and managed to excavate a further twenty feet running parallel to the road. During the morning two volunteers investigated drainage pipes discharging into one of the ponds from the direction of the car park. The first was 32 m long and appears to take surface water from the car park - the second 10 m and was redundant.

In the afternoon the majority of the volunteers went across the road to a site where the lowland heath is being restored.  Globally lowland heath is a very rare habitat found mainly in Britain and Scandinavia. We started to remove the bramble an small birch saplings, a task that the group will be returning to soon. 

Although the main task was extremely muddy most people kept reasonably clean and I for one was very satisfied with the work we did. 

One of the ponds that the water drains into looked a bit peculiar to me with very steep sides, and as mining was prolific in the area I suspected it may have been connected to that enterprise. Fortunately I have a friend who is part of a group who are exploring and excavating the mine systems on the Edge. He thinks this pit could be a caped shaft leading to a part of the system that is troubled by flooding and is going to explore the possibility further with the hope of rectifying the situation and adding the knowledge to the charts mapping the mine workings of the area.

Himalayan Balsam - Speke Hall 11 August 2013

Eight volunteers shared 3 cars for the journey from Manchester / Styal to Speke and a ninth met us there.

We spent the day pulling balsam from around a pond / lake a little outside  the formal grounds of the hall.

The camera batteries died on me - so I've only got a fuzzy photo of a pile of pulled balsam!

Walk around the Roman Lakes at Marple - Sat 10th August 2013

It was a small turnout, just Sue and Ally, but we had a lovely walk from the Royal Oak at Mellor, setting off at 10.30am, along the edge of the Linnet Clough Scout camp and across the Mellor and Townscliffe golf course before dropping down to the path leading to the Roman Lakes. We stopped in the café here for lunch after walking around the lakes admiring the wildlife which consisted of many families of ducks, coots and geese as well as a rabbit and a peacock.

The weather was kind to us, a little cool at times but dry for the entire walk.
It was a shame that more people didn't join us but I think the fact that it was during the holiday season meant that some people were away.

Quarry Bank Mill gardens - Sunday 4th Aug 2013

Three of us helped the new Head Gardener, Sarah Witts, remove weeds and brambles from a section of the garden at Quarry Bank Mill.

The weather turned out to be great for us as we were happed to be inside the NT staff room on both occasions when it rained - once we were having our morning break then, the second time, our lunch - how lucky was that?!

We were working by the path in the garden and were able to chat to lots of visitors who were walking past. Many commented on what a good job we were doing, which spurred us on. However there is still plenty more to do when we visit in the future.