Log splitting at Styal on Sunday 22nd February 2015

12 of us braved the predicted awful weather at Styal to cut logs and burn felled trees from the estate.  Simon the ranger is trying to clear trees to restore the view to the village, clear damaged trees and also for a possible new home for newts!

 

A group used the logging machine to clear some felled trees.  Another two groups started to build fires and cut branches ready for burning.  The logging team did an amazing job and filled two trailers full of freshly cut logs.  With a lot of work and some help from the rangers we eventually got two fires going.

Unfortunately the weather made a turn from bad to awful and we finished early, being tagged out by the junior rangers.  I think Simon was quite pleased with how much we achieved in the conditions. 

 

Some of us went for a hot drink next to radiators in the cafe to dry out before driving home.
Thanks for all the hard work volunteers! See you all soon.
Lisa

Rhody bash at Lyme Park on Sunday 15th Feb 2015

Another great turnout with 15 of us rhody bashing in Lyme Park including 7 'newbies'.

We met in the main carpark but took a while to sort out which cars we would take to the smaller Knott car park and who would share lifts with who. It worked out okay though as we were waiting for a couple of new ladies who had had got the train from Manchester to Disley station and were still walking up the main drive to meet us. Once we realised this, Craig (NT Ranger) headed off in his vehicle to pick them up and then we all headed off to Knott car park. Once we were parked, we climbed up onto the ridge on the left and walked to just below Paddock Cottage. Luckily we were going to be working on a relatively flat area and there was a previous firesite that we could re-use to get a fire going, which was a bonus! - Adrian quickly got a fire started.

We spread out along the length of the rhody 'hedge' and worked hard to cut down the rhody branches, drag them nearer to the fire, where others were cutting the branches into smaller lengths to be burnt on the fire.

The weather was crisp and dry and the views were wonderful!

A few volunteers couldn't stay all day so left around lunchtime, so our numbers fluctuated a little. Fortunately for Sue (worksite leader), Tricia kindly donated her lunch before she left because, for the first time in over 15years of being a NT volunteer, Sue had forgotten her rucksack containing her lunch as well as her work boots! Her wellies were in her car boot so she wore those and didn't starve because of Tricia's delicious lunch:-) Sue's excuse for this lapse in memory was that she'd been so busy making sure she took her home-baked lemon drizzle cake for our mid-morning break, that everything else went out of her head!

We had a great day.
By late morning, parking spaces at Lyme were in short supply with cars queuing on the A6 to get in, so Craig had to head off to supervise the parking. A bit later, Jamie(Ranger) and a DofE helper came along to assist us and Chris (Lyme Lead Ranger), who was on his day off and running through Lyme Park, heard we were on site and found where we were to say 'hello'. Later in the afternoon, Sue D who is a Lyme Ranger and a MNTVer, came over to see how we were getting on and have a chat.
It was a busy but very enjoyable day and, at the end of the afternoon, most of us were still on site to have our photo taken.

Grateful thanks to Tricia for giving Sue her butties!

Hedgelaying at Alderley Edge on 8 February 2015

15 of us, including a newbie and couple of recent starters, braved the wilds of Alderley Edge to continue the hedgelaying task that was started in January.  We split into groups tackling the hedge, the fire and taking down the wire fencing.  Tim the ranger told us that some members of the public would be paying to have a go at hedgelaying soon so we were very lucky to be getting to do it for free!!

A fire saga ensued, possibly due to us working in rather dense fog.  To Adrian's credit he did not give up and, assisted by lots of the group, got a fantastic fire going by the afternoon!  We battled thorns and sheep and in my (possibly biased) opinion did the best job of hedgelaying I have ever seen.  Whatever is left will likely be our job for our next trip out to Alderley so hopefully we will see you all again for round 3 on 22 March.

After the mile walk back involving mud slides and areas looking like something out of Wuthering Heights a rather muddy group arrived back at the car park.  A few of us headed to the pub for a hot drink or pint.

Thanks to everyone for making it a great first leading experience for me.  Even more fancy cakes are promised for next time.  A special thank you to Tim, John, Matt S and Mick for showing their groups how to manage the task and for keeping things on track through the day.  Lisa