Log splitting at Edale on Sunday 31st May 2015

Seven of us met Shane (NT Area Ranger) and his team of Rangers and dogs, in the Sett Valley Trail car park at Hayfield as usual.

Shane had already let us know that, because of the heavy rain that was forecast, he had found us an indoor job at Edale instead.

When we met he told us we were going to be log splitting at the NT bunkhouse at Dalehead and we could either travel there in convoy or get a lift in their Land Rovers. As most of us would be travelling home to the Stockport area afterwards, it made more sense to travel in convoy so we could get home quicker.

At the bunkhouse we split into 3 groups and worked in the wood store. One group were cutting down  old fence posts and other random surplus pieces of wood into shorter lengths (approx. 12inches/30cms) which were then passed onto the second group who were splitting these using billhooks, into thinner pieces for use as kindling. The kindling was bagged up so it could be carried more easily into the bunkhouse when needed.

The 3rd group used the log-splitter to split the lengths of tree trunk that Miles (NT Ranger) had chain-sawn into shorter pieces. Once the trunks had been split by the log-splitter into more manageable pieces for the bunkhouse log burner, they were stacked against the wall of the wood store for when they were needed.

We rotated the jobs so we all had the opportunity to try everything and learn new skills. I think everyone's favourite was the log splitter - which was great to use and amazing to see how easily it could split the tree trunk pieces with minimal effort from us.

We had the added luxury of being able to use the bunkhouse for our 11's and lunch break. It's a fabulous place and we had a look round to see the latest improvements. It also mean that we had access to the toilets, which is a real treat on our workdays:-)