Sunday 29 November 2015

Felling silver birch at Thurstaston Common on Sunday 29th November 2015

On a wet and windy day, seven of us made the journey to the Wirral meeting Phil, the Ranger at Thurstaston, in the Royden Park car park. Five of us had travelled over in one car from Styal. Hannah and Jean went straight there. Three Merseyside Volunteers also met up there.

We walked from the car park into the area we were to be working. We were asked to cut down the smaller trees that we could see, mainly silver birch, so that the area could return to heathland. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest(SSSI) and it is hoped that once the tree's have been removed that it will return to a shrubland habitat, encouraging the growth of bilberries, gorse and heathers, and sightings of adders, common lizards and grass snakes.

Although we had intended to have a fire to burn the tree's that we cut down, the wind was so strong that it wasn't safe to. Instead we made piles of the tree's so they could be removed at a later date.
the area we were working in
As we worked, it got windier and windier and darker as the rain approached. We stopped for a mid-morning break but, by lunchtime, we decided that it was too dangerous to stay in the wooded area in such high winds, so we took our packed lunches over to the car park area and ate our lunch sitting on one of the benches before returning home.

It was a shame that we only had a short day. Phil was really grateful for what we'd achieved in a few hours. We heard from a some dog walkers that a couple of tree's had blown down during the morning so we knew it wasn't worth the risk to stay any longer. Hopefully our next visit to Thurstaston will be a longer one!
 

MNTV having lunch before returning home

Thursday 26 November 2015

Rhodybashing at Lyme Park on 22 November 2015

Six MNTVers braved the tail end of Barney the storm to meet up in the main car park at Lyme Park. After decamping to the top car park we made the short walk to the work site. The task this week was the continuation of rhododendron removal - an ongoing project the group has been involved with for a number of years and one that is starting to show amazing results.

Considering the tantrums Barney had thrown throughout the week the weather was actually fairly good - a bit grey with just a light covering of snow on the ground. As usual the temperature was a few degrees colder up near the moor than in Stockport but the massive bonfire and hard work soon warmed us up.



We left the worksite at three thirty and walked back to the cars by a different route taking in the pond where Colin Firth skinnydipped for a film version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Thanks to Chris the ranger for looking after us, setting the fire and providing another interesting work day.

Tim
(photo taken by Adrian)

Sunday 15 November 2015

Fencing at Hayfield on 15th November 2015 - cancelled

A few of us turned up in the Sett Valley Trail car park this morning to meet with the National Trust Rangers. However, it was decided that, due to the rain and wind, the workday should be cancelled on health and safety grounds.

The field we would have been fencing in was water-logged with a stream of water running off it. We couldn't have got vehicles near the work area so would have had to carry all the tools and equipment to site, which would have been dangerous as it was more than likely that someone could have slipped. Unfortunately there wasn't an alternative indoor task that we could do.

It was such a shame as working at Hayfield is always a pleasure (particularly when the weather is nice!!).

We look forward to the next time............................

Sunday 8 November 2015

Felling trees at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 8th November 2015

Five stout hearted amateur lumberjacks braved the foul weather this week to make the trip into Yorkshire to Hardcastle Crags. The journey up was particularly arduous for one intrepid volunteer who thought he knew better than his sat nav and consequently went thirty miles out of his way. He arrived just in time which was fortuitous as he was leading the group that day.

After donning their rain gear the resolute five along with the ranger Drew and two of the properties regular volunteers venture into the tempest raging outside to make the steep walk to the worksite. The task that day was the felling of trees, manly birch but with some oak, to thin out an area of woodland allowing light to reach ground thus helping the growth of various ground plants and establishing a bio diverse understory. The felled trees some reaching twenty feet in height were left where they droped to rot down providing valuable habitat for various fauna and flora particularly invertebrates.
 With the task completed the happy if slightly damp crew escaped the inclement weather walking back to the ranger’s station, a cosy farmhouse, to have lunch. Unfortunately the weather started to worsen so it was decided to call it a day rather than risk working in the increasing wind and failing light. 
Thanks go to Drew for arranging for an interesting workday and the informative chat about the trees and funguses that infect then.
PS everyone got home safely, one person a lot faster than he had come.         
Thanks to Tim for the text and to Adrian for managing to get a couple of photo's on such a miserable day!

 

Sunday 1 November 2015

Hedge laying at Hare Hill on Sunday 1st Nov 2015

Thirteen keen MNTVers, including a new recruit, met in the car park at Hare Hill. It started out as a foggy morning but at least it was dry!

It was the last day of the season that Hare Hill was open to the public and Halloween activities had been organised for any children who visited so Jack, the NT Ranger, explained that he couldn't work with us today as he was needed to supervise the children's activities.

Before he did, Jack walked us for about 20mins to the hedge we were going to be working on, explaining that Hare Hill were able to receive funding provided the hedge was laid by the end of the year. They had already had erected a fence along the side of the hedge which made life interesting as it meant that we had to climb the fence over to get to the other side of the hedge, before we could even start!

Once over, we split into separate workgroups. Matt showed a few of the group how to hedge lay whilst the majority of people walked along the length of the hedge clearing any tree's that were in the way and tidying up the top and sides of the hedge ready for laying. Tim started removing the old barbed wire that was on the far side of the hedge but it was quite a task as I hadn't brought any wirecutters when I'd collected the tools:-(

It was a lovely day, great camaraderie and we got plenty done as, once the length of the hedge had been tidied, others in the group turned their hands at laying some of the hedge.
 


By the end of the day, although we were pleased we'd managed to get quite a long length done, the hedge was quite old and it hadn't really been tidied previously, so we all decided that it wasn't the tidiest hedge laying that we'd been involved with, but we'd made a good start on it.