Burning brash at Thurstaston Sunday 20th March 2016

I think this was the 10th day without rain - and we had another fantastic MNTV workday, this time on Thurstatston common.
Three of us travelled together from Quarry Bank Mill in Neil's Roomster (so much space!) and 4 others from MNTV met us in the car park at Royston Park. We were joined by Phil the Ranger and Heather from Merseyside volunteers. From there the 9 of us walked, with our equipment, to the area where we were to be working.

When we got there, we continued the wood clearance work that we'd previously started. On that occasion we were cutting down the smaller trees in this particular wooded area near the heathland, but had to finish early because increasingly high winds meant it was unsafe to work in amongst the trees in case they came down. Today we were cutting off the branches from the already felled trees and dragging them to the fire to be burned.

The fire in it's infancy

To protect the ground and manage the size of the fire, it was started on a couple of corrugated metal sheets, which were kept off the ground by a few tree trunks underneath.

Lunch break

As the ground and wood around was so dry, Neil had no trouble getting the fire going. The rest of us, using bowsaws and loppers, cut the branches off the tree's that were stacked in piles nearby, and dragged them towards the fire.

Neil taking a well-earned break and surveying the fire

It was a lovely bright clear day, although we got a bit of a breeze from the heathland. There were lots of families walking on the path nearby, some stopping for a chat. As a particular family were walking by, a very very excited little girl could be heard shouting out "Look, it's a REAL file, a REAL fire" :-)
Many dog owners also passed by, some dogs 'inspecting' our rucksacks to see if they could find any food, but we were wise to this and had zipped them firmly shut!!

Almost time to leave

By the end of the day, we had almost burnt all the brash that was lying around. I believe future workdays will involve us doing similar work on the other side of the path - bring it on!!!

Footpath work and gulley blocking on Burnt Hill (Hayfield) - 13 March 2016

Today was our second workday of the year at Hayfield.  Eight of us met rangers Shane, Myles and Mark at 9:30 in the Sett Valley Trail car park then drove three miles up the A624 where we parked off road and made our way one mile east across the moor to Burnt Hill on the west side of Mill Hill.  The footpath alternated between stretches of flagstones and stretches of peat bog.

The Trust has engaged contractors to pave this footpath all the way to the summit of Mill Hill.  They cannot work between 1 April and the end of July because of nesting birds and the work is very much 'in progress'.  They had used a caterpillar-tracked excavator to cut a 1 metre wide path through the moor and the cut heather sods had been piled to either side.  Helicopters had been used to lift flagstones up to the moor.  Laying the flags is down to brute force using metal bars.

Today's jobs were to 1) in-fill gaps between the flagstones and the moor with offcuts of the sods, and 2) cut up and carry/drag surplus sods to nearby gulleys and bed them in to block the gulley/stabilise the peat.  We used a 'sillage cutter' to cut the sods.

Excavated footpath & flagstones

In-filling
(between spades & flagstones)

The weather was the best of the year so far and the sun shone all day long.  Spring had arrived!  We enjoyed views south to Lantern Pike, Chinley Churn and Mount Famine and to the northeast a snow-dappled Bleaklow.

Panoramic photo of worksite from the east

We saw several walkers during the day, many making their way up Mill Hill then round to Harry Hut and back to where they started, and one group of mountain bikers who Shane in no uncertain terms turned back.  They should not have been riding on the path and had wilfully ignored the 'No Cycling' signs on the stile at the road.

Our thanks to Shane for organising a very enjoyable day.

Daniel

Brash clearance at Speke with Merseyside NTV, Sunday 6th March 2016: The Day of Five Fires

We were off to the wild wild west today to meet up with our friends at Merseyside NTV for a day of brash clearance at Speke Hall. Five of us met at Styal and piled into Neil's aptly named "Roomster" for the journey down the M62, while Christine and Andy met us at Speke.

Lots of brash to feed lots of fires!

After a bit of Scouse v Manc banter with the ranger, Ian, we wound our way through the lovely buildings and grounds of the hall to find some fields with lots of piles of brash. The pattern of the day would be people bundling the brash together, followed by Neil making ample use of his flame-thrower by torching pretty much everything in sight.

Neil brings The Crazy World of Arthur Brown to Speke: Fire Number One

Fire Number Two in its infancy

We got one fire going in the first field, then crossed a lane to find more brash, which required a second fire. Both fires burnt quickly, and we thought our day might be a short one. Lunch was taken with two fires already fed and turned in, so Lisa's cupcakes were heavily indulged in with thoughts of an easy afternoon.

After lunch, Christine and Andy blazed a trail through the long grass (without being devoured by velociraptors) to start work on more piles of brash across the field. Neil was quick to fulfil the need for a third fire, but more work on the other side of the hedge called for a fourth inferno. This is unprecedented on any MNTV workday I have attended, and the scene began to resemble the opening shot from Apocalypse Now.

Fire Number Three

Fire Number Four

With buzzards circling overhead and a soundtrack of woodpeckers (and a fair few Easyjet planes taking off from John Lennon Airport), our groups began to spread across a wide area as more and more brash was discovered behind yet more hedges. Soon, a delighted Neil was setting fire to his fifth blaze, and itching to start a sixth.

John & Jenny load up Fire Number Five

We limited the pyromaniac inclinations to just the five fires, which were all intensely hot. Some great teamwork between the groups kept these well fed, with Merseyside's John and Manchester newbie Jenny using old fencing to carry large brash bundles.

By 3pm we had to reign in our enthusiasm, accept that some brash would have to live for another workday, and let our final fire burn down. The sun had shone, the two groups had got on really well, and all Neil's Christmases had come at once. We got lots done, and hope to be back at Speke again before too long.

Build it and they will come!

Fire Number Five draws a crowd from both ends of the East Lancs Rd

I hear there's a lovely timbered hall round here that would burn well ... we might need to keep an eye on Neil if we come back!