Tree work on Bosley Cloud on Sunday 29th July

It started as a VERY wet day!!
Nine of us met on Tunstall Road, Bosley, where we swapped into 3 cars and drove to the layby at the top of Red Lane.
By then the rain was coming down fast but we weren't going to let it deter us from our task!!

Sheltering from the rain!

We started to walk up The Cloud with our tools and met Tim the NT Ranger and Paul, his long-term volunteer. They provided us with some extra tools, including a large 2-person 'push pull' saw and then showed us where we would be working and what needed doing.
We had hoped we might get the chance to winch some tree trunks out of the ground but Tim had other plans for us!
As we walked into the wood, there were a number of large pine tree trunks that had already been felled, waiting to be taken to the edge of the wood and left in a line, so that they could easily be chained up to a Quad bike later in the week and dragged to where they were to be used. This was likely to be as an edging to the various paths on The Cloud.
Tim had other groups of volunteers to supervise as well, so he headed off to meet them, leaving us in the capable hands of Paul.
Some of us started by tiding up the floor of the wood of trip hazards - removing and stacking smaller bits of wood that were lying around, tidying up brambles etc.  We also dug up some Holly and Birch trees which needed removing.

A large tree trunk needing 6 of us to move it!

Most of the pine trunks needed 6 people to carry them. Some, which were a bit smaller, only needed four. On the larger ones, we used 3 straps to wrap around the trunk then pushed our mattock handles through the loops at the end of the straps so a person could take the load on either side. Once strapped up and lifted, it was a slow and ponderous job, making sure that everyone was going at a speed suitable for them, sometimes stopping and putting the trunk down if it got a bit heavy and, of course, making sure to avoid any trips, slips or falls!

We had more-or-less cleared and lined up all the trunks by lunchtime, so after lunch we each had a go at felling a tree, which was then carried and lined up with the others.

Throughout the day, the weather improved, it stopped raining by mid-morning and then the sun came out:-) 

Group photo with the line of pine trunks:-)

We all had a great day, learning new skills, using different equipment and, as you can see in the photo, we could visually 'measure' our achievements by the long line of trunks that had been carried and laid out ready for the Ranger.

Tim was delighted by what we'd achieved:-)

Bracken & thistle thrashing at Hardcastle Crags on 22nd July 2018

Another warm summer’s day at Hardcastle Crags, this time we joined up with the ranger and local volunteers to clear a field which is a SSSI site for waxcap fungi.

In order to allow the fungi to grow the NT want to have the field grazed by sheep to keep vegetation down.  To be worth putting sheep in the field we first had to clear the bracken, thistles and ragwort – oh and some Himalayan balsam that had managed to grow into the brambles.

We left some of the marsh thistles (or hairy thistles as we called them (see picture 1)) and removed the creeping thistles (picture 2).

Picture 1

Picture 2

Before and after bracken clearing (pictures 3 & 4).  For those of you who were at Hardcastle Crags last time, this is the field beside the path just below where we had lunch.  The balsam clearing we did then has been effective - it doesn’t look like the remaining plants will get to seed this year.

Picture 3

Picture 4

We used a new tool for clearing bracken and thistles, a Chillington hoe, which allowed you to get at the roots (picture 5).

Picture 5

Good luck waxcap fungi - we did our best to give you a nice home.

Jenny

Footpath work at Erddig on Sunday 15th July 2018

Today we were back in Wales for a bit of path maintenance by the river, digging up boarding and cutting back vegetation.

We joined up with the Merseyside group who are a friendly bunch.  The day, like so many this summer, was hot but we had some shade and a cool stream that still had enough water to paddle in, and several wet dogs came to say hello.

There was a vintage tractor rally at the park on the day, but although I heard it and smelt it, by the time I had walked up the riverbank and across the fields I saw the last tractor disappear into the distance, so no photos this year.

The photos show the during and after vegetation clearing.  In the second photo you can see the typical activity for a workday, i.e. people standing around chatting (or taking photos) whilst Christine, in the white top, gets on with the work!

Jenny

Thistle thrashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 8th July 2018

On a beautiful day seven of us made our way up past the stables almost to East Lodge to begin our task of thistle thrashing.  We had some beautiful views over Manchester and at one point could see smoke still coming from the Saddleworth Moor fire.  There were also some old planes going over, possibly from Woodford air show.

Although the task was not a strenuous one in the heat today it was quite hard work and we were only too happy to have Sue Daber join us for a couple of hours as her car park duties for Lyme were quieter than usual.  We cleared a good area and hopefully stopped the thistles spreading their seeds for this year.

Thanks to everyone for the hard work.

Christine 

Balsam bashing at Speke Hall on Sunday 1st July 2018

Four MNTVers made the journey to the Tudor manor at Speke this week to meet up with our friends in the Merseyside Volunteers.  Though the weather was very hot the task was clearing Himalayan Balsam in woodland so there was plenty of shade.  Lunch was taken on the front lawn where we watched a group of archers shooting at targets.  We were so good at clearing the balsam that we ran out so packed up early.

Tim