Fencing work at Styal on Sunday 24th November 2019

A group of ten met ranger Stuart at Styal on an overcast but (just about) dry day to continue maintenance work on the Wilmslow footpath near Badger Copse.  The ground was too wet for Stuart to get the vehicle close to the work area so we had to use wheelbarrows and muscle power to transport the tools.

During a lunch break on very wet ground Neil made good use of one of the wheelbarrows:

We worked with loppers and bow saws to clear scrub vegetation which opened up both sides of the path and made it brighter.  A fence is needed to protect wildlife from dog invasion but the old one needed repairing.  We dug out the rotten posts and used a fence post driver to hammer in new ones.  The mesh wire was in good enough condition to be recycled.

At the end of the day the huge improvement to the path was satisfying to see.

Jean

Decorating a Christmas tree in the Timber Yard at Lyme Park Nov 2019

At the beginning of Oct, MNTV was asked if they would like to decorate one of the (donated) live and potted Christmas tree's that would stand in the Timber Yard at Lyme Park. They were contacting local community and supporter groups this year, to see if they would like to be involved in decorating one of the trees as their own.
The decorations needed to be weather and deer proof (just in case!) and the theme was books and stories but we could also advertise our Group if we wanted to.
We emailed our members and were thrilled to have a good response and many idea's of what we could produce. We settled on CD's with either random key words telling our 'story' of the sites we visit, the tasks we do and the fun we have, also some actual stories written by some of our members about what they enjoy about MNTV, as well as some advertising!! and some lolly sticks in the shape of M N T V.

It was great that many members wanted to get involved and I had CD's ready to put on the tree arriving from Scotland and the Lake District, from some of our distant members, also from Heaton Mersey from a member just before she went on holidays and the advertising came from me as I cut up and stuck on some of our MNTV leaflets:-)
After arranging a time to decorate the tree, Karin and I met at the Timber Yard and added the CD's and lolly-stick letters, whilst admiring the trees already decorated by the local Brownies and Guides.
We hope the decorations will stand up to the weather between now and Christmas!!
Photo's from Karin

the MNTV tree is on the left

Clearing poplar brush at Formby on Sunday 17th November

It was a windy and bitterly cold day when 6 MNTVers met in the carpark off Lifeboat Road at 10am. Hallam, one of the Formby Rangers was there as were 10 Merseyside volunteers so, in total, we were a large group and hoped to get plenty done!
We walked to the dunes where we would be digging up the poplars and as much of their roots as possible. As Sefton Coast is an SSI (a Site of Special Scientific Interest) we were shown photo's of some of the protected wildlife that, if we were to see, we were not to touch or disturb them but to let Hallam know immediately.

Species to look out for - Natterjack toad, Great Crested Newt, sand lizard and common lizard

So, we started work and then realised how long some of the roots were!! and that, as they wended their way through the sand, they either crossed over or under roots from other tree's or got their roots fully intertwined. or their roots went downward rather than horizontally.

only part of a root!!

Louise, another Formby Ranger also joined us so we all got to work and dug up as many roots as we could, then carried them to the edge of the dunes so we could load them onto the trailer for taking away and disposing of.

trying to dig up and untangle the roots

spreading out to avoid finding roots intertwined

Three or four loads were removed during the day, leaving at least another loads worth at the side of the dunes to be removed tomorrow.

'It just seemed easier to sit down to dig' :-)

Although it was cold and a tricky task, we enjoyed getting to know the Formby Rangers and the Merseyside volunteers during the day:-)

MNTV group photo in front of the trailer full of poplar brash

Rhodi Bashing at Lyme Park 10th November 2019

Seven of us enjoyed a day of rhodi bashing in Lantern Wood at Lyme Park on Sunday 10th November.  

It has been many years since I volunteered at Lyme Park but it felt like yesterday since I was last here doing my favourite task of cutting down and burning this invasive species of rhododendron ponticum.  High up in lantern wood we started the task.  Chris the Warden had already set up the fire ready for a good day's burn and later on Claire the Ranger joined us for the day.  

We split up into groups to tackle the huge quantity of rhodi surrounding the fire site.

A safe place to store tools...

There was an interesting selection of fungi on the trees nearby...

Our volunteer group...

The walk back to the car park...

Rhodi bashing at Lantern Wood to be continued... until next time...  

Footpath work at Bosley Cloud on Sunday 3rd November 2019

First there were four... then there were more...

Waking up on a foggy Sunday morning in the dark is not the best way to start at workday but hey ho, I put on the thermals and brewed up a strong pot of Yorkshire Tea for my flask.  Never has inclement weather stopped us MNTV'ers from getting on with the task in hand!

Four of us arrived at Bosley Cloud and thankfully we were joined by the Congleton group as the task of laying a footpath was back breaking work!  For a first timer at Bosley Cloud I wasn't quite expecting the 30 minute walk up a vertical steep incline carrying tools part of the way and then pushing wheelbarrows containing the rest of the tools to the site.  That was a challenge in itself... then the real work began!  By this time it was nearly 11am, we skipped tea break and set to the task in hand.

Firstly we started by shovelling out the mud and leaves from the path to create a foundation for the path to be laid upon.

Picture shows muddy path before work started

The tree trunks on these photos were felled from the wood a few weeks ago and were used to lay the edging for the new foothpath.  Good job we had plenty of strong men and women as it took six people to carry each trunk from the wood to the path.

Picture shows tree trunks used to create edging for path

Firstly we split up into teams, four people cleared the pathway, one person was making stakes to hold the tree trunks in position and six people carried each tree trunk to the site.

Picture shows stakes being driven into the ground to secure the edging

The stakes were driven into the ground and nailed to the tree trunks to form a secure footpath edge.  In one area of the path it was particularly muddy so we created drainage channels for the water to run underneath the path and down the hillside.

Picture shows drainage channels created

By lunchtime our MNTV team were down to three people and we stopped for a short lunch break and a slice of homemade Yorkshire parkin.  Congleton group decided to carry on in earnest and started to transfer the gravel from a huge mound which had been strategically placed in the wood and covered with tarpaulin.  (The gravel came from a local quarry).  

Picture shows part construction of path with drainage

This is when the hard work got very hard.... digging gravel out of a mound and transferring it into wheelbarrows is back breaking work and we soon discovered that a pick axe was needed to loosen the gravel.  From then on our system was dig, dump and rake and a couple of hours later we had our finished path.

The finished path... to be continued... by another volunteer group...

The fog did clear but I didn't notice until until I was part way down the hillside pushing a wheelbarrow full of tools, trying not to slip in the mud or topple the barrow over so couldn't get a photo but it was a splendid view... maybe I will come back to Bosley Cloud again... if they install a chair lift!

That's all for now, see you next week for bash and burn.  Denise