Litter picking at Styal on Sunday 25th April 2021

Due to the covid restrictions in place just ten of us met up with Colin at Styal for a day of litter picking.

This was litter picking with a difference as some of it was being done in the River Bollin!  Colin was taking the opportunity of the fact that the river was quite low to clear detritus that had been despatched onto the banks and caught up in fallen trees in the river itself in recent floods.

It was a glorious day which was just as well as some of the waders leaked so unfortunately Neil and Jean got quite wet.  I must thank both Sarah and Abbey who spent the full day in the river and in some cases chest deep in water.

 

After filling a number of bags with various plastic and glass bottles plus numerous balls of varying sizes as well as a couple of tyres of course Neil had to find a toy gun and bubble maker which of course he had to make sure it worked!

 

It was a great day, good to be back at Styal again and thanks to everyone for their hard work.

Christine

 

 

Clearing the boardwalk of sand at Formby on Sunday 18th April 2021

This was our first workday in 2021, allowed since the restrictions from the most recent Lockdown have been eased.

Even though Formby was an hour's journey for most of us, and we had to travel separately due to the current Covid restrictions, we had a great turnout of 8 MNTVers who were desperate to get back to volunteering. Combined with a great weather forecast and the likelihood that we would be working near the beach, made this particular workday all the more attractive:-)

We weren't quite sure what we would be doing as the Rangers Justin and Dan, knew they needed to clear the sand from the boardwalk to the beach so that wheelchair and pushchairs users could get onto the beach, but they'd hoped they'd have already done this by the time we arrived, in which case we'd have been given another task but, no, the boardwalks beckoned. We'd met at the Countryside Offices so had to drive to the car park at the end of Lifeboat Road where we parked and met Justin with his trailer containing 4 wheelbarrows and 6 spades. 

We worked in 2 groups of 4 MNTVers, the group nearer the car park worked with Justin, shovelling the sand off the boardwalk into the barrows, which were then taken to be dumped in an area of grasses which would grow through the sand and keep it more stable.

The first group clearing the sand off the boardwalk from the car park.

The second group worked from the beach end, clearing the boardwalk which led onto the beach. Dan was with them with his tractor. He had brought along some extra rolls to extend the boardwalk towards the sea. 

Second group clearing the boardwalk near the beach...

...and dumping it back on the beach!

We were all delighted that so many of the visitors to Formby thanked us for what we were doing as they passed by and some even stopped for a socially-distanced chat - it made us feel so appreciated:-)

We stopped for a coffee break around 11.30am at the side of the carpark, while Justin and Dan went off for an early lunch and to get a few extra jobs done. 

Coffee break near the car park

Afterwards we continued in the same groups until lunchtime, when we had our lunch on the beach! 

Lunchtime on the beach - "oh we do love to be beside the sea side":-)

After lunch, Sue and Adrian nipped down to the sea (and did a mini-litter pick) before starting back to work.

By the time Dan re-appeared, the group near the beach had shifted the sand and were then able to lay the extra boardwalk towards the sea.

Starting to lay the new boardwalk....

....a job well done:-)

Although there was no ice-cream van on this occasion, we all had a great day and were thrilled to be back to what we do best:-) !

Thanks to Adrian for additional photo's.

Zoom quiz on Friday 9th April 2021

We haven't been able to have a social in 2021 because of lockdown and with no prospect of being able to meet indoors before 17 May at the earliest the Committee organised a virtual social.  Tonight, 12 of us met by zoom for a quiz set by the Committee and others.  Each round comprised 10 questions (mostly) and the topics included:

MNTV worksites (anagrams)

Local NT properties (photos)

Sport

Music

Cities of Europe

007 Film Titles

Literature (very difficult!)

Colours

English county towns

We all played in ones or twos with the ones getting a five point head start.  Congratulations to Andy Screen - tonight's Mastermind with a very impressive 129 points out of 160!

It was a fun evening and perhaps one to repeat depending on how the lifting of lockdown goes.  Thanks to Ally for organising the zoom call and to Ally, Sue, Andy, Denise, Paul, Tricia and Charlie for setting the questions.

Daniel Black

Keeping in touch - edition 9

Hi All

It's been a while since I was last in touch with you and I'm sorry for that.  I have just received word that I will be returning to work at the end of next April and although I had wanted to wait until I had more firm plans I wanted to bring you up to speed with what I know at the moment.

We have a full program including at least two of the bank holidays should we want them and your worksite leaders are primed and ready to go.

There are two weekends for your delight: September 3rd-5th brings you September in Snowdonia, staying at the Hendre Isaf Basecamp.  I am currently in the process of finalising this.  On December 10th-12th we return to 2019's Christmas weekend location for Christmas at Calke Abbey.  If these do not go ahead I will sort us a work day out closer to home.

So, hopefully our first workday is on 18th April at Formby.  We'll also be back there in June, September and November.  On 25th April we will be joining Craig who has now returned to Styal with jobs around the estate.  We’ll be there plenty more times in 2021.  Our first longer distance day comes in the form of a trip back to Hardcastle Crags on 16th May.  We'll be back there in June and July too.  On 23rd May we head to the Victorian landscaped gardens at Biddulph Grange Garden.  This will be our only visit to this property in 2021.  On 6th June we return to north Manchester and the Stubbins Estate.  We will also be at Gawthorpe Hall on 11th July.  We will also be at Hayfield in July and once a month every month after that.  August brings us our first of two visits to Speke Hall and we will be back there in October too.

On 22nd August we will be heading for our only trip of the year to Marsden Moor.  On 3rd October there's a trip to Erddig.  Only one visit there this year because they are down a member of staff at the moment but hope to be back up to full strength.  Our last workday will be on 19th December at Lyme with our Chairman Daniel who is renowned for his delicious cake.  The rest of the dates will be on the website soon.

For those with volunteer cards we have had it on good authority that until we can get new cards, cards that expired in March 2020 are still valid until you get a new card.

Now for some fun, we have a virtual quiz coming to you on 9th April.  The committee have written some splendid questions!  If you would like to join us then please let us know by 8th April.  The first round is attached for you all to have a go at even if you can't join us on the night.

Tomorrow (28th March) we should have been at Styal.  They have many tasks that they need our help with and are looking forward to having us back.  They were the first to have us back in September after restrictions in the UK were lifted last time.  Here are a couple of photos from that day:

We hope to see as many of you as possible on a workday this year.  If you have signed up and not yet joined us on a day then let 2021 be that year.

We hope to be in touch with you around Easter to let you know when our first workday will be.

But for now keep safe and well.

Ally - MNTV Program Planner

On behalf of your MNTV Committee