Rodybash at Lyme Park on Sunday 19th December 2021

Today's workday was at Lyme Park.  It was our fourth visit this year and our 31st workday of 2021.

Eight of us assembled in the staff car park behind the house and then walked with ranger Izzy to the worksite in Coal Pit Clough.  The view on the walk was spectacular with a clear blue sky and mist on the Cheshire plain with the tallest buildings in Manchester and the Pennine hills all poking above it.

Contractors with remote-controlled rhody bashers and caterpillar-tracked excavators have been in the clough clearing rhody and building leaky dams.  An ongoing job for human rhodybashers (us and the Tuesday and Thursday groups) is to clear rhody from the steep ground that the machines cannot reach.  The leaky dams reduce the rate at which water flows down the clough and should reduce the chances of flooding in Disley following heavy downpours.

Worksite on steep ground and leaky dam

Neil and Andy set to work and despite still air soon got a bonfire going.  The rest of us chopped up rhody and dragged it to the fire.  From time to time we heard brass band carols drifting up from Disley and for a while saw beautiful sunbeams in mist sinking into the clough.

Coffee break was called at 11:15 and we demolished the Christmas Tree cake that Daniel had baked.

Christmas tree cake makes its annual appearance!

During the afternoon the fire got wider and wider and taller and taller and we stopped loading it at 2:30.

We finished soon after 3pm and made our way back to the carpark.  Izzy remained at the worksite to make the fire safe once it had burned down sufficiently.

Thank you Lyme and Izzy for having us today and to my colleagues for their hard work and making the day such fun.

Wishing all members and their families a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.  

Daniel