We joined forces with the Merseyside group at Formby on a beautiful sunny winter morning. Four of us and 12 of them, so plenty of hands to make light work!
There has been a lot of woodland management going on in the woods by Victoria Road and the contractors left a bit of a mess. Our task was to get it back up to standard ready for the half term and Easter visitors. Sweeping roads, clearing mud off the forest tracks, replacing broken posts and putting up more disabled parking signs.
The Merseyside group are regular visitors at Formby and it should have been a clue when several of them offered to clear mud off the tracks. I thought the ground would be nice and sandy to dig, but the tree roots got in the way ...
We persisted with bars, spades and saws and finally broke through to the sand in time for the customary morning break. The big pole replacement crew managed to remove two poles before cake break. After morning break we went back to digging holes. We erected two new signs ...
... and replaced some of the big posts ...
One post hole was too deep so the post had to come back out ...
... and some of the sand put back, before the post was put back in at just the right height ...
These larger posts are very sturdy and allow the NT to close the road to the coastal carpark.
After so much work it was time for a well earned lunch break – benches and loos on a work day – luxury.
After lunch in the picnic area, we went back to work replacing old posts by the side of the road. When we had finished filling all the gaps we joined the “mud slinging” oops I meant “mud clearing” crew. On the way back the Ranger gave us a tour of the work they had been doing in the woods.
The sand dunes at Formby aren’t wide enough to form a stable habitat. They should be 1km wide but are only ½ km in places. This means that the pine trees (Scots and Cypriot pine) planted as a cash crop don’t grow very well and get swamped by the sand.
You can see in the photo that the trees on the left which are nearer the sea are dead. The ones on the right are dying as well. They take out any that are a danger to the public on the path and leave the rest for natural habitat. Note that the native Scots pine in the background are surviving a bit better, but they are struggling with the coastal winds and salty air.
The contractors have thinned a lot of the area, removing 20%-80% depending on the trees.
The idea is that the sand dunes will get more space, but the woodland and the red squirrels will move inland a little and the remaining trees will be healthier and produce more pine cones.
On the way back we passed the runes in the children’s play area that we put in on a previous trip. These spell “love” reading from the top down ...
We also walked passed the site of the new carpark area which was once a small sand quarry by Victoria Road, so not a natural habitat. They will take the rubble from the old carpark near the coast, sort out any waste, and put the hardcore in the quarry. This saves taking it all out through Formby and bringing in new hardcore. The new carpark will remove the section of narrow road and improve traffic flow. Sited further from the sea, the new carpark will be protected from coastal erosion and sand dunes for the next 200 years.
Jenny
