Scrub clearance at Erddig on Sunday 30th July 2023

Four of us joined the Merseyside group for a day of scrub clearance at Erddig on Sunday 30th July.

It was a lovely dry day and there was plenty of ragwort to pull by the river but not much himalayan balsam.  In some places the ragwort was very tall!

Ragwort before clearance

Ragwort after clearance

Very tall Ragwort!

Ragwort by the riverbank

Moving along the riverbank we found areas where the scrub was more densly populated to had to use slashers.

Slashing scrub

We also worked on an area further down the river that had become very overgrown, photos below shows us working with the Merseyside Group.

We ended the day early due to not having any more scrub to clear.  All in all it was a good day out and it was nice to meet the Merseyside volunteers again.

Denise, Workside leader

Pulling ragwort at Styal on Sunday 23rd July 2023

Four intrepid MNTV volunteers, Andy S, Adrian, Gordon and myself, braved the elements today and pulled ragwort in the rain on the Styal estate with Ceara the Styal Ranger, from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Ceara had brought some ragwort forks with her which helped us loosen the roots first so we could pull the roots out with the plant.  She asked that we lay the ragwort neatly in piles, out of sight, so that when dog walkers used the fields it would look better if the pulled ragwort couldn't be seen.

Although we had our elevenses outdoors between showers, by the time lunchtime came the heavens had opened so we walked over to the wooden shelter at the top of the steps leading from the carpark down to the mill so we could enjoy our lunch undercover without getting any wetter.  Mind you, I say we walked over to the shelter, poor Andy 'squelched' over as it turned out that the rain had been running off his waterproofs and into his wellies all morning!  His feet were so wet he had to pour the water out of his wellies before he could enjoy his lunch:

We cleared three fields of ragwort before moving into the Countryfile field, so called because this was where thousands of sapling trees were planted by various volunteers, including MNTV, and featured in a Countyfile program in November 2020.  It's also known as the Obelisk field, as this is where the stone obelisk is located, positioned due south from an observatory that once stood in Quarry Bank garden, which enabled the mill owner to use the sun to set his clocks.

Sadly we ran out of time to completely clear the Countryfile field.  Maybe it will be our task next time we're at Styal or maybe another group will get the opportunity to finish it off instead.  By the end of the day, although wet through, we were delighted with the amount of ragwort that we'd been able to get rid of.  Ceara was also impressed with how much we'd achieved, and invited us back again soon:-)

Sue B

Balsam bashing at Hardcastle Crags on Sunday 16th July 2023

Adrian and I went to Hardcastle Crags today to join nine volunteers from the West Yorkshire group.  We were Himalayan Balsam bashing in the areas around the car parks and beside the track on the way to Gibson Mill.  We removed a lot of balsam making a real dent in the area it covered.

Martin

Balsam bashing at Dunham Massey on Sunday 9th July 2023

Eight of us met Lead Ranger Steve at 10:00 on a beautiful sunny morning for the second balsam bashing session of the year at Dunham.

The work location this time, though near the car park picnic area, used to be a lake. It was drained when water was diverted to power the mill when it was still producing flour. This happened as long ago as the 17th century but the area is still very damp and is classed as a site of ‘biological significance’ for its orchid population. As we’re well into the balsam season the growth was the tallest we’ve seen this year.

We worked mainly on our own as Steve was also acting as Duty Manager but he came by regularly and talked about the plans being developed to make the estate more biodiverse. These include working with tenant farmers to introduce more ecologically friendly practices and reinstate 30 kms of hedging.

We managed to clear the area - safely away from the orchids! - and the whole group gathered to surround the last stand of balsam.

It was a very satisfying and interesting day and we’re looking forward to taking part in the hedge laying project.

Jean

Dismantling deer fencing at Lyme Park on Sunday 2nd July 2023

Eight of us met Izzy in the car park where she explained that we would be removing some deer fencing from around some trees, these trees now being big enough to fend for themselves against the deer.  We followed Izzy up to where she had left her vehicle by a gate into an area that is not accessible to the general public.  Once into this area and across a field we came to our worksite of Calves Croft.

We had to use loppers in a couple of instances to enable us to manoeuvre the posts out.  Apart from some of the strengthening posts having a lot of staples in them the job went well.

Sue Daber, both a Lyme Park and MNTV volunteer, came to see us in the afternoon as part of her Lyme duties, and treated us to more cake which was gratefully eaten.

Once all fencing had been removed we took it down to the vehicle for Izzy to take back to the yard.

Thanks to everyone for their hard work, to Sue for the cake and Izzy for keeping us entertained.

Andy H