Three of us met up at Quarry Bank Mill at 8:40 to carshare to Chirk Castle for 10am where we met up with four more members of the group. The castle is an impressive sight on the hill. We were working just inside the entrance (on the right) so we took two cars round the one way system to get to the worksite.
The mixed wood has had extra trees planted there over the last 10 years to fill in the gaps. The trees still had plastic guards round them that had been put on to protect the saplings from rabbits. Our job was to remove the guard from any tree with a stem bigger than our thumbs in a glove. We set to work removing the guards and bagging them up. By morning break we had filled two bags, so the ranger went back for several more.
By lunchtime we had filled enough bags to put on the back of a flat-bed truck, so one of the group went to help empty the truck. The tree guards will be recycled by a specialist company and the stakes and reusable cable ties will be salvaged and reused.
We had another break for lunch. Although the weather remained dry it was a bit cold to sit around for long so we went back to work. By the end of the day we had collected guards from over half the trees and filled two flat-bed truckloads of large rubble bags with guards for recycling. We drove back up to the castle to reunite people with their cars and travelled home.
The ranger was very happy with our progress and asked how to get us back to help again. At the moment there are only two staff to look after the whole estate land so they really appreciate help from volunteer groups like MNTV. The next time we visit the ranger. who we met on Sunday, will actually be living in the castle as warden. What a fabulous address!
Jenny
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