Ten MNTVers, including Jasmin, a new recruit, met Jimmy the Ranger in the main carpark at 9.30am. Jimmy said we’d be working along West Drive so some set off walking there and others drove and parked in The Knott carpark.
Jimmy took his vehicle along West Drive to where we’d be working. He showed us the steep slope we’d need to climb to bring down the birch trees that had already been cut and left on the slope, either in piles or just randomly dropped.
Once we’d started bringing them down and putting them into piles near the road, Jimmy went to get his tractor and trailer so the trees could be loaded and transported to Crow Wood, near the children’s play area, to be used for dead hedging (habitat piles in the shape of a hedge).
The work was challenging and tiring, but we started making a difference quite quickly. As it was hard working on such a steep slope, we tried not to move too much and instead formed human chains so the birch could be passed down the slope from person to person to make it easier and safer.
Ranger Jason turned up to join us, which was a help. We started flagging a bit so had an early coffee break and cake, but got back to the task fairly quickly afterwards and started loading the tractor trailer. After another 90mins or so, we had an early lunch with more cake!
After lunch, some of us went on the slope opposite to pull out some rhododendron regrowth while the rest of us finished stacking the birch and filling the trailer.
It was a tiring day but very enjoyable, especially when the sun came out in the afternoon. The rangers were very complimentary about how much we’d managed to get done, and the quality of our work, which made it all worthwhile.
Sue
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