Cancelled - workday at Bickerton Hill on Sunday 19th October 2025

Due to lack of volunteers and looking at the weather forecast we have decided to cancel today's workday.

Our next workday is on 26th October at Alderley Edge.  Jenny is leading and will be in touch this week with all the details.

Ally
MNTV Chair

Birch pulling at Bickerton Hill on Sunday 29th September 2024

 Three of us returned to Bickerton Hill for the first time since June 2014, we were working with ranger Sam and his spaniel dog, Will.

It was a beautiful sunny autumnal day, the worksite was a short five minute walk up the hill from the car park.

When we arrived at the worksite Sam explained that the birch had taken over the heath and had been sprayed approx a year ago.  The team were trying to bring the area back to heathland with ferns, heather, blackberries, bilberries, gorse and bracken.

The birch tress were small enough to pull out of the ground so we didn't need any tools.

Heathland before birch removal

Birch before removal

Area cleared of birch

Birch pulling

During the day Sam drove his tractor onto the site and started to remove the stacked piles of birch that we had pulled.

Sam's tractor removing birch from site

Volunteers with Will the Spaniel

Will the spaniel had a great day running around the heath, there were lots of people walking dogs so he met lots of lovely four legged friends.


During the day I took photos of the various plants/fungi in the area.

Area cleared of birch

At the end of the day we were all shattered but felt a great sense of achievement, such a small group had achieved a big task.

End of the day photo

We are due to return to Bickerton later in October and will be joined by the Merseyside group.  

Denise 

Worksite Leader

Cancelled - workday at Bickerton Hill on Sunday 3rd March 2024

The plan for today was for a joint workday at Bickerton Hill with the Merseyside group.  It would have been our first visit to Bickerton since June 2014!  Sadly, the day was cancelled the day before because of insufficient numbers from MNTV and the five from Merseyside dropping out because of family commitments and illness.

Birch bashing at Bickerton Hill, 1 June 2014

Nine of us spent the first day of summer in warm sunshine at Bickerton Hill with five volunteers from Chester NTV, pulling up by hand or cutting down with loppers birch regen.  We piled the cuttings in the surrounding woodland where they will rot down.  The Trust's long-term aim is to eradicate all birch from the hill (including all the mature trees) and return the area to its natural heathland habitat.

At elevenses Gordon treated us all to ESAFs (Experimental Spiced Apple Fairycakes!).  They were very good - tasty and moist.

Jon Twigg (Ranger) thought we'd cleared approx 15% of the birch regen during the day.  The Chester "Tuesday" group returns on 3 June and will resume where we left off.

The birch is the tall thin vegetation in the foreground

We saw some unusual wildlife: a dozen of the Welsh and Dartmoor ponies, several buzzards (one being mobbed by crows), a Common Lizard and a small frog (a long way from water).

After we'd finished work most of us walked the 400 metres up to Maiden Castle (the Iron Age hill-fort) and enjoyed the magnificent sweeping views across to the Welsh border hills, Chester and Liverpool.  Truly we do live in a green and pleasant land!

Bickerton 5 June 2011

Five volunteers turned up to Bickerton Hill (eventually having been delayed by traffic), met up with the warden and a similar sized group from Chester.

We spent the day replacing "King posts" or "strainer posts" - the larger posts that actually hold the tension in a modern stock fence. These are were dug in by hand, with the holes being back filled with a mixture of ballast and the original soil. Concrete is not normally required and makes replacing posts in the future a real pain. Though one post was placed in concrete as its hole hit bedrock.

Unfortunately we ran out of time so the warden will have to return with another group to reattache the wire.

The day was a little damp and the sun never really appeared but waterproofs where not really needed.

Beautiful Bickerton in the sun

We had planned to visit Helsby Hill, and spend a day working with the Merseyside group, however when I checked with Dave the warden it turned out he though we were coming to Bickerton, where he had more work. So we spent the day there working with the Chester group instead.

The work was continuing a task that had been started some time previously by contractors - they had removing birch woodland to open up the heathland to a point where it can be maintained for the future by grazing - we were clearing the last few trees. Some trees had to be left to provide variety and habitat. To get an idea of the area that has been cleared - there are two volunteers in the photo working at the edge of the woodline, if you double click on the photo and know where to look they are 2-5 pixels high!!