Balsam bashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 19th July 2026

It started as a slightly cooler day today, a welcome change from the heat of the last few weeks.  Most of us met Ranger Jason in the main car park before getting a lift in the Lyme Park shuttle bus back to the entrance kiosk where we met Shirley and walked as a group through the gate, up Red Lane, and into the field where we’ve been Himalayan balsam bashing previously.

Today we had Emily joining us for the first time, and also Niamh, who’d only been out with us once before.  After putting our bags in the shade under some trees, Jason gave us a safety talk before we started destroying the balsam by pulling it up and snapping the roots off so it couldn’t regrow.

We were all doing really well at making our piles of discarded balsam and we had two of the Lyme Park Youth volunteers join us too, so we were getting a lot done before we stopped for a mid-morning refreshment break with cake.

Afterwards we continued with our task, before stopping a couple of hours later for lunch and a chat.

During the afternoon it started getting warmer.  Most of us had hats to wear and some of us decided to work in the shade under the trees.

There was a huge amount of balsam on the other side of a wire fence which I thought I could climb over and join David in destroying.  However I soon discovered it was harder than it looked to get into that area and, once I was finally over the fence, I found myself sitting precariously on the pile of balsam that David had pulled up and stacked against the fence.  For a while, I was laughing too much to be able to shift my body weight enough to get off it! - but fortunately I managed it in the end.

We all had a great time - we achieved a lot, had a good chat and really enjoyed being outdoors, admiring the butterflies, grasshoppers, bees, dragonflies, damselflies and other insects, on such a wonderful day.

Sadly there was too much balsam to destroy it all today, but hopefully we’ll be back soon to continue our quest.

Sue B

Balsam bashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 14th June 2026

Seven of us met Ranger Jason in the main car park and, as we were working down Red Lane which is near the entrance kiosk, Jason had arranged for the Lyme Park minibus to give us a lift back down the drive near to Red Lane.

We then walked part way up Red Lane and into a field on the left, over a stile.

As we walked towards the back of the field (which we'd removed Balsam from last year), we spotted some rogue plants, but the majority were down towards the railway line.

We found a convenient base to leave our rucksacks and the all-important cakes for elevenses, under the trees, and then we got to work.

The Balsam was still quite young, only David spotted a few plants during the day that would be flowering soon, the rest were fairly small (so lots of bending over required to get to them) and sometimes mixed in with nettles or brambles, but they usually pulled out quite easily without breaking the stems, so we got the roots out as well.

Part way through the morning, Ranger Claire arrived to help, bringing two youth volunteers with her.

At 11am we had our 'coffee break' and everyone gathered back under the trees. Usually the worksite leader provides cake by buying some or baking some, today was a bit more unusual because yesterday, at Lyme, MNTV had celebrated 40 years of volunteering - a massive achievement. A party was planned and a fabulous get-together of current and old members gathered to celebrate (see details in our 40th Blog). 

Ally, our Chairperson, and Jenny, one of the committee members, had baked various delicious flavours of cupcakes, many with 40 MNTV toppers on them, and I'd been able to bring some of the ones that weren't eaten with me today - a real treat!!

After our break, we resumed our quest to find and destroy more Himalayan Balsam. The aim is to prevent them spreading further when the flowers turn to seed heads, because the seed heads burst spreading hundreds of seeds over a large area, ready to grow next year

After lunch we continued again, moving to different areas of the field and, even as we left to go home, we were still spotting more to destroy.

We made a huge difference to the amount of Balsam in the field, but there is still more. Hopefully we'll get another go at it when we return to Lyme next month.

It was a great day - it didn't rain and in fact the sun came out in the afternoon. We welcomed newbie James, and also Emma who'd only been out with us once before. We had some interesting chats on our breaks and it was a very relaxed and sociable day,

Sue B (Worksite Leader)

MNTV turns 40 - Saturday 13th June 2026 - Lyme Park

Organising a celebration for such a big event takes time, the date was sorted and a room was needed - of the 3 properties we contacted(in 2024!), Lyme Park came up trumps and the room was booked.

‘Suddenly’ it was 2026 and next to sort were the speakers, Tim Jarvis (ex-Chairperson for MNTV, currently living in Essex) said he’d be honoured, but wasn't sure he could make it in person. Hazel Pryor and Charlie Spiller (both joined MNTV in the early days) would be delighted to, so that was sorted. 

Roll forwards to Thursday 11th July and, after a little persuasion, I set off driving in the pouring rain from my home in Edinburgh for Manchester with my parents with home made cakes in the boot of the car and my speech in my laptop case as that was coming too.

Friday arrived and it was raining again, I iced my cakes and practiced my speech that I had spent weeks perfecting, it still wasn’t perfect - it was still raining!

Lime Cakes, fully decorated - Jan-Christof Telford

Saturday dawned and after a poor night's sleep the car was packed with cake and party paraphernalia. Jenny arrived at Lyme Park just ahead of me and my family. Party Paraphernalia and Me dropped off. It was time to start setting up - we had given ourselves 2 hours to get everything ready before our guests arrived. Bunting was put up and cakes were arranged on our wooden cake stand. It was then that someone asked where the plastic glasses for the bubbly were? After a couple of words not to be repeated, I raced across the carpark to see if our car was still there. It was, but Mum and Dad were nowhere to be seen. Managing to track them down, there were no glasses in the boot, but they’d definitely come in the car from Edinburgh! Oh why had I unpacked them when we got to our accommodation, Mum and Dad very kindly said they would return to our accommodation and locate them in the cupboard I thought they were in. Thanks Mum and Dad.

Having got that under control there was another more fun problem, Daniel had been detailed to get two helium balloons, a 4 and a 0. Neil opened the bag they were in and the 0 came out perfectly attached to its ribbons and weight. The 4 however had different ideas and wasn't attached to its ribbons and weight and went sailing up to the ceiling, thus proceeded a game of ‘how many people does it take to get a helium balloon down’, the answer is 3! After trying this pole and that rod plus some sellotape it was finally retrieved but it was a bit deflated and would no longer stand proud, never mind. Thanks to Rangers Chris and Claire plus estate worker Jason for their expertise. 

With Bunting inside and outside, banners put up, care of Jenny, the tables and chairs were set up as was the laptop with pictures from the last 40 years projected onto a big screen - we were ready to go, just! By this time it was 2pm and our guests were arriving, still no glasses…they arrived at about 2.30pm (my thanks must go to my Mum and Dad for that and also for driving down with me for the event). With guests arriving it was time to start mingling…now you’ve heard about the set up I’ve asked Sue B to tell you about how the party went…..

Gosh - what can I say?! - apart from it being a lovely, happy and sociable afternoon; a gathering of current and ex-volunteers from our group, all  together to celebrate an amazing achievement - 40 years of volunteering on Sundays on National Trust properties mainly in the North West, with some weekends at further afield NT properties too.

Bag Design side 1

The committee, led by Ally as our most recent Chairperson, had done a fantastic job in organising today: plenty of nibbles, drinks and cake; lovely decorations and bunting; a fabulous slide show of photos from past workdays and social events as a reminder of what we’ve done over the last 40 years, and of the people we’ve done it with; as well as organising an MNTV ‘40th’ Tote bag, designed with the names of the properties we volunteer at, as a lovely memento of the occasion.

As well as past and current volunteers, and a couple of their dogs, we also had support from the Lyme Park Rangers who came along for the afternoon (some even on their days off) and formerly thanked us for all the volunteering hours we’ve put in at Lyme Park, as well as National Trust properties generally, over the past 40 years.

Bag design side 2

A National Trust photographer circulated during the afternoon taking photos while we were catching up with people we may not have seen for a while then, a little after 3pm, Ally gathered us together for the speeches. 

It started with Ally’s speech, written and read with the usual flair and enthusiasm that we would expect from Ally! 

As Chairperson (and also the program organiser for our workdays), Ally is immensely proud of everything that MNTV has already achieved, and is continuing to achieve, and this was reflected in her speech - it was not only informative but funny and uplifting, a speech with a sparkle, just like Ally:-) 

Ally giving her speech - Jan-Christof Telford

We then heard from our 3 guest speakers, Hazels in person was witty and full of stories,  Tim and Charlie hadn’t actually been able to join us themselves, both had sent their thoughts to Ally and these were read out by Daniel and Denise, two of our committee members. 

In particular Charlie, who lives in the Lakes and was so looking forward to being with us, but due to a last minute staffing issue at work couldn’t be here, was particularly upset at missing our 40th party. 

David receives his 10 year award  - Jan-Christof Telford 

Afterwards five long-service awards were presented by Chris, Lyme Park, Lead Ranger, these were David and Jenny who both received 10 years, Neil who received 15 years, Denise achieved 20 years and Adrian who has done a whopping 35 years. Also receiving long service awards but unable to be at the party were Martin with 10 years and Sue D with 15 years.

Jenny receives her 10 year award - Jan-Christof Telford

Denise receives her 20 year award - Jan-Christof Telford

Neil recieves his 15 year award - Jan Christof Telford

Adrian receives his 35 year award - Jan-Christof Telford

After the cakes had been eaten, or boxed up for tomorrow's workday at Lyme which I was leading, we took down the bunting and the fairy lights, the projector was turned off, and everyone made their way home. 

Neil gave Ally a lift to her accommodation, as the cottage where she was staying with her family was a few mins walk away from Boarfold Scout Camp where Neil is a Warden and where he was staying the night. We squeezed the balloons in the car for Ally’s 3 year old Niece, apparently she loved them!

The Balloons and fairy lights up in Allys accomodation - A Hardy 

 

It was a wonderful afternoon - a joyous celebration as well as a time of reflection for what we’ve already achieved - we’re certainly looking forward to getting back out there and doing much more volunteering.

Rhodybash in Lantern Wood, Lyme Park, on Sunday 15th March 2026

Eight from MNTV met Chris, Lead Ranger at Lyme Park, in the main car park at 9:30 for a chat about what we’d be doing today then in two cars we drove to the accessible car park and walked round to the Stables where we met Ranger Jason and collected the tools for the day.

After loading the Lyme vehicle with the tools and our rucksacks, two of our group got a lift up to the stile over the dry stone wall by Lantern Wood, while the rest of us walked.  We climbed over the dry stone wall and then carried the tools and our bags further up the hill to where there were multiple piles of pre-cut rhody waiting to be burned before the start of bird-nesting season.

A couple of fire sites near the piles of rhody were selected and two fires were started.  By then two Lyme Youth volunteers joined us to help.  We had a productive morning.  The weather was dry and we got the fires started by morning break and we were pleased with our progress.

After lunch was a different story because the rain started and it turned much colder.  We struggled to stay close to the fires for warmth because the wind would erratically change direction, blowing smoke into our faces, so we kept a reasonable distance.

By the time we finished we had managed to clear a few of the piles of rhody so were pleased by what we’d done, but we were all feeling very tired, cold and wet.

Despite this, we enjoyed the day and ate lots of cake 

Sue B

Another rhodybash at Lyme Park on Sunday 22nd February 2026

Six of us were back in Lantern Wood with Ranger Claire on our second rhodybash of the year.  The midweek group had left us plenty of burning to do but getting fires started was the usual challenge (damp brash and no wind to fan flames).  Even though the weather was (comparatively) dry they produced more smoke than flame.  With the additional cutting down we did, we ended the day with more brash than we started.

A lot of what we did cut down is regrowth but with luck this may be the last time.  A trial is running in a couple of locations, including Coalpit Clough, to see if cutting grooves round the tree trunk and spraying in glyphosate will work better.  The tree’s system will transport the poison so it will in effect poison itself before being cut down.

As it’s been such a wet start to the year the rangers expect our next session at Lyme will be a mass burn of all (hopefully dry) remaining brash before bird nesting season starts.

Jean

Woodland work at Lyme Park on Sunday 8th February 2026

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

Rhodybash at Lyme Park on Sunday 25th January 2026

Nine of us met Ranger Jason on a cold and wet morning then hiked up to the current work area in Lantern Wood.  There’s a regular volunteer rhody bashing group during the week who cut down a lot but in the wet conditions they fall behind with the burning.  This is the third such session this winter and it’ll continue like this until bird nesting season.

We started cutting down the piles of brash into more burnable size while Jason started the fire.  But we had the same problem with the weather, very dank, so it took a long time to get a fire under way.  In fact, a second fire was abandoned and we concentrated on building up the first.

Jason told us about the Trust’s plan for the woods which is developing over a 50 years+  time period.  The wood was originally moorland that one of the previous occupants of Lyme Park planted with pine trees.  This gradually dried out the soil.  The current project, estimated to continue for another six years, will clear the rhododendron and the ground should start to slowly revert back to peat.  A few pines will be left to create a wildlife corridor connecting the surrounding moorland.

On the walk back down to the carpark we met some of the Highland cattle now resident at Lyme.  They seemed a lot happier with the weather conditions than we were.

Jean

A cold and damp morning at Lyme Park - Sunday 14th December

Six of us met up with Chris, the Head Ranger at Lyme, for the last work day of 2025 on a cold and damp morning. He gave us a briefing on the job for the day, rhododendron destruction, but burning more than cutting. We would be working in Lantern Wood with Ranger Jason and three Youth Rangers.

Jason spent the first hour showing his trainees how to start a fire from scratch - a real challenge in the damp weather!
So we used the time to make already cut piles of brash more manageable for burning.

Jason managed to get a second fire going after a couple of hours, but it was a long drawn out effort due to the damp conditions and unpredictable winds.

Jack used his javelin throwing skills to load piles of brash without getting a face full of smoke.

The Youth Rangers left at 2 o’clock and we stayed with Jason feeding the two fires until 2:30. At three o’clock we put mesh fencing around the burning embers as warning to any walkers in the area.

The weather conditions made it a frustrating day. But it was still progress in the long job to clear the whole area of rhododendron, which Chris estimates is still a six years  long effort.

Birch clearing and rhodybashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 9th November 2025

We had a great day at Lyme Park today working on two tasks in Lantern Wood.

The first was clearing birch in a sight line from the Lantern in a roughly southerly direction which was completed.

The second task was rhodybashing and burning, where the area we were working on was a good bit up the hill from the Lantern.

There is still however a few years left of bashing required to clear the wood of rhody.  The rangers were very happy with all our efforts.

Martin

Cutting back Blackthorn at Lyme Park - Sunday 21st September 2025

Seven MNTV-ers met Rangers Chris and Jason in the main car park at Lyme Park on a cool but dry morning (a huge difference to the deluge of rain that fell yesterday!!).

We were transported back to the admissions hut in the NT vehicle in a couple of trips, and driven up the short drive, through the wooden gate, to Red Lane, which is just outside the boundary of Lyme Park. 

Part way up Red Lane, we went into a Council owned field where we've worked previously, pulling Hymalayan Balsam.  This time we were cutting back Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) - a thorny native British shrub/small tree known for it's early white blossoms in Spring and the dark blue-black fruit (called Sloes) in Autumn. We were cutting it back to the fence line so that the meadow became much larger and could be used for a variety of purposes in the future by the NT.

We were SO lucky with the weather as it improved during the day, and was very sunny for most the the afternoon.

Initially we loaded the dead Blackthorn that had been previously cut onto the back of the trailer, so it could be transported into Lyme Park and disposed of another time. The trailer was re-filled multiple times during the day as we continued to cut the Blackthorn back.

We had our usual break for coffee and cake in the morning, and a lunch break at 1pm, finishing the day soon after 3pm.

We were pleased with what we'd achieved but, as there is still more to deal with, it may be our task next time we visit Lyme Park.

Sue B

A 'sunshine and showers' balsam bash at Lyme Park on Sunday 3rd August 2025

We met Ranger Claire in the main car park near the kiosk in the rain (!!) and tempted everyone out of their cars into Claire's vehicle so we could get to a field which was off Red Lane, just outside the boundary of the park.

We climbed over a stile to get into the field and walked down towards the bottom of the field where the railway line ran past.  There were still trains using the line even though Stockport station has just closed for a month so the bridge over the railway line can be demolished and then replaced.  We thought there was probably a bus service laid on from Hazel Grove to help people continue their journeys.

We either had drizzle, rain or no rain, on and off all morning and into the afternoon, which meant that we hid under various trees for our coffee and lunch breaks so we didn't get too wet.

Although the balsam was spread about, we didn't let the rain or drizzle deter us.  It was hoods up or hoods down, dictated by the weather, but it didn't stop us pulling up and destroying as much as we could, focussing on the stalks that were already in flower to ensure their seed heads didn't pop and spread the seeds far and wide for next year's growth in the next few days or so.

Into the afternoon, the sun came out and we stripped off our coats to enjoy the warmth.  Ranger Jason came and joined us so Ranger Claire could head off to the office to complete some admin.

Despite the weather, it was a great day - plenty of chatter and laughs, and loads and loads of balsam destroyed.

Claire and Jason said they were impressed by the amount we got done, so we were really pleased.

Sue B 

Removing fencing and tree guards at Lyme Park on Sunday 11th May 2025

Today should have been at Erddig but unfortunately they had to cancel at the last minute so a big thank you to Lyme Park for coming up with a workday for us.  It is much appreciated.

We met ranger Jason in the main car park and as there were only four of us he said we could park in the volunteer car park by the stables.  Phew!  That saved a steep walk.

Our job was to remove deer fencing up in Lantern Wood, so Jason loaded up the Kabuto with our bags etc. and we met him up at the top.

Youth rangers had been working on the two sections in the week so it turns out that we didn't need to remove many staples or lift out many of the inner posts we mainly had to collect the posts and stack them.  Then we pulled all the metal fencing down onto an even path and rolled it up.  Easy bit done now we had to take out the straining posts.

Well to cut a long story short, after a lot of hard work, especially in the heat, we managed it, and I do mean hard work as they were tall posts that were in the ground by a good 3 feet.

After we had moved everything from both worksites and stacked in one spot ready for collection, we made our way down to an area behind the gardens where we started to remove tree guards.  On the way down David and Victor decided that the way to get from one side of a wall to the other was via the dog hole rather than the stile!

It was a very hot day and a big thank you goes out to my colleagues and Jason for their hard work in these conditions, and also for their company.

Christine

Rhodybash at Lyme Park on Sunday 16th March 2025

The programme said Styal, but due to staff illness there they cancelled and so we contacted Lyme Park and asked if they would like some volunteers on Sunday.  Chris said he would be delighted to have our help and confirmed that the staff rota showed they had someone who could join us.  Ten of us gathered in the carpark at Lyme at 9:30, joined by Duty Ranger Claire, who had been in the park since 7am, enjoying the countryside.

We made our way up to Lantern Wood via the stable yard to pick up tools and fire lighting materials.  We followed the Kuboto up the right hand side of the wood until we reached the path taking you across to the Lantern.  Halfway along the wall up the hill beside Lantern Wood there is work being done to create a vehicle entrance and move the ladder stile.  When we stopped to catch our breath and take in the view across the Cheshire plain Claire explained what was going on:

The deer to the right of Lantern Wood have been overgrazing the moor and struggling to survive.  Although numbers have been reduced to an estimated 80 deer, Lyme decided that the best thing to do was to move the deer to the deer reserve along East Gate road on the other side of Lantern Wood.  They started to feed the deer with deer nuts from the back of the Kuboto whilst driving across the moor.  Over a few weeks the deer were happy to follow the vehicle to get the nuts.  Once they had about 60 deer willing to follow the vehicle they opened up the path through Lantern Wood and Pied Piper style led the deer through the wood following a trail of deer nuts!  The deer then mingled with the herd on the other side.  Buoyed by their success they decided to go through the same process to gather the remaining deer.  The remaining deer were more cautious but after a while they would recognise the vehicle and follow it.  This time they collected another 50 deer, more than expected, and after several more weeks they managed to lead this group through the wood to the better pasture on the other side as well.

After morning story time we made our way to the rhody to cut and burn.  There was a lot of rhody already cut and quite dry so we managed to have two fires going and also cut more rhody ready for another group to burn.

Jason swapped places with Claire in the afternoon and explained that the cutting season in Lyme is a bit longer than other places because the weather is a bit harsher up there and bird nesting is a bit later.  We did hear several birds, including a curlew.

Jenny

It was snowy in Lyme Park for our first workday of 2025

Having been looking forward to seeing some snow, my area of Scotland didn't get any, we got a lot of cold weather but no snow. With pictures from the group coming in with lots of snow, particularly impressive was the amount of snow at Matt and Lisa's close to Penrith, they had a whopping 12 inches,  I was very excited to learn that Manchester had some. Watching outof the window on the way south, west of Edinburgh City Centre and south along the West Coast Mainline there was lots of snow to be seen. 

Upon arriving at Macclesfield, my home for the next 3 nights I found 4 inches, however by the time Sunday morning arrived it was warming up slightly. The snow didn't stop 10 enthusiastic volunteers meeting at 9.30 in the carpark at Lyme Park. We were met by Ranger Jason who was on foot. Which worried us slightly as we knew the worksite was uphill. We needn't have feared, as he informed us that due to the weather conditions and flooding on the Estate there were reduced parking spaces. This meaning we were asked to move our cars to outside the Stable Block, where we would be directed by another Ranger as to where to park. - Result

Cars parked, we headed through the snow to Lantern Wood, some by NT truck and the rest on foot.

Once at the foot of the wood we collected the tools from the back of the truck and headed up hill, past the Lantern and up to our worksite, where the group has previously been working. The snow was quite deep and covered the undulations of the ground and was also on the rhododendrons we were to be chopping down. Neil, Jack and Jason got the fire going and the rest of us chopped and dragged the rhodies so that when the fire was ready we could start burning it. Due to the wet chopped rhodies the fire took a long time to get going, Neil tried his flame thrower and Jack and Jason used their extendable fire straws to blow oxygen onto the fire. By coffee time it still wasn't at its best but we had work to do!

There was a large area of rhododendron still standing that needed chopping, we made great inroads into this, there were also big piles of precut that needed burning, which somebody suggested just setting light to them disappointingly nobody wanted to do that. Sue D who is a volunteer ranger at Lyme stopped by to see us whilst doing her rounds it was so lovely to see her and hear her news.

We concentrated on the rhododendron still standing and chopped away at it making more piles but this time the majority of the piles were dragged and burned on the fire. Having swapped between loading leaves and heavier bits on to the fire, by lunchtime the fire was almost at its best. After lunch we carried on with the task, Andy S showed a rhody who was boss by chopping down a big plant and the fire finally took off. Towards the end of our day we were asked to stop chopping and bring as much of the chopped rhode as we could to the fire area to be burnt. Once we had burnt all we could, Jason said we could go and he would stay until the flames had gone. Adrian said out loud, I haven't thrown a snowball this year and proceeded to throw one at the fire, everyone else joined in, firstly just in the direction of the fire then there was a little more precision as people aimed at the flames, to help them be put out. Once Jason was satisfied that the flames were out we barriered off the fire and headed back down the hill. Ally, Jenny and Emma headed to the cafe for a well earned hot chocolate and a good chat, the others all went home.

Although the day was snowy and cold, it was noticeable upon returning to the cars that the snow was starting to melt. Monday was again slightly warmer. By the time I got back to Edinburgh late on Monday night it was a balmy 10C!

Everyone enjoyed our first workday of 2025. I hope you all enjoy your workdays this year.