Birch clearance at Thurstaston Common on 16 November 2014

Over to the Wirral for the day to remove birch, a task the group has been doing at a few properties recently, but this time with added spiky bushes (the birch is growing in the gorse of the heathland areas at Thurstaston Common).  The heathland here is what makes the area a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with rare bird and plant species, including the carnivorous sundews, and the birch needs to be prevented from starting the process of woodland recolonisation.  There were numerous Scots Pine saplings which would rapidly take over if not removed.

Six volunteers from our group joined with the Merseyside and Cheshire groups, and the ranger, who was treating the birch stumps to stop them regrowing, had trouble keeping up.  The weather was warm and pleasant, a fine chocolate spice cake eaten and a satisfyingly large area of the heath was cleared.  Mick

Holly clearance at Quarry Bank Mill on 9 November 2014

Twelve of us met up in the car park at Styal on a bright chilly autumn morning this Sunday to carry on a project started by the group a few weeks ago.  The task consisted of the removal of holly from the steep banking bordering the mown field at the back of the mill.  The bank is an established beech woodland but the holly has grown between the beech trees shading out the earth beneath preventing the establishment of a more diverse understory.  The understory should regenerate naturally due to the seed bank being a natural store of native plant seeds that has lain dormant in the earth since the holly took over.  Once the understory has reestablished it will attract a far greater variety of wildlife.

Scrambling about cutting and dragging the holly trees down the steep soft bank was a particularly strenuous job and I expect there were a few sore muscles the following day.  After being dragged down the slope the holly was humped over the fence and taken to the chipper where the big orange machine munched the trees up into sawdust and spat it back over the fence.  Unfortunately John the ranger's knob came off in his hand and the machine stalled so we had to stop a bit early, but we got plenty done and had a lot of fun.

The cake provided this week was an Irish Whiskey cream sponge made with instant Horlicks because Tim had no cocoa powder - but it tasted okay anyway!  Tim

Removing a yew hedge at Biddulph Grange Garden on Sunday 2nd Nov 2014

Five of us arrived at Biddulph Grange(including one newbie) and were met by Paul, the head gardener. We were supposed to be lifting dahlia's but, because it had rained overnight, the ground would have been too muddy to do this, so we were taken to the yew hedge instead. Sections of the hedge are 150years old but it's growing in heavy clay and some parts cannot grow because of the clay. We were told that the entire hedge, on either side of the path, is to be cut down so a trench can be dug to remove a large quantity of clay, drainage laid and better quality soil added to fill the trench, before a new yew hedge is planted.


The 'before shot' of the yew hedge behind Sam and Sue

 All this takes time and there was only so much we could do in a day, but we gave it our best shot!

We quickly got the fire going and were amazed at how quickly the yew burnt. Four of us lopped and bowsawed the yew and dragged the off-cuts to the fire while Adrian (mainly) loaded the fire. We worked hard, stopping only for a mid-morning break and a spot of lunch, before getting back to the task in hand. We managed to remove 2/3rds of the hedge on one side of the path, as requested, leaving 18inches or so of each trunk, to enable it to be winched out later.

There were plenty of visitors to Biddulph Grange that day and we were able to chat to them as they walked past asking what we were doing.

We finished around 3pm and Paul had arranged that we went into the café for a cup of tea and biscuits - a lovely touch at the end of the day:-)

Group shot at the end of the day without the yew hedge! 

Birch clearance at Dunham Massey on Sunday 26 October 2014

This week thirteen eager volunteers turned out at Dunham Massey to carry on the work we started a few weeks ago.  The task was the removal of invasive birch saplings from an oak plantation.  The birch grow far faster than the oak so have to be felled to allow the oak to  flourish.  A great bit of baking by Tim provided a fine bara brith which when slathered with butter provided the volunteers with plenty of fuel for the job in hand (even Lisa - an aficionado of bara brith - said it was yummy).  By the end of the day we had cleared a large area, loaded the saplings onto a trailer and delivered them to the fire site.

The deer in the park are just coming into rut and we saw a couple of stags resplendent in their full growth of antler.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and the ranger Jack was very pleased with the work carried out.

Woodland maintenance at Quarry Bank Mill on Sunday 19 October 2014

Six volunteers including two newcomers spent today working in the hanging beech woods adjacent to Mill Meadow at the back of Quarry Bank Mill.  The task was cutting down holly and sycamore to let more light down to the ground and to create space to plant more beech trees at a later date.  The cut holly was shredded and left in the wood.

Rhody bash at Hare Hill on Sunday 12th Oct 2014

A great turnout of 16 (including 3 'newbies') to rhody bash at Hare Hill with Julia the NT Ranger in a wooded copse near the lake. 

Gordon got the fire lit quite quickly and, in no time at all, most of us were in amongst the rhododendrons, cutting them down using loppers and bowsaws and dragging the branches to the fire where they were cut up smaller before being thrown on the fire.

The weather was wonderful and, at lunchtime, we sat by the lake in the sun, chatting and eating our lunch. Some of us saw a kingfisher while were there, a heron fly down and land on the other side of the lake and many dragonflies:-)


Lunchtime in the sun!

 

Although the majority of us rhody bashed and loaded the fire most of the day, a small group were at the other side of the copse with Julia, winching out stumps left from a previous rhody bash. Neil and Ross used the winch for most of the morning but, after lunch, a few more of us plucked up courage to have a go!

We finished around 3.30pm after tidying the fire site and throwing the rhody leaves that were strewn on the ground, onto the fire, so the cows didn't eat them and make themselves poorly after we left.

Thanks to Julia for a great day and for encouraging some of us to use the winch, which turned out to be a very satisfying experience.

Group photo at the end of the day

Birch clearing at Dunham Massey on 5 October 2014

Eight of us spent today in beautiful autumn sunshine cutting down birch trees in the plantation near Charcoal Lodge.  MNTV had planted oak trees in the plantation a decade ago and while they have grown well the birch have grown much taller and needed to be removed.  In time the oaks will be thinned out.

We cut the birch down with bowsaws, dragged them to the entrance/exit gate and stacked them on a trailer which John Mann (Ranger) drove to the farmer's field near the Rangers' compound and unloaded with the help of two of us.  The farmer will burn the brash on Bonfire Night.

Daniel brought along the banner that Anne Yates and Martin Swithenbank made years ago.  We could hang it perfectly on the deer fence and after the workday John took a photo of us all beneath it: