Various jobs at Formby on Sunday 14th September 2025

Four of us joined Bree and Jess for a day at the seaside.  The original job planned for today had to be changed due to machinery malfunction, but they had some good alternatives for us to get stuck into.

The first job involved a fire - eat your heart out Neil, Andy & Jack!  There were large piles of brash and cuttings plus loads and loads of chestnut fencing that had all been removed when dismantling Victoria Road car park.  Our aim was to get this done before the rain started at lunchtime.  Talk about precision work - as  the last lot was put on the fire the first spots of rain started to fall!

The second job was to complete a wall of double/triple layers of fence posts.  This is to replace fallen down fencing which was to separate different size stones for the paths.

Finally, we dismantled, de-nailed and cleared timber from the yard and stacked it in a massive skip.  Again a lot of this had come from Victoria Road.

As far as the new car park is concerned, it is well under way and surprisingly is ahead of schedule with it hoping to be complete for next spring.

Bree and Jess were more than happy with what had been achieved, as these were jobs that kept being put on the back burner for more pressing jobs.

Thanks to my colleagues for their hard work and good company.

Christine

Social and Workday at Alderley Edge - Sunday 7th September 2025

On Sunday 7th September we had our first combined social event and workday.  We were due to work at Chirk but due to low volunteer numbers the workday was cancelled and we instead had a last minute change of plan...

During the morning we had a tour of Wood Mine which was a guided tour conducted by the Derbyshire Caving Club as part of their open weekend.  Four of us attended the tour and had an amazing morning learning about the history of the mine and touring the underground tunnels and chambers.  Please see a selection of photos from the mine below.

After exiting the mine we encountered torrential rain so had a very wet walk back to the rangers yard to contemplate whether or not we could go ahead with the afternoon workday task of putting up bird boxes.  There were only three volunteers for the afernoon session but due to the nature of the task it was easily completed with such a small group.

After a short lunch break the rain stopped and we managed to get out in the woodland to put up bird boxes, it's the first time I have used a drill on a workday and we discovered that silver birch are the best trees to drill into!

We all had a lovely day.  We plan to organise another mine tour social in Spring 2026.  There are plenty more bird boxes to put up in future workdays.

Denise Clark
Worksite/Social leader

Cancelled - workday at Dunham Massey on Sunday 31st August 2025

Today’s workday was due to be a balsam bash near the main carpark at Dunham Massey but was cancelled because of forecast high winds (> 40mph).  We would have been lone working for most of the day with occasional visits from the one ranger on duty and an alternative work task couldn’t be provided that was not under trees and near his duty area (mansion house).

Daniel

Sunday 24th August 2025 - Summer Bank Holiday weekend - no workday

Snowdonia Weekend - 15-17th August 2025

Starring Andy, Clare, Daniel, Denise, Jack, Jenny, Neil and Sarah plus David and Di from Merseyside and Eryri ranger Lewis.

For our first weekend away of the year we went to Snowdonia - this time in the summer not at Christmas.  A last minute change to accommodation arrangements meant we stayed at the Glan Dwr Mountain Lodge in Capel Curig not Hendre Isaf.  Glan Dwr is the Eryri base of the New Forest Climbing Club and is beside the Avon Llugwy.  After weeks of drought the water was still churning past so it'd be a spectacular sight after heavy rain.

The weather both days was glorious - sunny and warm with a cool breeze.  The contrast with Storm Darragh last December could not have been more stark.  Both mornings there were terrific views of Snowdon from Capel and each night the sky was inky black and you could see thousands of stars and the Milky Way.

Both days we worked in the valley a few miles south of Hendre Isaf:

On Saturday we  worked in woodland south of the road (red square on map).  We travelled there by minibus (Lewis picked us up at Glan Dwr) and met Andy and Clare at Hendre Isaf because they were staying near there in an NT cottage (chosen because the rest of us were staying at Hendre Isaf - only we didn't!).  Lewis explained that the aim is to open up the wood to the public by creating a footpath through the wood.  He and a previous group had marked out the footpath and we filled in holes in the path to make the surface more level and slashed bracken to extend the path in one section.  The conifer plantation above the wood had recently been felled and replanted with hardwood (alder, birch, oak, etc).

Jack took some remarkable photos with his 360º camera:

On Saturday evening, Daniel, Jenny and Denise cooked up a hearty dinner of spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread followed by apple & blueberry crumble with custard.

After dinner David set us all a quiz.  We did it in two teams (girls v boys) and tied with 37 points each.  The most fun part was picture 2 in the Faces round - David as a 12-year-old schoolboy.  None of us guessed him!

On Sunday we worked in the same valley but in woodland to the north of the road (red chevron on map).  We drove our cars there so that we could go home directly from the worksite and anyone who needed to leave early could.  Across the valley you could see Saturday's worksite:

We did two tasks.  Half the group slashed and cleared bracken to make a switchback footpath on a very steep slope ...

... and the others with Lewis made a stepover stile.  The stile is tightly screwed together and anchored in the ground and should give many years of use when the footpath is opened.

All told it was a super weekend full of enjoyment and good company.  Thanks to Lewis for having us to stay and giving us satisfying jobs to do.

When we are next at Hendre Isaf it will be interesting to go up the valley and see how both worksites look months later.

Daniel

Cutting back vegetation at Alderley Edge on Sunday 10th August 2025

Four of us met in the car park near the Wizard Tearoom on a beautiful warm and dry August morning.  The job for the day was cutting back vegetation on the footpath opposite the Castle Rock viewpoint.  It’s a popular and well-used route but it was getting a bit overgrown.

Loppers and slashers were the implements of choice.  After a day's work the path was in a more useable state and we got a lot of thanks from walkers using the route.

Jean

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