Fencing at Bosley Cloud on Sunday 27th January 2019

It was a cold and very blustery day for our second visit to Bosley Cloud this year.  Once again our planned worktask changed due to there being just three hardy volunteers - well that was two plus myself!  This worked out well for Tim (Ranger) as it enabled him to complete a job started last year but not finished ... something more important kept cropping up.

We met Tim a little later than usual (at 10 o'clock) to enable him to collect required materials then went in his pickup to Red Lane.  Here there are two footpaths to the Cloud and we were working on the lower path.  Our task was to take out old fencing, move one of the new posts to a better position and replace with new cleft fencing.  Whilst David and myself started on this, Andy dug a hole for a new National Trust sign at the stile entrance.  Tim had to cut the notches in the posts using drill and chisel plus shape the rails using his chainsaw.  

Team work prevailed and we just managed to get it all completed in time.  We met several walkers checking on the best route to use but didn't get anyone to volunteer to help. 

Christine

Litter picking at Styal on Sunday 20th January 2019

Colin had to change today's work task from his original plan of footpath edging to litter picking due to wet ground conditions.  Six of us met in the carpark above Quarry Bank Mill and split in to two groups of three.  Colin provided us with a map of the estate with our individual areas highlighted for us and we left the car park in opposite directions with plenty of bags and a litter picker each.

We met back up at the car park for a slightly later brew.  Is the first time MNTV have had their brew in a bus shelter?  Colin was there to meet us with the next phase lined up for us.

After our brew, four of us jumped in with Colin whilst Adrian and Issy followed in Adrian's car.  We went down the airport road, debunked and proceeded to clear the meadows and pathways leading up to the viewpoint overlooking the runway and then worked our way along the airport road.  It was at this point we found the most interesting item, an old bike that had been there so long a silver birch had grown through the spokes of the wheel.

All I can say is why are people so unthoughtful about our environment?  Apart from the bike there was clothing, an umbrella, glass bottles, tin cans, plastic items of all sorts, crisp/sweet packages plus the inevitable poo bags... oh, and not forgetting two tyres.

Rant over, thanks to my colleagues for a great day and thanks to Colin for sharing his ideas/plans for the estate which includes the planting of thousands of trees including some rare black poplar.

Christine

Task change at Lyme Park on Sunday 13th January 2019

Today we were due to have a Rhodi bash and fire to burn the rhododendron in Lantern Wood, but the weather forecast was predicting rain, wind and gusts of up to 46mph so, erring on the side of caution, we were asked to neaten up the edges along the drive from the Stables to the East Lodge holiday cottage instead, so that the vehicles that used that road didn't damage the edges any further.
The weather didn't put off our enthusiastic volunteers as 16 turned up today:-)
We worked mainly away from the tree's, which was good, and close enough to the Stables to be able to use the Rangers room for our break and lunchtime, plus we had the luxury of being able to use a flushing toilet!!

We spent most of the day cutting back the edges and putting the surplus into barrows before they were tipped into the tractor for disposal. Jenny also got the opportunity to use the leaf blower to blow the leaves and mud off the drive.

We'd finished by lunchtime and so, after lunch, we did the same around the front of the Stables, before the rain came down quite heavily around 3pm.
We were pleased that we'd managed to make it all look a lot tidier:-)

 Photo's courtesy of Adrian.

Construction & destruction at Bosley Cloud on Sunday 6th January 2019

Ten MNTV members plus Josh who is doing his Duke of Edinburgh award came out for our first workday of 2019 to blow away the cobwebs and work off the mince pies.  They still managed to eat lots of cake!

As there were so many of us we split into two groups.  The first group stayed with Tim (Ranger) and his truck and erected a sturdy gate and fencing.

The other group grabbed some tools and walked up the hill to the open heathland for a spot of destruction.  We pulled up saplings so visitors and wildlife can continue to enjoy the open aspects of this part of the hill.  Pulling up the birch saplings was hard work (even the smallest saplings held on by long roots) but we persevered.  We carried the saplings to the forest on the other side of the track to rot down and provide a wildlife habitat.

Bosley Cloud was true to its name.  At the top of the hill we were mostly in cloud but the ground was nice and dry.

Jenny

(Photos: Jenny and Karin)

Happy Christmas!

NT Head Office sent the group a Christmas card and message of thanks for our support:

Images from some of our recent and ongoing fundraising projects:

The Lake District, The White Cliffs of Dover, Stowe Landscape Garden and Snowdonia.

Work in the kitchen garden at Biddulph Grange Garden on 16th December 2018

Five of us went to Biddulph Grange Garden today for our last workday of 2018.  The forecast freezing weather, ice rain and winds never arrived and we had a very enjoyable day working with gardener Leslie Hurst in the kitchen garden.

We tackled and completed two jobs:

1.  Adrian, Andy and David put in a beech hedge.  They delineated the hedgeline with long thin wooden planks, screwed them together, prepared the soil in between and then planted beech saplings at 18 inch intervals.

2.  Tim and Daniel removed the grass from around the base of 16 fruit trees in the small orchard adjacent, constructed wooden squares around each tree and then planted 15 or 16 daffodil bulbs in each square and covered the bulbs with mulch.

At elevenses we washed down Daniel's Christmas-tree-shaped chocolate fudge cake with mugs of hot apple juice infused with Christmas spices courtesy of Leslie.

Lunch was taken in the volunteers' room below the museum.  On the message board we read that Biddulph has had 100k visitors in the year to 31 October versus a target for the whole year of 108k.  Next year's target is 118k.  Andy and I scanned our membership cards as we left to add two to the tally!  Certainly, Biddulph was busy today - there was a Santa Trail for children to follow that led them round the garden and to Father Christmas in the house.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our members and thank you for your hard work and support this year.  Here's to fun and friendship in 2019!

Daniel Black
MNTV Chairmen

Work programme for 2019

I wrote this on the train as I headed home after a fabulous Christmas weekend in the Lake District.  Where were you?!  As 2018 comes to an end, it's time to think about 2019 and what wonders we have in store.  Firstly, we have three weekends planned for your delight.  Our Spring Weekend comes in April and we are visiting Buckden in Wharfedale on the weekend of 7 April.  If you would like to come on this weekend then please let us know as soon as possible as the basecamp only holds 13 and we currently have eight definite bookings and several more probables.  We are sharing this weekend with the Merseyside group.  Our other weekends are Summer in Snowdonia on the weekend of 14 July based at Hendre Isaf basecamp near Betws-y-Coed and Christmas is at Calke Abbey near Derby on the weekend of 8 December.  Look out for emails about these weekends at a later date.

So those are our weekends, what about the workdays?  Well, I'm pleased to announce that the worksites for the whole of 2019 have been confirmed and boy have we got a programme and a half lined up for you!

Our first workday is on 6 January at Alderley Edge.  Ranger Tim Ryan (ex-MNTV) has asked for our help with some hedgelaying.  We'll also be back there at the end of January and in February too to carry on with this task.  Our first longer distance day comes in the form of a trip back to Erddig on 3 February and we'll be back there in May and September too.

In March after roughly four years away we are returning to the seaside and to the sands of Formby.  We will also be travelling there twice more in 2019.  In April, as well as our trip to Wharfedale, we travel to Thurstaston on the Wirral and to Speke.  This will be our only visit to Speke in the year so don't miss it.

In May we have the first of our special workdays at Lyme Park. You may remember a while ago I emailed you all asking if there were any particular tasks you wanted to do as Lyme had asked us the same question.  This month we have our first Lyme Special: on 12 May we are joining the Ranger team doing a bird survey.

In June we have our first visit of the year to Biddulph and Hardcastle Crags, our second Lyme Special (planting bedding plants in the garden) and we will also be at Hayfield doing some bracken bashing.  July brings us the Summer in Snowdonia weekend and our third Lyme Special of either a butterfly survey or thistle thrashing.

August brings the fourth Lyme Special and a job that our volunteers have been keen to take on since last doing it in 2009 at Hayfield …drystone walling!  September brings us a first as we join the Merseyside group at Chirk Castle near Wrexham.

In October we have another first as we head to north Manchester to find out what's going on at Gawthorpe Hall or the Stubbins Estate.  November brings us Bosley Cloud and our last trip to Formby for the year.

December brings us the Christmas at Calke Abbey weekend and we finish the year with another visit to Bosley Cloud on 15 December.

The programme for the first part of the year will be up on the What’s On page of our website in the New Year.  Keep your eyes on the website as more dates will get added.

We hope to see as many of you as possible on each workday.  If you have signed up but not yet joined us on a workday then let 2019 be the year!

Ally Hardy