Staking the Dahlia Walk at Biddulph Grange Garden on 29th May 2022

Eight of us met Leslie in the Biddulph Grange car park at 10:00. Some were delayed a bit by the traffic jam of the classic car show at Capesthorne Hall - I’ve never seen a powder blue VW Beetle before! The job for the day was putting stakes in so the gardeners could plant up the Dahlia Walk, one of the major flower displays at Biddulph.

The gardeners had already done some preparation work for us. The tulip bulbs from the previous display had been dug up, the guide posts for the first row stakes were in place and the rest of the stakes needed were in bundles.

Stakes were hammered in and string used to ensure a straight line and a stick to evenly separate the rows.

Most sections have two tiers of three rows in a 9-8-9 pattern, the pattern ensuring full coverage when the dahlias are in flower.

The gardeners will plant the dahlias in a few days time so we ‘tickled’ or turned over the soil to make it look neat and easier to plant.

As a cook would say ‘here’s one I prepared earlier’. This picture shows the Dahlia Walk in full bloom in 2019.

We had a very enjoyable day and the weather was good enough to eat lunch outside, Leslie providing biscuits as she did last year. We had plenty of opportunity to talk to the visitors and some of those who had never heard of the Dahlia Walk were already planning a return visit.

Well done MNTV!

Jean

PS Paul Walton, Head Gardener, was please with our work. On the Thursday after our visit he wrote:

"Just a quick email to say a huge thank you for your help on Sunday, with all the stakes going in this allowed us to get the plants in on Monday/Tuesday

Please pass on my thanks to the team

very best wishes

Paul 

Head Gardener

Biddulph Grange Garden"

Footpath Clearance at Speke Hall - Sunday 22nd May 2022

Seven of us made the journey to Speke Hall on 22nd May, the workday was suppossed to be himalayan balsam pulling but when we got the there the balsam was too small to pull so ranger Ian organised for us to undertake some footpath work near the pond.

The soil/gravel footpath had become overgrown over a number of years and the rangers wanted it to be useable again.  When we arrived the footpath edging was hiding underneath lots of soil and overgrown vegetation so the task was to dig out overgrown vegetation and sweep away excess soil to uncover the original footpath.  It was like a 'time team' challenge!

                      Footpath at the start of the workday.  Two members working together to dig and sweep.

During the day we did a spot of litter picking around the area where we were working and you unearth some interesting items!

    

                                                                    Litter picking.

                                            

                           Groupwork digging out overgrown vegetation to widen the path.

                                        Clearning and exposing the fishing enbankement.

    

                                            Footpath cleared between two fishing spots.

    

                                            Completed excavation of fishing spot.

During the day the rangers joined the group to start clearing lily's from the pond using lily cutters purchased from America.

                                            Ranger showing us how it is done!

                                           

                                                   MNTV volunteer having a go a lily cutting.

                                                Nearing the end othe workday.

                                                    Path clearned at the end of the workday.

                                                        To be continued.....looks like the end of a disused railway track!

                                                                        Group photo.

Speke Hall have a regular group of volunteers that will be continuing the footpath clearance, not sure how much more will be done but we are back at Speke on 3rd July so watch this space.....

Thanks to Ian, his team and my colleagues for a great workday (but back breaking).

Denise

Dismantling a fence at Lyme Park on Sunday 15th May 2022

Well, despite the rain when I left home and again when I returned to Macclesfield we had a nice day at Lyme Park 10 miles away.

Eight volunteers gathered in the main carpark to meet Alex, the ranger.  He explained that the task was to remove fencing from around two patches of trees that had grown tall enough to withstand the deer grazing.

Before ...

... and after!

Andy S putting his back into it!

On our walk down the main drive we saw deer eating the new leaves on the trees by the house, standing on hind legs to reach the juicy bits!  It helped us realise why fencing is necessary round young trees.

We had a quick tool talk and got to work, first taking the wire netting off the posts and rolling it up for reuse them lifting the posts out the ground.  The corner posts needed digging out.  We did much of the first plantation by tea break (lovely choice of cake from Sue D).  Afterwards some of the group started on the second larger patch which we just about finished by the end of the day.  Just one corner post was left standing and another with some well hammered in staples. 

 

A good day's work from all involved.  We walked our weary way back to the carpark past the geese with their new goslings.  Spring has well and truly sprung.

Jenny

Work in the timber yard at Formby on Sunday 8th May 2022

Eight of us shared three cars for the hour’s drive to Formby on a pleasant Spring morning.  We met ranger Rob at the Countryside Offices and he briefed us on two jobs he needed help with - completely different from what we had expected!  So we split into two groups and got to work!

The rangers need a new wood store to replace the old one that had disintegrated due to old age.  Wood, sawdust and debris had to be cleared away.

Lots of shovelling and raking involved - a typical MNTV job!

By the end of the day saw a level, clear surface ready for the new shed.  Wood from storm-damaged trees will be stored to dry then be cut up and sold for use in wood burning stoves.  This is a useful source of income for a countryside location.

The second group got to work on the practise build of an art installation in the form of a "mandala", written in Viking runes.  Mandala is of a religious origin but in a modern interpretation it could be called an aid to "mindfulness".

Wood, again from storm-damaged trees, was sorted, with the help of Dog Ranger Chip.

Loppers and saws were used to cut branches down to a suitable size.

Then tied together to make a rune.  Here is the completed letter "O".

The final installation will spell out "All we need is love" and be used to add interest in fields behind the sand dunes.

It was a great day and useful work.  Rob now knows the art installation is doable as a community project.  Special congratulations to Jenny, Christine, Tim and Martin for their creativity.

Jean

35th AGM on Thursday 5th May 2022

13 members of MNTV (Adrian, Ally, Charlie, Chris, Daniel, Denise, Hazel, Jean, Jenny, Neil, Sue B, Sue D and Tricia) attended this year's AGM.  It was conducted over Zoom - a first for MNTV.  The meeting began at 8pm and ended at 9:10pm and covered the usual business:

- Apologies for absence

- Minutes of the 2021 eAGM and matters arising

- Chairman's Report for the year ended 31 March 2022

- Treasurer's Report for the year ended 31 March 2022

- Election of the 2022/23 Committee (Adrian, Ally, Daniel, Denise, Sue and Tricia)

- AOB

AOB was mainly a discussion about whether the group wanted any weekends away in 2023 given numbers for weekend trips have been low in recent years and the cost might well increase because the NT  is charging for more and more basecamps.

After the AGM, Claire Disley (Area Ranger & Volunteer Manager, Lyme Park) gave us a very informative talk about the ranger team at Lyme, the work (often seasonal) they do and the big projects that are in the pipeline:

- There is a new General Manager at Lyme (Kellie Scott)

- The Ranger team is settling after the upheaval of covid and the NT Reset programme and comprises Chris, Claire, Alex, Flo and Izzy plus two evening rangers

- The regular seasonal jobs the ranger team undertake include deer feeding, woodland management, rhodybashing, moth/butterfly/bat surveys, drystone walling, fencing and constructing "leaky" dams

- This year Lyme are introducing "spring changes" that include the requirement that dogs are kept on leads on 80% of the land.  Loose dogs can kill lambs and ground nesting birds.  So far this year no lambs have been lost to dog attacks

- Certain rangers run certain projects, e.g. Alex Bond (ex-MNTV) is overseeing the felling of parts of a pine plantation and replanting with mixed broad-leaved species

- Big projects in the pipeline are car park overhaul/relocation and flooding mitigation

Clearly there's a lot of work for MNTV to help with and Claire is happy for us to ask to do particular jobs.  We are next at Lyme on 5 May then 4 September.

Daniel Black

MNTV Chairman

Tree planting at Dunham Massey on Sunday 24th April 2022

After a week off for Easter, today 13 of us volunteered at Dunham Massey where we planted whips around the main carpark.  It is late in the season for tree planting but ranger Nat was keen that we got the whips into the ground rather than heeling them in at the nursery and trying to keep them alive until next winter.

Before we got going Daniel handed out Volunteer Cards and Parking Permits to Adrian, Andy H, Andy S, Christine, David, Jack, Jenny, Martin and Simon.  They had all volunteered for more than 50 hours in the year to 31 March.  Thank you all for your time and dedication to MNTV and the NT.  Jack showed us a photo of his Volunteer Card from 1992 - unchanged from today's except for the colour scheme!

We planted in pairs, one person to cut the hole/slit and the other to plant the tree, insert the support cane and wind round the rabbit guard.  There were several species of tree to plant incl willow, hawthorn, hazel and cherry.

The willow planters found a newt!

The weather was dry and sunny all day.  April has so far been very dry and we hope it rains next week to water in the whips.  We had our elevenses at the fire site and lunch at the picnic tables by the carpark.  After lunch we planted trees in the woods beside the overflow carpark.  By 14:45 we have planted all the whips and so ended the day early.

Tree planting at Styal on Sunday 10th April 2022

Nine of us met in Styal car park at 9:30 on a beautiful sunny spring morning.  We expected to do a litter pick with Craig but were greeted by the head ranger Colin and ten bags of tree plugs that needed planting.  This task was the final part of the project to replace fencing and rejuvenate hedges throughout the Styal Estate and was supported by the government Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The trees were a mixture, including hawthorn, Gelderland rose and oak.

We planted the new trees about a foot apart, between the existing hedge and the stock fence.

A bit difficult to see, but in a few years time this will be a new hedge.

The pink lines on the edges of the two right hand fields show the extent of hedging we planted - with eight trees to spare!

Smiling faces after a very satisfying day.  We were working close to a popular path so had plenty of opportunity to talk to the visitors and spread the word about the work MNTV does.

Jean