Rhody bashing at Lyme Park on Sunday 26th February 2023

 Eight of us spent today at Lyme Park, rhodybashing in Lantern Wood.

Birch thinning at Bosley Cloud on Sunday 19th February 2023

Today, two of us ventured down to Bosley Cloud for a rare workday there - our first since 3rd November 2019. We knew in advance that we'd be joined by a large number of Congleton Volunteers and Congleton Harriers and so it proved ... there were 30+ of them (!) plus rangers Tim Ryan and Sam. The two 4x4s moved all the gear as far up Gosberryhole Lane as possible and then we wheelbarrowed it up onto the heathland.

The red chevron marks the worksite

We spent the day digging up birch trees (big ones needing saws, loppers, mattocks and winches) and using most of the cuttings to block offshoot footpaths near the summit of the Cloud to keep walkers to the main footpath.

At lunch we walked up to the summit from where the views to all points of the compass were wonderful. The toposope pointed out distances to nearby hills and landmarks but showed too the distance and direction to Snowdon (81 miles), Land's End (264), John o'Groats (380) and Charing Cross Station (143)!

Daniel

Bonfire and litterpick at Styal on Sunday 12th February 2023

Ten of us met up with Head Ranger Ashley today.  We car shared to the worksite which was the burn area on the old airport road.  Ashley has decided to move the burn site from this small wood.  Today's task was to scatter some of the large pile of ashes around the site and burn anything left including some garden waste flytipped in the area.  Just for good measure we chopped down and burnt some rhody - well, it wouldn’t be an MNTV winter Sunday without destroying at least a bit of rhody!

After lunch we split into two groups - one tended the fire and the other group did a litter pick along the airport road.  The litter pick team did well collecting two full bags - they found litter we had missed last time (18th December) because it had been hidden under the snow.

Ashley was really pleased with our work and is looking forward to making the area a more natural habitat.

Replacing posts at Formby on Sunday 5th February 2023

We joined forces with the Merseyside group at Formby on a beautiful sunny winter morning.  Four of us  and 12 of them, so plenty of hands to make light work!

There has been a lot of woodland management going on in the woods by Victoria Road and the contractors left a bit of a mess.  Our task was to get it back up to standard ready for the half term and Easter visitors.  Sweeping roads, clearing mud off the forest tracks, replacing broken posts and putting up more disabled parking signs.

The Merseyside group are regular visitors at Formby and it should have been a clue when several of them offered to clear mud off the tracks.  I thought the ground would be nice and sandy to dig, but the tree roots got in the way ...

We persisted with bars, spades and saws and finally broke through to the sand in time for the customary morning break.  The big pole replacement crew managed to remove two poles before cake break.  After morning break we went back to digging holes.  We erected two new signs ...

... and replaced some of the big posts ...

One post hole was too deep so the post had to come back out ...

... and some of the sand put back, before the post was put back in at just the right height ...

These larger posts are very sturdy and allow the NT to close the road to the coastal carpark.

After so much work it was time for a well earned lunch break – benches and loos on a work day – luxury.

After lunch in the picnic area, we went back to work replacing old posts by the side of the road.  When we had finished filling all the gaps we joined the “mud slinging” oops I meant “mud clearing” crew.  On the way back the Ranger gave us a tour of the work they had been doing in the woods.

The sand dunes at Formby aren’t wide enough to form a stable habitat.  They should be 1km wide but are only ½ km in places.  This means that the pine trees (Scots and Cypriot pine) planted as a cash crop don’t grow very well and get swamped by the sand.

You can see in the photo that the trees on the left which are nearer the sea are dead.  The ones on the right are dying as well.  They take out any that are a danger to the public on the path and leave the rest for natural habitat.  Note that the native Scots pine in the background are surviving a bit better, but they are struggling with the coastal winds and salty air.

The contractors have thinned a lot of the area, removing 20%-80% depending on the trees.

The idea is that the sand dunes will get more space, but the woodland and the red squirrels will move inland a little and the remaining trees will be healthier and produce more pine cones.

On the way back we passed the runes in the children’s play area that we put in on a previous trip.  These spell “love” reading from the top down ...

We also walked passed the site of the new carpark area which was once a small sand quarry by Victoria Road, so not a natural habitat.  They will take the rubble from the old carpark near the coast, sort out any waste, and put the hardcore in the quarry.  This saves taking it all out through Formby and bringing in new hardcore.  The new carpark will remove the section of narrow road and improve traffic flow.  Sited further from the sea, the new carpark will be protected from coastal erosion and sand dunes for the next 200 years.

Jenny

Rhody bashing at Hayfield on Sunday 29th January 2023

Today's workday was at Hayfield and was Martin's first as worksite leader.  Five of us joined him for a day's rhodybashing on the steep slope above Park Hall.  This is where we worked last 16th October.  The area had been cut by others and we were mostly burning their cuttings along with snipping some young regrowth.

We had two fires going and got through a good bit, but there is still plenty left.  Some peacocks came by to inspect our work.

Martin

Rhody bash at Lyme Park on Sunday 22nd January 2023

Nine of us joined Ranger Issy for a great day of Rhody bashing at Lyme Park.

We met in the main car park and walked up into Lantern Wood, where we were shown the area of rhododendrons that needed cutting and burning.  We split off into small groups, one group getting the fire going while the rest of us, using bowsaws and loppers, started cutting down the Rhody and dragging it near to the fire, where another group were cutting it down into smaller pieces to feed the fire. Fortunately we also had the use of a leaf blower which really helped get the fire going:-)

There was snow on the ground. It was lovely crisp and chilly day.

As we finished for the day, we turned the fire in and put the orange netting around the dying embers so if anyone came across it, it would be obvious that it was a controlled fire. Ranger Issy stayed with it longer and said she would pop back before going home to ensure it was safe, so we walked back down to our cars.

A great day, great company plus we got a lot done:-)

The workday was led by the two Sue's!!

Thanks to Adrian for the photos.

Birch thinning at Alderley Edge on Sunday 15th January 2023

Nine of us assembled in the Wizard car park at 9:30 for another day of birch thinning on the heathland the other side of the main road.  We continued the work we'd done on 11th December.  It did not look like anyone had been on site since then - the fire site was taped off just as we'd left it.  When we collected the tools from the rangers' toolstore we met ranger Sam who was off to do a day's tree felling with a few volunteers.

Thankfully the rain stopped at 10 as forecast and the rest of the day was fine.  Neil, Chris and Andy H got the fire lit and kept it going with bursts of air from a battery-powered leaf blower.  The rest of us poppered and mattocked the birches out of the ground, carried them to the fire then loppered them into burnable lengths.

Worksite before ...

... and after

Jenny joined us at 12 and had brought her petrol-powered leaf blower.  With two blowers going we kept the fire roaring and soon began to run out of birch to burn.  We continued until 2:30pm when we loaded the last of the cuttings onto the fire, let the fire burn down and then taped off the fire site.  Sam came over to talk to us at 2 and was very happy with our work.  We have now cleared all the birch in this area and so the next group will need to establish a new fire site near to the next significant batch of birch.

Thanks to everyone for coming along and for their hard work and good company.  This was our last workday at Alderley Edge for a while.  On 19th February we are at Bosley Cloud, not Alderley Edge, doing heathland work with the Congleton Volunteers.

Daniel