Heyshaw Moor: 12-11-2024

7 years is a looooong time!!!

This week the NCVs were working high above Pateley Bridge on the SSSI moorland of Heyshaw Moor. Apparently its management plan listed the removal of scrub to prevent the moor drying out - just the thing for the A team. However - the last time NCVs were working on this site was November 2017, which meant that there could well be a lot that needed doing - 7 years worth in fact!

Let's see shall we? Maybe some moorland fairies had been out clearing scrub in the meantime? Or not.

In fact, the area we were working on turned out to be on the opposite side of the road from the previous visit, so had never really been tackled before. Oh heck!!! 

 

 

Base camp was established up

 at the Two Stoops towers

(built as part of a Victorian job creation scheme

for local men when work was in short supply.) 

 

The view from this landmark was the main 

focus for the day. The encroaching birch 

and rowan blocking the vista just had to go. 

 

Everyone got busy and developed a system. 

(A) cut stuff down...

 

(B) cart it uphill... 

 

 ...(not an easy task given the dense

bracken  cover.)...

(C) dead hedge the copious quantities 

of brash along the footpath.

 

Who's that hiding in the bracken?

 

Ah - Ruth.

Carry on as you were.... 

 

The base of the towers provided 

a useful seating area for coffee

 and lunchtimes.

Luckily Liz's chainsaw was available for the thicker trunks.

 

Now - let's see how the hedge

 creation is getting on.

Yes - excellent.

 

Only the choice straight, 

birch stems were passed to the vols at the 

back towards the end of the day, to make 

it easier for them to get a move on. 

Any wiggly rowan stems stayed on the front side

where it was easier to work.

An alarm sounded if material was passed 

over that didn't meet specifications.

 

The team looked well pleased with 

themselves at close of play.

Andy - please stop practising

 your Tiller Girl routine!

 

A perfect dead hedge. (Although there 

are tons more saplings to remove!)

 

The Two Stoops vista is now looking

 much clearer. Pity about the bracken.

 

Now, just to be clear, there was another

 extremely hardworking gang of 4 that 

worked alongside the road,

doing the same kind of job.

 

Julia - gives her adoring public a wave....

 

...as Ken inspects the job they are doing. 

"Is that level?"

 

Nice log pile, team roadside.

 

Oooo - and another nice 

dead hedge here too.

 

 Finally - a big thank you to Andy. He saved the day by driving back down to the barn with a pair of jump leads to rescue Liz, whose car had a flat battery.

 

He also just happened to have packed 

a hedge trimmer with his

 lunch box and flask! This meant that 

footpath edges could be cleared of 

overgrown heather.

He is definitely 'The Wonder Of Woolies'!!

Hackfall Woods: 05-11-2024

   

Remember, remember,

the 5th November....

...but not because the NCVs were plotting on carrying out any subversive activities involving gunpowder or treason. They just had to put the date in their diaries to remind them to turn up at Hackfall Woods. They needed to carry out some much needed woodland maintenance, as it was nearly 2 months sunce their last visit. 

Having had a week off duty, they were all rested and ready for action and, despite the gloomy sky....

.... there was a good turn out and lots got done.

 

Now gang. I want you to split up into three

 teams and go off in different directions

to do whatever is needed.

 

One team went off and tackled gully clearance 

and repairs; step cleaning and declogging

 the stream to the weeping rock. 

This gully was situated in a 

particularly muddy patch. 

 

The 'Stepwise cleaning company' busy in their work.

 

Another team of artisans dealt with the replacement 

of an edging board alongside the path

 from Fisher's Hall to Alum Spring. 

 

They did an amazing job, using only nature's 

supply of pegs and butressing for the boards. 

 

A third team reported having cleared fallen

 branches, gullies  and unspecified 'other stuff'.

 

What they actually did was create a 

superb dead hedge from all the fallen branches

 and overhanging vegetation. 

 

Well done lads. That should stop 

visitors straying from the path.

Despite the teams working

in different parts of the site

they all managed to use telepathy 

to meet up for lunch!

 

This nice fungus was a sure sign that 

autumn had arrived at Hackfall. 

Pateley Bridge Churchyard: 22-10-2024

 

 If you walk into any supermarket in Britain at the moment, you will be reminded that there are a number of special days coming up that you should be spending your hard earned cash preparing for.

Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night, Christmas. So much celebration lies ahead!!

However - did you realise that there are only 2 days remaining before the most important celebration of all in the UK's calendar of important dates?

No? 

No idea? 

Why - WORLD TRIPE DAY of course!!! The day when the Tripe Marketing Board will do its best to encourage you to eat tripe with gusto - whatever anyone may think of you. 

The NCVs could hardly contain their excitement - only 2 days to go. How should they decorate the outside of their houses? What recipes for tripe should they cook for the big day? Should they send cards to their loved ones to mark the occasion? 

As you can imagine, they were all extremely glad that there was a task in Pateley Bridge churchyard to focus on  to take their minds off the upcoming festivities. After all, time passes much more quickly when you are busy. Tripe day would arrive sooner if they did some manual labour. And here they are, trying their best not to get over-excited with thoughts of tripe.

 

 

The task involved cutting down the

extemely high laurel hedge

 at the back of the church.

 

Then the brash had to be shifted 

to the bottom of the steps over here....

 

...where some of it needed processing...

 

....before it was hauled up... 

 

... to the top of

the steps for chipping. 

Brash shifters certainly got 

their steps in today!!

The steps first had to be power 

hosed by Andy to make them 

safe to use.

Once he got started he then carried 

on and did all the slippery paths 

around the church itself.

Great job Andy!!

Up above the church the chipping team

got busy getting rid of the brash tsunami

that just kept on coming.

It was fed into the gaping maw

of the industrial chipper that had 

been hired for the day...

 

...then shot over the wall, 

back into the churchyard. 

Here it was collected into a 

big heap by the end of the day.

It was a VERY noisy process.

Meanwhile, back at the hedge face....

 

...Liz just kept chainsawing....

 

...and Osian just kept pulling.

 

Slowly, bit by bit, the laurel was 

dismantled and either chippped...

 

...or turned into two enormous log piles.

 

 

By close of play it was all but gone...

 

...and the boundary wall was revealled.

 

Thank goodness for the biscuits and 

tarts provided by the church and 

the banana buns, kindly made by Liz.

They provided a much needed

 boost to energy levels!

 

Job finished, the NCVs packed up 

and headed home. Only one more full

 day to go to World Tripe day now!!

NB There will be no blog next week. The NCVs are being given a free week seeing it is half term. Liz is on leave and Ros will be making besom brooms up at Brimham, so there will be no-one to keep the troops in order.