Crimple Head Farm: 17-02-2026

Regular readers of this blog will remember the NCVs visiting Crimple Head Farm last spring, on a beautifully sunny day, to remove hundreds and hundreds of plastic tree guards. Today, they were back there doing just the opposite. They were continuing to plant the 1200  trees they started inserting last week,  as part of the winter Olympics, and encasing them in plastic tubes.

Fortunately, the weather, though not as warm as the tube removal day, was just as sunny - a far cry from the previous week when you couldn't see the end of the field due to the thick fog.

So - without further ado - let's see the gang in action. You know the drill - as do they. 

The actual planting site looked as

uninviting as it did last week due to

 the fact it was an ex-conifer plantation,

 complete with old brash and tree stumps.

Andy got to work shifting 

tree stakes over the rickety, 

rackety bridge. He narrowly 

missed getting eaten by the 

resident troll below.

Little Red Riding Hood

got going inserting trees.

Ruth dug for victory.

She was closely followed 

by an anon NVC.

It was far too cold to 

work without hats and 

many layers of clothing.

New recruit Mark took a sneaky

peek sideways to make sure

he was doing everything correctly.

"This chair's too big."

"But this pocket sized one is just 

right - just as long as I can figure out 

how to erect all the folding pieces."

These NCVs didn't bother fiddle faddling

with fancy collapsible seats.

They just sat on tree stumps.

Mind you, this meant they 

were rather spread out!

Liz's coffeetime flapjack was very welcome.

As were Mick's shortbreads.

Thanks guys!!

Julia pulled tubes out of tubes...

...while Friedy and Andy H. 

whiled away the hours discussing

films they had recently watched.

Mick wandered around looking 

for likely spots to insert rowans.

(Favourite trees for the workers

due to their nice, small root systems.) 

Can you spot the tree?

Now - at this juncture NCVs started making...

Lobster pots????!!!

No! Obviously not!

They are clearly shrub tubes 

for the Scots Pines.

By close of play the majority 

of the trees were planted.

Compare this view to the one 

at the top of the page to see what 

a difference a day makes. 

NNL comms officer, Will, joined us for 

the day and took over photographer 

duties. He is so clever, he can take

 selfies whilst planting trees 

at the same time!

Additionally - The small, select Ninja team were out last Thursday clearing a footpath. The good news was that the job only took 2 hours, even though there were only four out. The bad news was that the path was up at Greenhow in thick fog, mizzle, and a cold wind. 

The job looked far from inviting

on arrival.

Particularly at this point.

However - with a clip and a lop

the path started to look passable.

Eventually the way was clear...

...all the way along its length.

Unfortunately the wall on the 

right hand side is starting to collapse

and the stones needed to be exposed.

Friedy and Amy made a valiant 

attempt to put some stones back 

but the job was simply too much.

Nidderdale Wallers - a job for you perhaps?!

Markenfield Hall: 05-02-2026

 

WALLERS' UPDATE

Waller Graham has sent in this update on progress made last week at  the Markenfield pale wall. The task this week was cancelled due to bad weather.

After a very cold and damp Tuesday, we were concerned as to what the weather would deliver on Wednesday. It so happened that we had another good day for walling. It had stopped raining by the time we arrived and although very dull and grey, the rain did not reappear and the temperature was OK for busy wallers.  

Graham and Andy worked on the repair of the original cheekend and completed that by lunchtime.

Reworked cheek end at the start of the wall 

we started there in October 2011

Side view

Camera angle doesn't do justice to the rebuild?

After lunch, they started on another section which had been weakened by the tree and movement of the wall end. By the end of the day an 8 foot section had been taken down and foundations reinstated.

Thoughtful Andy looks at the next section.

How much needs dismantling?

This much!!!

(By close of play.)

Our version of a temporary sheep proof fence

Dave, Simon, Duncan and Rod tackled the wall to and around the field corner. 

Wall's End, very solid looking, with a 

perfect right angle turn.

Going round the corner.

Dave and Simon demolished the wall beyond the corner then reassembled, stepping up the end to leave both a way around the wall and potential to extend the repair.

Simon places stones with precision

Meanwhile Duncan and Rod took the wall down further to foundation level on the main wall length before similarly rebuilding. Several of the cornerstones required all four of us to lift into place!

 Duncan checks Dave and Simon's efforts

Looks like a good wall to me, says Duncan

Crimple Farm: 10-02-2026

NEW WINTER SPORT 

TAKES THE WORLD BY SURPRISE!

Pateley Pigeon Post sports correspondent

Gilbert Bickerstaff

2026 will forever go down in history as the first year of a new winter Olympic sport - that of tree planting. Although most Olympic events are being held in Italy, on two different sites, it was decided that it would be more appropriate to host the tree planting event in slightly less colder climes - namely North Yorkshire in the UK. 

This meant that the 11 strong British team did not have very far to travel. Indeed - they just needed to get themselves to Crimple Farm in Beckwithshaw, so arrived very fresh and well rested, having had numerous rounds of training over the winter months.

Each country was given a field to plant up and the team that planted the most trees by the time the final whistle blew would gain the gold medal.

The highlights of the event in the NCVs' field can be seen below.

Upon arriving at the planting arena

team GB were somewhat taken aback 

by the state of the ground.

A slight delay in the arrival of the 

trees led Team GB to create

a penguin huddle in order to keep warm

in the cold conditions.

Ken, more at home in weight lifting 

events, was happy to transport the 

tree tube bundles.

This NCV preferred to carry 

fewer tubes at a time....

...whereas Osian put his javelin 

throwing skills to use and simply 

threw the tubes to where they needed

 to be, thus saving much time.

A member of the BBC's film crew

said that the scene reminded 

him of the epic blockbuster 

'Zombie Apocalypse of the Somme.'

Gradually the athletes started to

look as if they actually stood a chance

of winning a medal.

Vertical tree tubes were rapidly 

appearing.

When other teams found out that team GB 

were getting Liz's superb Christmas cake  

during the rest break it did cause 

some bad feeling. However - it came in the 

nick of time to revitalise Amy (front left) who 

had started to wilt.

After the official rest break,

everyone moved on to a second

area of the field, crossing over 

this bridge that had been constructed 

to an original Thomas Telford design.

As the final whistle blew and the tree count was undertaken, the world held its breath. The results were finally announced:

The Netherlands were disqualified after 15mins for planting trees upside down. 

The majority of teams had refused to even start - siting weather and ground conditions were simply unacceptable.

The bronze award was given to France with just 20 trees planted. They gave up after the first hour, complaining about the state of the field.

The silver medal went to Germany - they managed a slightly more impressive 52 trees but refused to continue beyond the coffee time rest break, complaining that the poor visibility was a health and safety risk.

However - the gold medal was awarded to Team GB, which consisted entirely of expert tree planters recruited from the Nidderdale Conservation Volunteers. They kept on until the final whistle blew and won hands down by planting 300 trees! Amazing!

Well done Team GB! No wonder the landowner has asked if you could return next week to complete the job.

The Olympic committee have decided that this event would never be held in North Yorkshire again.