What Heroes!!!
Yes - Today is National Superhero day in the USA. Not a day to celebrate Batman or Superman, but a day to recognise all those people who do good for others. I feel that it is a good day to recognise in the UK too. There are so many who do so much to help others in so many ways; so many who do a good deal of volunteering in all kinds of roles.
So - let's take a moment to acknowledge our very own superheroes and see what they have been doing since the last blog entry.
Today the NCVs were continuing he seemingly never-ending task of collecting plastic tree tubes - this time from a plantation of 2000 trees at Prospect House, Felliscliffe. Here's how they got on.....
Upon arrival the NCVs were
greeted by a pair of giant sized owls.
Then it was down to the wood
to see what lay ahead.
At least the field was a flat
one this week!
Adrian was quick off the mark with his knife.
Brenda started collecting up
and 'nesting' the slit tubes.
Amy demonstrates one of the many
reasons nobody like these kind of tree cages.
At coffee time Ken brought out his
mini 'Colin the Caterpillar' goodies.
Happy birthday Ken!
Nobody knew exactly what
species of caterpillar Colin was....
...but, whatever species he was,
everyone enjoyed eating him!
After coffee the gang continued their work,
re-usable tree ties slowly, but surely,
mounting up on their zips.
Osian wasn't quite sure who was
more surprised when he slit this tube open
- him or the little wood mouse.
Now - what kind of tree is this?
The tube had acted as an excellent
Himalayan Balsam nursery!
Oh dear! This poor tree was being
strangled by a tree tie which was
completely embedded in the bark.
Remember the banana tree from
last week? Well this guard had to
be removed from one that had aspirations
of becoming a set square!
By lunch time the sun was shining
and everyone was feeling warmer.
Landowner Tessa had brought down
two cakes to feed the troops.
Thanks Tessa!!
Her husband Steven drove his
tractor and trailer down to collect up
the bags of tubes.
By close of play the woodland was looking
a lot tidier and removal of the tubes from
failed trees allowed Steven and Tessa to
see where some more may need planting.
It was estimated that the 5 bags of tubes
probably accounted for half the job.
Only 1000 more to do next time!!!
Now - let's see what the Rights of Way team got up to last Thursday. It was then that a small team went out to the village of Timble in order to cut back overhanging vegetation along a rather lovely public footpath. As you can see - it did look better by the time they finished.....
The top bit wasn't too
bad with some nice, benign
hazel trees. Further down
it was less pleasant.....
....with holly, blackthorn, brambles and rose.
However, these were
tackled with fortitude.
Eventually walkers could pass by
without getting scratched or
having their eye poked out.
And finally, from last Wednesday, 22nd April.....
A wallers' update
by Graham
What a lovely Spring day, a bit chilly to start with but then very pleasant with lovely blue skies, a nice setting and some quality stone to work with. Just four of us this week and, with the path wall completed last week, we set about two gaps in the roadside wall, both gaps caused by growing trees. As usual the gap repairs developed into much larger jobs!
Andy and Rod used their skill on the first gap to bridge over a tree root after having mined some very large and irregular foundation stones.
The "before" of Andy and Rod's gap.
By coffee time the wall has dismantled
and it was time for foundations
By close of play, they had
almost rebuilt the wall
Andy looked satisfied with progress
Meanwhile, Graham and Dave tackled the second gap with Dave doing most of the really hard graft and creating a very neat curve round the tree.
Dave starts on the second gap
After coffee, Dave reviews progress.
Remarkable output by close of play;
the camera doesn't pick up the stylish curve.
Graham worked further along the wall working down to where the wall was sound and starting the rebuild.
Where has all the ivy and moss gone?!
Quite a day's work
Four notable visitors chatted to us. Two were curlew watching and were just passing, while Andy, owner of the farm and a Tuesday volunteer came to say hello - much appreciated. He and the curlew watchers commented on the quality (excellent) of last week's work, again much appreciated (wallers do have egos!). Finally Liz arrived with caps for all and other odd bits of uniform.
Just to add, lunchtime was marked by a range of different flavoured pork pies courtesy of Andy (thanks Andy!) and the butcher in Masham.
Delicious pies!!
Beetroot and horseradish,
cheese and pickle, stilton
Wallers' Update: 29the April
