Christmas walk: 18-12-12

This is an annual event which is organised by one of the volunteers and this year Clive volunteered to plan the walk and to arrange for the traditional lunch to be held at the Washburn Heritage Centre. Sixteen of us met at the Centre for a five mile walk in the Washburn Valley on a circular route which included Swinsty, Beaver Dyke and John O’Gaunt’s reservoirs.

Beaver Dyke

Swinsty Reservoir

We stopped for a cake break half way through the morning which gave us a better chance of admiring some of the Christmas headgear worn by our more traditional members and there was no doubt about the best – Howie’s, without any question. 

                                  

                                 Cake Break

At various points Clive explained the history of areas we walked through – an ancient monument (oddly enough a track rather than a building), John O’Gaunt’s Castle and other interesting buildings. 

Clive (blue hat) sharing local history knowledge

Bird life was good with three red kites and a buzzard being mobbed by two kestrels. A flock of winter thrushes – roughly 100 fieldfares and 60 redwing -  put on a good show among the species seen.

The weather stayed dry with the odd glimpse of some brightness. The paths were muddy and slippery and in two fields an enthusiastic farmer had spread a very generous amount of muck, but after Clive’s initial risk assessment and H & S instructions no-one came to grief.

By the time we got back to the Centre we had worked up an appetite for the soup, sandwiches and mince pies that were waiting for us, and it was something of a family affair with Sally and Pat, wives of Clive and Howie, looking after us. Excellent food!

There are various people to thank:

• Clive of course, for organising the whole thing.
• Audrey, who provided cake for us all at the mid morning break.
• Sally and Pat for the food and very professional table service,
• and the AONB for paying for it all.

There were four of our volunteers who unfortunately were not able to come, and Paul is in New York. We missed them, and they missed a very enjoyable day.

Tony

Historic Maps training day: 11-12-2012

This morning was yet another of those interesting, relaxing and cosy times for any interested NCVs. We were lucky enough to be offered the opportunity of a morning listening to Kevin Cale, the community archaeologist, telling us all about historical maps. 
If you want to find out more about the things he does as part of his job then visit:
http://www.communityarchaeology.co.uk/

Kev started by explaining how maps are just one of the many tools available to anyone interested in researching the history of an area and then detailed the different ways that members of the public can access old maps. These included:

• Record offices - for Nidderdale related maps you would go to either the Northallerton County (http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/archives); the West Yorkshire Archive Service at Morley (http://www.archives.wyjs.org.uk/archives-leeds.asp) or the Borthwick Institute at Heslington, York (http://www.york.ac.uk/library/borthwick/)

The Northallerton office has an extensive collection but you can only view them on microfiche. The other two offices can give access to the actual maps themselves.  

• Pateley Bridge museum - this has a small, but useful collection.

• Online via http://www.old-maps.co.uk  From here you can look at the maps electronically or order them in hard copy in different quality prints. Enter any place name in the search box and then select one of the historic maps listed down the right hand side of the screen.  

You can then zoom in and out to your heart's content looking for all the interesting things that are there. I can't wait to try this out for myself!

Kev then gave us a fascinating presentation of the history of maps, focusing on the Wath area of Nidderdale - from an early 1610 map to the most up-to-date lidar mapping techniques. If anyone is interested in doing any of this sort of research there are a number of local groups involved in history projects which Kev or the AONB's heritage officer, Sally Childes, can put you in touch with. You may even want to start your own group - again, Kev is the man to contact.

Kev  - thank you for a great morning (and thanks also to Sally Childes for the delicious home made mince pies served on arrival!!)

Ros (E)

Bryan's Wood: 4-12-12

The day started bright and sunny. Tony and Ros were at the Barn for 9:00am. Also there were Julia and Dave, two newcomers to the group. They picked up the necessary equipment and headed for Bryan’s Wood for 9:30 where they met with Anita, Colin, John and Jan.

Meanwhile Dave was leaning on the new five barred gate outside Kettlesing school admiring the new fences that had been erected by the group a couple of weeks ago. He was expecting Graham who, he understood, would meet him there with equipment from the barn so they could erect a stile over the post and rail fence.

The gang of eight wheeled their wheelbarrows through tracks broad and narrow carrying the equipment to the point where they were to construct a barbed wire fence. This was required to keep the cattle in the neighbouring field from becoming tourists in the wood.

After 15 minutes Dave decided he had waited long enough. He rang the office to ask for Graham’s phone number but there was no reply. So he phoned Tony who suggested that he joined the group in Bryan’s Wood. Here the first task was to erect three straining posts to take the strain when the wire was stretched between them. That took us until lunchtime when Colin had to leave us. 

The remaining eight had their pack ups and then enjoyed some flapjack which had kindly been left on Tony’s doorstep by Audrey.

Thus fortified we dragged ourselves back to work but quickly found our rhythm and amazingly we completed the fence with two strands of wire by the time the light began to fade at 3:30pm. 

Whilst John attacked an intruding holly bush with a bow saw ...

....others got to grips with fence post knockers

We dragged our wheelbarrows and other equipment out of the wood feeling very satisfied. We had made a very presentable fence that would keep out potential tourists for a good number of years to come. 

Hopefully Julia and Dave enjoyed their day and will join us again in weeks to come.

Dave (B)

Kettlesing - once more with feeling!: 20-11-12

Back to Kettlesing School for the third week. It is a popular venue for us and 14 volunteers turned up despite the weather forecast. 6 of us worked to complete the reinstating of the dry stone wall by the new field gate with a great result. 

  

Sub-team one (the wallers) with everyone else getting in on the act too! The quality of the walling put the rest of the old wall to shame. (Tony missed the photo shoot whilst discussing yet another conservation project with the head teacher at the school - bird box installation work with the children.)

The others worked really hard in persevering with the post and rail fence. Many more posts were inserted and more rabbit-proof netting was attached. Incredibly, by 4pm, the job was finished and both sides of the field were fenced in.

Sub-team number two -
four speedy fencers  in action.

Sub-team number three -
 putting the final touches to the  first stretch of fence.

 

The final result - rabbit problem solved (?)

The weather worsened unfortunately during the afternoon, as forecast by Paul Hudson. Wet and muddy kit was the order of the day. Congratulations to those who stuck it out to the end. Many thanks to the school for the big tin of chocolates - extra food is always appreciated by the volunteers!

Angela

Fencing at Kettlesing (continued!): 13-11-2012

This fencing job started last week and continued this Tuesday.

A couple of metres of dry stone walling on either side of the gate were tackled by five volunteers including Chris G, who provided the expertise – and it is not complete. It is like a 3-d puzzle except the components are lumps of stone of all shapes and sizes. 

The girls' team (Chris S, Anita and Ros K.) worked on one side, smiling throughout - superb quality achieved!

The boys' team (Chris G and Jan) worked on the other side - equally good result. 

(Note - quagmire working conditions!)

The rest of the team got on with the fencing consisting of posts, 4 rails and chicken wire to keep the rabbits out. Not sure how the latter will respond as they are good at tunnelling. 

Paul realized we were in danger of running out of materials so paid a visit to Todds, Summerbridge. You cannot have 14 volunteers standing idle; you must keep them at work until dusk. (Note photo below - lights on in school - children went home long ago!)


The weather was good, no rain to add to the mud at the entrance to the field. The school provided biscuits in the early afternoon. A great day!

Jan

Editor's note - I think that special mention should be made of Hannah and Dave's dancing demonstration. I don't think that everyone saw it, with us all being so engrossed in our work. However, those of us that did happen to glance to the end of the fence at one particular moment were rewarded by what must be the first alfresco rock and roll dancing display carried out by two contestants dressed as NCVs. The footwork was perfect in spite of the heavy duty work boots and the very muddy dance floor. I'll award them both a 10!  Apparently Hannah also gives demonstrations of the 'grass swimming technique' for mud removal from clothing, for a small fee.   Ros E.

Fencing training day at Kettlesing: 6-11-12

Well it was literally back to school for 12 volunteers today. We met at Kettlesing school for a Fencing Workshop led by Tim Martin. We had a warm welcome at the school with coffee and biscuits.

Tim gave us lots of information and useful tips on fence construction, gate hanging and stile building. But he was keen for us to start the practical side, so we were soon out of the classroom and into the field which is going to be a conservation area for the school. The task was to construct a post and rail rabbit proof fence across the field.

Tim did a sterling job running up and down the fence line making sure we were siting the posts correctly. He was very encouraging and we were all pleased by the progress we had made by lunchtime despite the rain and mud! Digging post holes can be difficult depending on the ground and even though we had spades and shove holes (like giant tweezers) - someone actually had to resort to hands and knees! 

After lunch we were shown how to hang a gate. So now there is a gate in the middle of the gap in the wall which we dismantled last week. 

The top rails have gone on some of the posts and rabbit proof fencing has been attached.

It will take about another two days to finish the work. Several parents said they were impressed by our efforts and offered to come and help.

Thanks to Tim for an excellent day.

Chris S

Nest box event and de-walling at Kettlesing: 30-10-12

Nest box event at the barn

We don’t usually start the day in the relative luxury of warmth spread by a wood burning stove; although we generally prefer to work out of doors the morning started cold and damp with occasional rain, and we expected visitors. We feel we’re entitled to a little pampering once in a while. The day before the NCV's barn had been cleaned and tidied in readiness for a Nidderdale AONB nest box making day for any member of the public who wanted to have a go.

Advance work by Jan – he’s a worker, that one - provided wood already cut to size, enough to keep about twenty birds in the height of luxury during the nesting season as well as providing roosting sites during the winter. All we had to do to prepare for the work was to gather the necessary tools and make access holes in the front panels. Five members of the public turned up: Rhianna and Dominick, chauffeured by their mother, formed a threesome while Pippa and Charlie came from different directions, all keen to make nest boxes. We were impressed that none of them needed any advice on the use of either hand or power tools so were able to relax – no hammered thumbs, drilled fingers or other hazards. 

Not only did they all make a box, some of them made more than one and in addition there was an attempt to make bird feeders out of plastic milk bottles. We discovered that none of us had any experience of this arcane skill so results were mixed. The box makers each left with a sturdy nest box and we got the impression that they would make more at home. A very satisfactory, friendly and enjoyable morning. 

Footnote: Some of our group were already hard at work at Kettlesing and we drove to  join them in the afternoon, The drive to Kettlesing was circuitous. One road closed, another under the control of a very slow convoy leader through road works. We even had time to play Eye Spy. I think John won.

Tony

Meanwhile at Kettlesing......

With the fencing training day coming up we needed somewhere to practise our skills.  Kettlesing School had approached us to erect a fence around a piece of land opposite their school which they wanted to use as a wild life study area – perfect!  After Paul had visited the site and met with the head teacher he found that the project was a little more complex than originally thought.  A field gate was needed to provide access to the field for the children and the machinery to maintain the wild flower meadow.  Fairly easily done if it was to be part of the fence but, no, the plan is to put the gate in a perfectly sound dry stone wall with a rather handsome castellated top known as buck-and-doe or cock-and–hen.

So, since Ros K, Chris and I were surplus to requirements for bird box making, we made our way to Kettlesing School armed with a few tools, a plan of the site and clear instructions as where the gate was to go.

After a quick coffee we set to work stripping out the 5 metre section marked.  All the copestones were laid out in the same order as they were on the wall.  The wall stones neatly lined up, smallest furthest away, largest nearest and throughs and infill put to one side.  By the time the rest of the team arrived at 1:30 pm we had had lunch and taken down most of the wall– just left them to dig out the foundations!  Amazing what three women can achieve in a couple of hours!

 

Job done and some rather rickety temporary fencing and tape erected to ‘secure’ the site. Once some dubious jokes were shared it was time to head home for a good hot bath.

Anita

Old Spring Wood: 23-10-12

Weather-wise it was a really gloomy day but that didn’t stop 11 NCVs turning up all bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to do what was needed in Old Spring Wood.  Loyal readers of this blog will remember that we have been here before – more than once! Last time we spent the afternoon starting to clear or ring-bark the many sycamores that have encroached on the area and today most of us carried on the good work. One stand of these particular trees caused us some difficulty due to them having grown very close to an oil tank. However, with the aid of a rope we managed to get them down safely.

By 3pm we had just about won through. It was difficult to find a sycamore standing anywhere in the wood.  If you are wondering what we have against sycamores then you might like to follow this link to find out a bit more: http://www.ecotreecare.co.uk/woodland_management_sycamore.htm  Those of us that were still available even had time to prune back some of the holly bushes that were starting to grow across one of the footpaths down the hillside.

Three of the NCVs had a different task to carry out in the morning. The culvert that carries the stream through the wood and down the hillside had become solidly blocked by large stones, gravel and vegetation. Water was coursing over, rather than underneath, the public footpath and the surrounding area was completely awash. A good morning’s work put this right – lots of shovelling and the blockage was no more; the water passed through the pipe again with a whoosh!

Lunchtime was spent admiring Tony’s aerial photographs of Spring Wood, Bryan’s Wood and other local landmarks. It is surprising just how big an area the woods cover when you can see them from above. No wonder they take up so many of our Tuesdays!

Ros E.

Hackfall Woods: 16-10-12

Editor's note - this is a second blog entry for Tuesday 16th October. Many NCVs had booked in for the farm buildings training at Pateley Bridge - see next entry below. Those who preferred a more practical option were able to re-visit Hackfall to work with another volunteer group.) 

There were two NCVs in attendance at Hackfall today, along with twelve "Firm Friends" from Wolseley of Ripon.  We were pleased to welcome new recruit Ryan from Washington DC, though as his wife is expecting soon he might be otherwise engaged on Tuesdays in the coming weeks.  As it happened, it "turned out nice again" and we had nary a drop of rain, though the wind threatened to blow us off our feet at times as we approached the woods, wherein it was much calmer.  

Once again we formed a chain gang and ferried stone to the lower reaches of the wood.  Some of the Wolseley lot complained in jocular fashion that they never normally lift anything heavier than a mouse, so they must have been aching all over by the time they got home.  "Anyone for the early bath?" as Eddie Waring might not have said.  Paul was active with the mechanised barrow, making sure that there was plenty of stone and that nobody had a chance to relax.  He did however let some of us off whilst he gave the Hackfall conducted tour.  All in all, a very productive day.  Many thanks to our friends from Wolseley.

Will

The Wolseley Team's perspective

Heavy overnight rain, strong winds and a couple of unfortunate last minute dropouts did not diminish our enthusiasm as we congregated at the office. “Be reet” we reassured each other, and with that we set off on the 20 minute drive from Ripon to Hackfall Wood. Meeting us there was Paul Mosley, Nidderdale AONB Volunteer Coordinator, who would be putting us to work maintaining some of the many paths that wind their way through Hackfall Wood.

As we donned wellies and waterproofs in the car park, Paul explained some of the history of the site and what our tasks for the day would entail. Pushing wheelbarrows and clutching spades we descended from the exposed car park on the top of the hill down into the wood below. Mercifully the valley and the trees provided us with perfect shelter from the bracing wind. We set up camp at Kent’s Seat next to Alum Spring, a small clearing cut by Grewelthorpe Beck which via a serious of waterfalls carves its way down to the River Ure. 

After the obligatory health and safety we started work shovelling gravel into buckets, transporting it down a steep muddy path, and then laying it to create a far more solid surface to walk on. After an hour we took a well earned break, sharing flapjack, brownies and biscuits. Refuelled and revitalised we got back to work and by lunchtime had all but worked our way from halfway to the River Ure back up to Alum Spring.

Having polished off our lunch in double quick time we were treated to a guided tour of the rest of Hackfall by Paul. Fisher’s Hall, the Fountain Pond, the ruin at Mowbray Point, each view more spectacular than the last. Our sightseeing complete and photos taken we got back to work.

In the afternoon there was time for digging out sand for use on the paths from the beck at Alum Spring, then more gravel laying. As they day wore on our physical exertions slowly caught up with us and the pace slowed. It was most satisfying to see tangible results at the end of a day of hard day’s labour,  however our aching limbs weren’t quite so thrilled, and were ready for home. We packed up and trekked back to the cars. Some members of the group found the energy for a spot of wheelbarrow racing en route, quite how I am not sure! One thing I do know is that we all will have slept well that night.

Ian (Wolseley Team Member)

Heritage Training - Farm buildings of Nidderdale: 16-10-2012

Today was one of our monthly training sessions. A time of clean clothes and comfy chairs, rather than muddy trousers and tools; a morning of intellectual, rather than physical, challenge. Six of us were able to attend this session that was given by Sally Childes (the AONB Heritage Officer). 

It was a really interesting input which gave us an introduction to the various types of barns that are commonly seen in Nidderdale. Sally outlined their features - the different roofs, the types of stonework, the various parts of combination barns etc. One type of building that none of us had heard of before was the 'hennery piggery' - a small barn where the pigs were kept downstairs and the hens upstairs. Apparently the warmth generated by the pigs encouraged the hens to lay their eggs. Perhaps this is an adjustment we should all consider for our own houses in these times of rising fuel prices!

It was a session that opened our eyes to things that we had passed many times but never really thought about, or had noticed but never followed up. Even better - it has opened up the possibility of some additional voluntary work via joining in with the 'Traditional Farm Buildings Survey Project'. Sally is also going to organise a spring-time field trip for us to see some of the interesting barns in the area.

Thanks to Sally for this session! 

If anyone is interested in reading about the farm buildings of Nidderdale then you can download the document we were given by clicking here.

Ros (E)

Hackfall Woods revisited: 9-10-2012

Editor's note: Today's task was the culmination of work carried out by no fewer than four volunteer groups. The sand and hardcore mentioned involved 2 days of track barrowing of material down steep paths a couple of weeks before by the Hackfall volunteer group. The Open Country volunteers previously played a part in helping to gather sand from Alum Spring.  

The NCVs' perspective:

What a stunning autumn day it was when 7 NCVs, Paul our leader and 12 willing volunteers from Wolseley UK- one of the AONB’s “Firm Friends”- met in the car park at Hackfall Woods in preparation for a combined task of the day. Doug Adamson welcomed the willing workers on board, then we gathered a barrowful of tools, buckets and spades (no, not the beach variety unfortunately!), and set off along the track to  Alum Spring, savouring the beautiful clear views before dropping down into the equally lovely wood.

We introduced ourselves one by one, together with announcing our favourite woodland animal. Oh how we wished later that we could have had that elephant that Sunil admired so much, to take the strain of the loads we had to carry up the hill, but at the time we did not know what lay in store…..!

Our task was to continue with the path upgrade that was started some weeks before. This entailed filling large plastic buckets with hardcore initially, later on with sand. 

The path in question was the other side of a small waterfall, which was crossed by teetering over large but stable boulders, then uphill along a pretty woodland trail. Wolseley UK and the NCVs quickly made themselves into a human chain, 3 gallant “Wolseleys” stood in the waterfall to get the buckets across the water, then the heavy buckets were passed up, up ,up, to the waiting wheelbarrow. 

The hardcore and sand were transferred from the buckets and wheeled- with enormous strength and muscle power!- up the final yards, where it was spread out by waiting NCVs who were to level the new surface, as well as constructing the wooden barriers along the path edge to prevent the precious materials from tumbling down into the steep wood again. A game of Chinese Whispers was introduced: “less in the buckets”, "no more hardcore”, "only sand now” were some of the messages that were relayed down the human chain. Surprisingly few messages were misinterpreted!!

The day was a fantastic effort of hard work, fun, friendship and teamwork. Our most grateful thanks go to the person who supplied the delicious “cake treats” at coffee break. They were very much appreciated; we did not realise, (the NCVs), that our cake habits have become so well known in the area!!

Ros K.