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.
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