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