Despite an early morning frost we had glorious sunshine all day at Hackfall. 16 NCVs met Paul at the Hackfall car park and then walked or got a lift to the work site near Hackfall Farm. There were several tasks to be done from path work to scrub, bramble and sapling clearance.
Off we go - what a glorious day!
Spring has definitely sprung - wild garlic and frogspawn are
starting to make an appearance.
Mike spent all day transporting gravel in the track vehicle for path work down near the Alum Spring. Wire mesh was laid on the bridge near the top pond and gravel spread on the steps down to the bridge. Scrub and brambles were cleared alongside the path above the top pond and trees and branches were taken down alongside an electric pylon.
Lots of clearing to do along either side of the top pond - all of it prickly!
Ros K. and Anita gradually beat a way to the bridge, in spite of
the ever present danger of falling into the water and laceration by
bramble and holly.....
.... whilst just above Ros E. and Julia were stacking the armfuls of prickles
that were passed up and cutting back all the encroaching scrub.
Eventually the pond is cleared. Now that looks better!
Meanwhile Chris and Sally get busy clearing the nearby electricity pylon
of undergrowth that threatens to engulf it and cause a power cut.
Meanwhile Graham lay down on the job, stapling wire to the wooden bridge.
Dave volunteers to shift gravel down to the bridge,
and is happy in his work.
Dave and Colin make the steps easier to walk on -
out with the mud and in with the gravel.
The newly surfaced steps and bridge look good whichever way you look at them.
A second bridge was cleared of mud and scrub.
Mike gets ready to race pell mell down the slope with the track barrow -
at the dizzying speed of 1 mph.
Jan and Alistair set the world to rights whilst waiting....and waiting....
and waiting for the track barrow to get back up the hillside.
At long last - the track barrow reaches its destination
(just the first of eight, very long, trips).
So little gravel, yet so much time spent.The lads all stand around
and ponder how best to use this precious load.
What difference a bit of gravel makes to the footpath's surface.
No more slipping and sliding now.
The call for lunch was very welcome and we spent time overlooking our handiwork and the beautiful reflections in the pond. It was hard to return to work again but fortified by Audrey's flapjack we managed to complete our tasks by 3pm and had lovely views across the valley on our way back to the car park. A really enjoyable day.
Back to the car park - tired, but happy that we'd done a good job.
Chris
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