Tuesday 16 December 2014

The Christmas Walk

This week was the NCVs' Christmas walk, with 18 of us meeting at Pateley Bridge show ground before heading up the hill to the Cockhill mines area. 5 others met us at the Toft Gate Barn for lunch. The photos below tell the story. 

Many thanks to Graham for organising the day's outing, to the Nidderdale AONB office for funding the lunch and to the Toft Gate Barn staff for laying on a wonderful repast in their lovely cafe.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our blog followers!

Ros E.
The gang line up, ready for the off.

Some of the hats were a bit out of the ordinary.

The views were great in all directions.....




A variety of waterways had to be crossed - 



- some wider than others.

A number of gates and stiles caused occasional bottlenecks.



Julia wished she hadn't eaten that 
extra mince pie at lunch time.

The mining area at Ashfold Beck provided a 
handy seating area for morning coffee.

Onward and upward to our lunch venue near Greenhow, 
past a van whose sat nav had let the driver down.

 Nearly there.


Hurray! Here it is!

Everyone was glad of a sit down in a warm room....



And then it was time to get going on the downhill stretch.
Terry decided to use his antennae to help him navigate back to Pateley Bridge.

Some interesting things were seen along the way....

... exceptionally large fungus, 

.... old mining buildings .....

.... and a rather cute donkey.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

The end is in sight at Fishpond Wood: 09-12-2014

In spite of the poor forecast 11 NCVs turned out today to join Paul and the 4 Heritage Skills students and tutor for the final visit to Fishpond Wood for 2014. The weather stayed reasonably dry but you needed to keep working in order to stop your fingers dropping off with the cold. 

One group worked down by the lake, getting rid of the final lot of waterside rhodies. Another group worked up on the hillside, near the ice house doing..... yes that's right - rhodie removal. The photos below fill in the detail. Apologies for fuzziness of some - hours of de-rhododendronisation takes its toll on ones ability to hold a camera steady. It will be a relief to have a few weeks away from this particular type of task!

Ros E.
 Hillside rhodies were above and below us.

Quickly the team got going, cutting and brash piling 
(we're really expert at this particular skill now!)

Paul on the chain saw, accompanied by Colin on the bow saw, 
meant that peace and quiet was thin on the ground at times.

 And then - amazingly - the rhodies were gone!

Well at least they have been moved to other places!

Meanwhile - down by the lake......
Osian donned some waders and carefully ventured out 
into the water, breaking the ice en route. 

Deeper and deeper he went....

....pulling up the soggy rhodies from the smelly mud....

 ....and passing them to Terry on the nearby bank.

The girls got busy shifting a brash pile from the edge of the pond 
and by close of play the lake looked great!

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Guess where? Fishpond Wood!: 02-12-14

Beautiful weather tempted eight NCVs, three heritage skills students and their two tutors out for yet another day of battling with the rhododendrons of Fishpond Wood.

Anita reported that:

"Ed, Tom and Carl (students) worked like Trojans, cutting back at the top of the bank near the ice house, with a band of brash pile builders struggling to keep up with them.  Paul was busy with the chain saw down at the pond, with Graham and Terry pulling huge branches out of the water.  Graham was close to going in on occasions, but not quite!  Some really neat brash piles were built.  There is a bit more tidying up to do next week, but the pond is looking good."

Here are some more photos to log the progress made....

 The rhodies at the top of the bank loomed large....

 .....but that didn't deter the team. 
No need for a chain saw with us on the job!

Slowly but surely the woodland floor was revealed.

Meanwhile, down at the pond....

Paul checked out where his chain saw would be needed. 
Some stems are just too thick for an NCV's bow saw.

 Phil and Julia heaped up the cut stems to the side of the path.

Was Terry being health and safety conscious 
or just taking time out to do a bit of angling?

Graham, the bold, balanced on the make-shift bridge 
in order to reach those tantalisingly close rhodies.

Osian took time out to demonstrate the splits.

The real shape of the lake is now visible. The weeks of hard work are paying off.
Quick - get the digger in to remove the silt, before the rhodies start to grow back!!