Today was a cold clear day as 16 hardy volunteers met at Old Spring Wood above Summerbridge. This is an oak woodland with an understorey of holly – which in places was overgrowing the rights of way through the wood. Our task was to coppice some of the holly trees and cut back overhanging branches from other bushes. There were also dead or fallen trees to cut up and remove from the paths.
Three groups armed with saws and loppers snipped away at twigs and branches and cleared the brash into neat piles. A few berries had survived the attention of the birds so far but robins were taking a keen interest in our efforts.
I think that there is a gate somewhere under this holly.
Oh yes - there it is!
Need a conifer shifting? No problem!
A tree trunk across the footpath
needs attention at both ends.....
....and then it was gone!
Now this one is going to take more effort:
so many branches and all of them so long.
We were fortunate that the owner had offered the use of her conservatory for our lunch break – a welcome place to thaw out numb fingers. Audrey’s flapjack was enthusiastically received.
A luxury lunch venue today...
...although some had to sit on the floor
After lunch the work continued and moved on to lower parts of the wood. By now it was sunny and there was a lovely view of snowy hillsides across the valley.
Over the boundary wall.
In one area several hollies were coppiced to the ground and a low brash hedge created to mark the line of the path.
This one of any use?
Neat and tidy brash piling of holly
doubles up as a pathway wall.
When Andrea took a fall in the slippery muddy ground one volunteer fresh from last week’s First Aid course called for the kit to get some real practice, but our Boss, ever keen for a good story, fetched the camera instead.
Andi decides to take a post
lunch lie down on the job.
Three NCVs even managed to fix a hole in the wall.
What a talented lot we are.
We tidied up more path areas and cleared up a few old tree tubes as well as trimming and coppicing. Job done we finished a bit early.
Ruth
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