This week the blog entry is an amalgamation of two different contributions - one from James and one from Tony. I have added the answers to last week's picture competition at the end of the blog.
This was a military day. Ellington
Banks is MOD territory, out of bounds to non military personnel. Our CO was John Black, MOD Ecologist,
with James as 2nd in command. Three students, cadets, were on
parade with their 2 NCOs, and the rank and file NCVs acted as the
PBI. It was interesting to note that the two volunteer organisers
(Sergeant Majors?) had gone AWOL. Did they know in advance that
military exercises would be taking place around us?
The troops gather to listen to their orders...
...including the cadets.
John led us to the work area, fenced
off as protection for wildlife. It is an area of magnesian limestone
grassland with spreading birch, alder and willow scrub. These young trees are rapidly taking
over the area available for the more unusual grassland flora of the
site, and making the area less attractive to birds such as woodlark, a species that has previously nested here and a rare find so far north. 600 different moths have been recorded on the Ellington Banks site, including one found nowhere else in Britain.
Our work involved clearing
scrub from this former forested area and burning it. This will be
beneficial to plant and animal life and if woodlarks return John has
promised to tell James so that we can all share in the good news.
The NCVs take out the enemy.
A nice clear area showed an undulating surface (see below)
What had formed this distinctive
grooved landscape – was it a glacial feature scoured by expanding
ice sheets? The tracks of tanks churning the area in bygone years?
John explained that, in fact, they were the furrows made in
anticipation of planting the area with conifers. The planting never
happened, the grassland remained, now interspersed with attractive
wetland refuges.
As if scrub clearance wasn’t exciting
enough, a live military training exercise going on around us while we
worked added a certain frisson to the occasion – especially for
certain members of the group! For others, the sight of grown men
dressed as bushes made less impact than the drone of helicopters and
sound of random explosions.
True to form, Graham took charge of
establishing the fire. After much muttering regarding the poor
quality of AONB supplied matches, and turning down suggestions that
he borrow from our neighbours, he eventually had more success with a
lighter and maintained his mythical fire-lighting reputation. The heat generated was
intense enough to singe his eyebrows and eyelashes.
Graham stands guard over his hard won fire.
The troops at rest, enjoying the sun and their daily rations.
By my reckoning there were 21 of us and
by the end of the day we had cleared a remarkable amount of scrub, on
a day that was sunny throughout. Fantastic. And we had
Audrey’s flapjacks, which Jan polished off to the last crumb - at
great personal inconvenience.
Well done Jan - Audrey won't have to wash that tin.
Tony and James
Answers to last week's Wath Mill artifacts picture competition:
Item one was a holder for the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trusts' waders - so Tony wasn't a million miles away with his suggestion that it was a boot jack for a millipede!
Item two was one of the feet off the old cast iron bath that was stored at the mill.
We shall have to roll over the prize for a future week. (By which time I might have found a prize to offer!!)
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