Fishpond Wood, Azerley and Dacre Banks: 08-03-2016

This week was a day when group loyalties were split. We'd been offered a two day hedge laying course at Azerley OR a day in Fishpond Wood OR EVEN a day at Dacre Banks nature park, helping the Open Country team with some more tree planting. Which to choose????

Osian was leading the task in Fishpond and reported as follows ....

Seven NCVs, three Heritage skills students and their tutors made their merry way to Fishpond Wood on a grey morning to continue the wheelchair path construction to the ice house.

With limited manpower resources, the NCV's famous patented wheelbarrow relay team got into full stride, unleashing their six barrow variant to devastating effect, until some rogue elements brought momentary disorder to order. 

And they're off!

Shovellers shovelled, woodland wheelbarrow elves (or were they oompa-loompas?) barrowed and budding social anthropologists raked and compacted the sand to form the path, while discussing the finer points of the male vs. female order in the context of hunter-gatherers.

Sally and Will head up at the barrow filling end of the line. 

Vanessa looks decidedly unimpressed 

at Josh's ability to lean on a tamper.

Upside down wheelbarrows were fashioned into impromptu seats for lunch with one occupier struggling to exit his throne due to the lunch he had eaten (that was his impressively quick excuse!)

 

Throne with new and improved wider legs for 

the comfort of a lunchtime grazer....

 ...as demonstrated by Graham.

By 3pm, four dumpy bags of sand had been exhausted as had the remaining NCVs. A tantalising 15 yards of path remains to be finished on another day.

The road stops here. 

For the time being.

Osian

I opted for the hedge laying training along with 5 other NCVs. 
This was run by Jasper Prachek - an expert in the field (literally!!) The first day was a day of good weather. On Wednesday it rained all day and turned the working area into a site resembling the Somme during WW1. In spite of this (and near frostbite in our fingers) the job was finished and we learned a good deal The photos tell the tale  .....

Day 1 - at the work base the group listen carefully 

to the health and safety talk - particularly important today.

 

Off we went to the work area - a lovely spot in the sun.and were shown the kind of laid hedge to aspire to. 
Can we do this? YES WE CAN!!

Next, after instruction from Jasper...

...we began to remove plants that were not wanted 

(e.g. rose and field maple), leaving as 
much of the thorny, bushy parts on as possible.

Now the pleaching could be started.
Apparently the correct terminology differs region to region.
Let's say that the pleacher (stem) was plashed (prepared ready to lay) 
aiming for a nice clean strap (the bare wood) with a cleft right into the ground.

Once pleached the stems were laid down.
A hedge of a million pleachers begins with but a single pleach. 
And here it is.

Jasper had to lend a hand (and a chain saw) from
 time to time with some of the bigger trees.

Posts were used to help weave the 

stems into a sturdy barrier making it stock-proof 
and a rail was added to the top of these.
(Kevin the gamekeeper explained that the hedge is for the bird life 
rather than for stock control as the fence will be kept on both sides.)

Lunch facilities and transport to the work area were very swish.
 All mod cons with the latest IKEA faux straw bail furnishings.
Additional (rather smelly muddy) passengers joined 
us en route back to base (and the dogs came too!!).

A tractor helped shift the brash on day 1 
(something we had to do ourselves on day 2 as the area became a quagmire).

Kevin the game keeper and his mate 
enjoy a warm drink on day 2.

Tom and Jan were the first to finish their allotted stretch. 
And very nice it looks gents!

In fact - once everyone had done the whole thing 
looked impressive. Could we do it? YES WE COULD!!

Day 1 was rounded off with a tool sharpening lesson. 
Please note - you should NOT have a definite shoulder on your blade. 
It needs to be convex and smooth all the way to the tip.

Some of us made use of the al fresco bathing facilities 
to clean off the mud on day 2.

Back at home my certificate was 
proudly displayed on the fridge. 

Ros E.

Meanwhile, at Dacre Banks nature park Anita was busy recording the work of four NCVs and the Open country folk in photos and captions.... 

Gwen and Ros K. lay out the tubes in preparation.

Good organisation helps the job along.

Trees? It would be more appropriate to plant rice 
in this paddy field.

 

Gwen's yummy cake keeps everyone happy. (Thanks Gwen).

Ros K. gives herself a mud-pack to keep herself youthful.
The benefits of volunteer work are never ending!

Michael got busy with his big boys' toy to 
help alleviate the flooding.

By close of play another 400 trees had been planted. 
Only another 1000 to go by the end of the month - we're getting there!