Ellington Banks: 31-01-2017

Ellington Banks? No – not a jazz pianist or crime writer. It was the venue for this week's task. Regular readers of this blog will know that it is exactly one year since we were last at this SINC site (Site of Importance for Nature Conservation) and MOD training area, near Ripon. 

18 NCVs reported for duty, in spite of the cold, dank, foggy weather, to be supervised by MOD ecologist John Black during another day of clearing and burning scrub from wildlife rich calcareous grassland and ponds. 

Lots of cars arrive - aren't we a keen bunch?

Whilst waiting for our instructions some of us 

kept warm by doing some calisthenics.

Click here to watch the video.

For those who don't already know - the ponds are home to great crested newts and need to be kept open to the sun to ensure a suitable habitat for these rare creatures. Apparently the underlying rock is magnesium limestone - something that is only found in Britain and Poland. Information about the wildlife value of this can be found HERE.

Greater Crested Newt (photo from the internet - not actually seen today!)

Can you guess who was on fire duty this time?.......

Yes - you've got it. Terry took control of the firelighters 

and matches and soon had a good blaze going.

In fact it became a real inferno in the end.

Everyone else worked hard with loppers and saws to remove the scrub. As we were working we had to be on the look out for bushes that suddenly grew legs and walked away. (No - not a new, bipedal species of vegetation, just a trainee soldier carrying out a military training exercise. It would never do to lop off a soldier at the ankle.)

Here's some pictures of the progress made:

 At first we were snipping off little skinny saplings 

that had grown up from previously coppiced stumps.

Nick gives this bush a short back and sides. 

 The saplings were then bundled up and carried over the the fire.

Terry was quickly surrounded by an 
ever growing wall of brash.

Others had to then lend a hand to add fuel to the fire.

Coffee time for some (early lunch time for Avril!!)

 Skinny stuff removed we then got to work on 
the heftier trees further up the slope.

 Now the shifting wasn't quite so easy...

...lots of dragging was the order of the day.

Harry learned how to fell a tree properly.

This patch here ....

...provided lots of sawing duty...

... and eventually all but disappeared

Over here there was rumoured to be a pond. 
I can't really see it myself.

Oh - I can now. 

Well done folks. We can carry on revealing 
this when we come back at the end of February.

Both getting into the work area and 
getting out we had to negotiate a tricky fence.

Ros E.