IT'S 2018 -
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
As the New Year started so those NCVs who were not feeling the worse for wear after the over-indulgences of the Christmas festivities set out for a day's work at Hackfall Woods.
NCV Tony reported......
David got busy with a shovel....
...and did a superb job of clearing some steps.
Vista? What vista?
Well - this lot will have to go for a start.
James - a bit soggy but happy in his work.
Phil put his bow saw to good use.
Coffee time on a wet bench.
The seldom seen dropping well.
For me, the star attraction of the morning happened in the car park before the rest turned up - two willow tits near the car. I hardly ever see them. The temp was about 3 degrees, though it got slightly warmer but rained steadily. Looking down from the top of the wood to the fountain pond we could see the snow still lying in some places.
After the initial New Year greetings James told us that this was primarily a reconnaissance event to identify what work would need to be done with a bigger gang on the next few visits. We set off downhill carrying spades, loppers and bow saws to do some initial work - cutting back invasive holly, clearing gullies and digging mud off the steps.
We followed well known paths stopping for coffee near the Alum pond, then for lunch at Fisher Hall, but in the early afternoon visited an area of the wood that was new to some of us, including a visit to a dropping well.
The water features were full and running well,
thanks to work that we'd done previously.
There is a lot of clearing work to do to free up the vistas and some of that will need abseiling skills with ropes.Some of the paths are turning to swamps after all the rain and will need new gullies.
By early afternoon we had all had enough and struggled back uphill to the car park, wet, covered in mud and tired - but feeling all the better for the fresh air and exercise!.
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