Hackfall Wood: 28-08-2018

"REJOICE!"

"Thou shalt carry out  'Landscape Maintenance Jobs' in Hackfall Wood -

Not Himalayan Balsam pulling. (Unless you see a bit that needs removing.)"

Thus spake the 'powers that be' unto the NCVs and the NCVs were overcome with gratitude.

Yes - this week was the start of the rest of the year for the NCVs. They willingly volunteered for the chance to use mattocks and spades; litter pickers and bracken bashing sticks; loppers and saws. Their faces were radiant as they bustled forth to do what was necessary at Hackfall Wood. All kinds of tasks required their attention - as you can see from the photos below......

This week a VAN was needed. For TOOLS!

Sally kept David in order with her bracken basher
whilst they cleared the edge of the top path.

Bio-security alert!!
The Rosebay willowherb amongst the bracken was shedding its seed all over us.

Likewise the burdock.

And then came the ladies who lop for a living.
Overhanging brambles were soon taken care of.

Further along towards the Ruin a brave team of two 
were tackling the saplings that were spoiling 
the view down Lovers' leap.

That's better - you can see all the way down to the pond and fountain now.
Well done Paul and Ken.

Osian, Andy and Alistair set off with spades 
and mattocks to clear culverts like this one.
(They ended up doing a lot of other jobs besides.)

Once they'd finished, the gullies were 
ready for the autumn rains.

Synchronised gully clearing - the latest Olympic sport.

Balsam was spotted here and there (unfortunately in places where it has not been seen before). However - the NCVs cleared it with a good heart. 
We do NOT want it getting a hold in the centre of the wood!!!

Each team had their coffee time in different parts of the wood 
and enjoyed a piece of Audrey's Flapjack with their beverages.
(Thanks again Audrey!)

The culvert clearers had a lovely view of the Alum Spring at coffee time.

But what were Ros E and Sally looking at?

Oh dear - an obscured view. 
No sign of Mowbray Caslte from their viewing bench. 
We'll need ropes to get rid of the encroaching holly.

Everyone met up at the pond for lunch....

...and one of the delicious buns that 4 year old Oscar had made with his Gran.
(Thanks Oscar - you would have definitely won the Great British Bake Off with these buns!)

It was good to see the fountain back in working order.

Let's just have a team photo before resuming work shall we? 

Boots and tools were cleaned off before leaving the site.
What with balsam seeds and ash die-back in the wood 
we want to ensure we don't spread it around.

Dallow Gill and Gouthwaite Reservoir: 21-08-2018

OH NO - NOT MORE BALSAM PULLING!!!

😩

So went the thoughts of all the NCVs as they eagerly opened the weekly email from Liz, hoping that the task this week would involve something new and exciting - like laying gravel or erecting fences. They were soon to be disappointed. Balsam. Again.

However - the good news was that it would be likely to be the final time this year, as it is getting to a point where the plants are seeding and to continue would be like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

This week we were working in the catchment of the River Laver at Greygarth, Dallow Gill, removing the balsam that has invaded an area around some wild life ponds. A worthy cause indeed.

To try to make things more interesting we tried a little experiment. Instead of pulling the balsam up, we simply slashed it down, like bracken. With it being an annual plant,  as long as we stop it setting seed then this will reduce the amount sprouting up next year. It is unlikely to grow up from its roots now to a sufficient height to seed before the plants start to die back. Apparently this technique has been used to good effect elsewhere by other volunteer groups.

Well - we gave it a go anyway. It was a much speedier method to use so appealed to the NCVs!

It was the pond on the left that needed attention.

It didn't look too bad - not much sign of pink flowers.

 

 So, slashing equipment in hand, the NCVs 

set off to inspect the task ahead at closer quarters.

On arrival their hearts sank.

There were swathes of pink flowers all around the pond.

Undaunted, David raised his slasher and began slashing.

A fine forward stroke took the balsam on the back foot.

Everyone joined in the fun...

...and soon the area looked like a balsam A&E centre.

Now - we know that this will not eradicate the problem, but as the balsam was already seeding the best we could do was to stop as many of the remaining flower heads as we could from setting seed.

By coffee time the bottom end of the pond was dealt with.

During coffee everyone had a smile on their face as:

(1) we were progressing nicely and....

...(2) Hilary had brought a tin of blackberry and coconut cake - 

made that morning and tasting divine (thanks Hilary!)

After coffee it was back to the wall of HB 

at the top end of the pond.

Here and there were clumps of look alike Greater willowherb.

This meant you had to stop slashing and start pulling.

Ros E. slashed the final balsam stem and that was it.....

.....12:10pm and the task was complete.

Wow! Incredible. From now on we need to consider 

slashing down HB rather than pulling it up.

It certainly gets the job done in double quick time. 

The Incredible Slashers pose for a photo shoot.

Then it was time for a quick Morris dance....

...before some serious biosecurity measures.

As the exploding balsam pods had sent seeds into hair, 

boots and even underwear, Osian thought he might 

rinse out his smalls in the trug to ensure he wasn't 

responsible for the further spread of the seeds.

For a third time recently a little elite team went elsewhere to insert a post. This time it was to hold a video camera in front of the sand martin wall at Gouthwaite reservoir. The camera will allow interested parties to monitor the use of the wall.

There was I, 
Digging a hole,....

.... A hole in the ground, 
Big and sort of round it was.

Deep enough Tony?

Yes - just right.
All we need now is the camera.
Oh - and some sand martins.

River Nidd near Lofthouse and Greenhow: 14-08-2018

This week's NCV task day felt more like 'Groundhog Day'. We were doing exactly the same tasks as last week! The only thing that changed was the venue for the sign post installers - this time up at Greenhow rather than at Low Riggs farm.

So - the blog need only be short - unlike the balsam plants that the NCVs continued to uproot from along the dry bed of the River Nidd, near Goydon Pot, and from the hillside just above. As has been noted before - there is only so much one can write about the ins and outs of balsam pulling and it's probably all been written before. Shall we just let the photos tell the story? 

Up at Greenhow the finer points of post installation were debated 
by the lucky few who were chosen to do this job. 

What do you think lads? 
Is this thing going to remain upright?

This time the signs were about the UNLP wading birds 
project, rather than hay meadows..

The job was completed before lunchtime, at which point 

Jan decided to skive off and enjoy coffee and cake at the Toftgate cafe.

Bonus points were awarded to Tony and Andy who resisted the 

temptation and, instead, went updale to join the balsam pullers.

The recent rain seemed to have encouraged further 

growth of the remaining balsam.

However, the area around this telegraph pole, deep in HB....

 ...was targeted from the start....

...and was an HB free zone by coffee time.

Coffee and flapjack revived the flagging team 
and off they went again.

It was at this point that the two reinforcements arrived from Greenhow.
A very welcome sight!

Anita finished the morning session with a flamboyant fling
 before setting off down the path for her lunch....

...where she was joined by a little dinner guest.

.Although there was still HB on the hillside we felt ready 
for a change and so moved down into the, currently, 
dry bed of the River Nidd.

There was a little bit of water here and there 
but the rest had gone down a swallow hole..

Although some specimens down here were 
tiny, others were multi-stemmed giants..

Some HB was very difficult to reach.

But we did our best to climb up...

...and climb back down again  to get to all the stems.
However - there was NO WAY we were going to be able to pull it all up.
By 3pm we admitted defeat and withdrew from the battle.