Hackfall Woods: 03-12-2018

3200 hours and counting.....

Although December 4th's 'Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day' is not recognised in the UK I think that it should be. There is absolutely no reason why only extraordinary work teams in the USA should be recognised. So this week's blog is going to do just that - recognise the great work that the NCVs do for the environment, on a weekly basis, whatever the weather. They probably don't want to be recognised - instead preferring to hide their light under a nearby bit of encroaching scrub - but it has to be acknowledged that they do work very hard and make a big difference wherever they visit. 

As one of their task leaders I am charged with keeping a log of all the hours they spend on NCV duties. This year they have clocked up no fewer than 3260 with one more task day to go until the end of 2018. Amazing! And that doesn't include all the hours they have spent travelling to and from the task venues. So - hats off to the NCVs!!

Now - back to business. 

This week the NCVs were in Hackfall Woods for their last visit of the year doing a number of jobs. So - let's see how they got on:

Work started as soon as we arrived. A generous dog owner had 
kindly left us a dog poo bag to collect on their behalf - 
bang in the middle of the car park!

A team of 5 were dispatched with a variety of tools 
to clear the cascades of leaves, twigs and logs.

 

Dave and Paul raked the rocks and pulled the debris to the side.


David used his spade to help clear under 
this fallen log that had blocked the flow.

 Osian used the tool-less option and 
kicked debris free with his size 10s..

Ros E. preferred the latest in debris clearing technology - 
lightweight, cheap and excellent for scraping out the most clogged of places.
 A stick. Every stream clearer should have one.

At one point Osian drank the contents of a tiny bottle he found, 
shrank to a tenth of his size and promptly disappeared down a 
rabbit hole shouting that he was late for some tea party or other.

Meanwhile a team of three were doing a grand job clearing
 the autumn leaves from the culverts.

The remaining 5 set off with a roving brief, trouble shooting 
wherever something needed removing.

Some of the wood that needed removing was 
simply too big for a pair of loppers.

At least this particular vista needed no clearing. 

 Interesting things were seen throughout the day.
Can you spot the robin?

The low temperatures over night gave the dead leaves a crispy feel.

There was lots of candle snuff fungus everywhere.

A new species of snake was spotted on the woodland floor.
Vipera stickus 

One group met an artist doing some sketching. 
She was happy for us to put pictures of her lovely work on the blog.