Greygarth: 30-07-2019

BEAT THE CLOCK!!!

This week the NCVs were starting a race against time. In many parts of Nidderdale the dreaded balsam is fast approaching the time when it sets seed and the pods start to ripen and burst. Luckily for them a large group of army cadets were out to help at the top of the dale - so that was the uppermost affected reaches of the River Nidd catered for. Phew - thanks lads and lasses!

This gave the NCVs the chance to re-visit last week's task area at Greygarth, Dallowgill to try to eradicate the balsam that remained standing. This would assist with the upper reaches of the River Laver. (It's important to try and work from the top of the river down.) Luckily any pods that had already formed were not yet quite ready to burst.

Just on the cusp...

Here are a few pics from the day. You will probably feel a sense of déjà vu when you look at them. There are only a certain number of things that happen on a balsam day (unless something very out of the ordinary comes along....)

All round the pond there were stands

 of the pink stuff just asking for trouble.

Now then, thinks Andy, what's the best way to deal with this?

Why - slashing of course. 

Mind you - we'll have to be quick. There are thunderstorms due at lunchtime and being caught holding a slasher on an open hillside would not be wise!

Around the edge of the pond a weird conservation panto 

was enacted to ensure safety.

Either that or someone of a vintage age was delving into a gentleman's trousers.

Sally set off, determinedly, through the elbow high rushes in order 

to reach a couple of bits of balsam that were growing on the far side of the pond. 

She likes to do things thoroughly.

As the morning wore on the slashing action started to slow down.

Time for coffee!

And cake - thanks to Alwin!

Ahhhh. That's more like it.

Everyone was feeling rather warm and clammy.

This NCV was wearing a boiler suit over his clothes and it was clearly doing a good job, as evidenced by this very damp tea shirt that was revealed when he peeled it off.

 All of a sudden everyone joined in the peeling process.

Over-trousers just had to go.

And then it was back to the grindstone.

Andrew wondered about taking this specimen home for his Christmas tree.

As Tony got deeper into the vegetation he had to turn back, 

reporting that he was 'up to his oxters in water'.

This sounded livestock related but it turns out it means up to your armpits.

Tom The Divine demonstrated his ability to walk on water 

as he used rush rafts to reach the balsam.

No worries about him getting his oxters damp!

(If you look closely you can see the open water at the bottom of the picture.)

Like Sally, Osian went the extra mile to do a thorough job. 

He ventured into the next field to nab the outliers.

This teeny tiny frog was spotted by an eagle eyed NCV who had to get 

so close to photograph it that he could almost hear its heartbeat.

And then - all of a sudden - the job was complete.

By 12 noon.

The only pink left was on these thistles.

Mind you - there remained an under-story of very short balsam plants.

Let's hope they don't come to fruition before the end of the season.

We couldn't stay to even attempt to remove the mini-plants 

as thunder was starting to rumble during our lunch break. 

Luckily we all managed to get on our way home before 

the heavens opened and enormous hailstones rained down.

These were seen at Kirkby Malzeard - not far from Dallowgill.

Two other NCVs were working hard this week - peening the scythe blades and assembling them ready for use in a couple of weeks time.

(PS Peening means to hammer out the irregularities that gradually appear in the blades.)

And what did they use to peen those scythes?

Why, a bespoke peening block, expertly made by tool meister Jan.

Ellington Banks and Greygarth: 23-07-2019

PART TIME WORKERS!

The bad news this week was that we were balsam pulling again. Booo!

The good news was that we only had to do it for half a day. Hurray!!

The even better news was that the long awaited moths, orchids and posh picnic morning was back on. Double hurray!!!

Yes indeed - before heading off to Greygarth ponds to get rid of the balsam we were able to look at all the interesting moths that expert Charlie Fletcher had trapped overnight at  the MOD's Ellington Banks SSSI site. We also went on to the magnesian grassland to see the wild flowers that were flourishing after our scrub clearance efforts there earlier in the season. A lovely way to spend a beautiful morning.

Pity about the balsam!

So here is the photo record of the day.....

We arrived to find 5 of these mystery parcels all wrapped up in sheets.

Charlie 'Moth Man' Fletcher carefully unveiled each parcel one by one.....

...to reveal.....egg crates!
Egg crates? I thought we were coming to see moths.

Ahh. There they are. All nice and snug.
Of course once they were out of the traps they started to come to life.
Charlie had to be as quick as can be to identify and count them before they fluttered away.

Pretty soon the air was full of the most beautiful flying creatures.
Many of them landed on us!
Anita was going to struggle to drive home if this one didn't shift.

Is that a tattoo you've had done Andrew? It's very life like.
Yes - that's because it's alive!

Everyone was soon jostling to take close up photos with their phones.
Apart from Tony who made do with this cheap little Box Brownie camera
 he bought from Woolies in the 1960s.

I spy with my beady eyes....

...a LOT of lovely moths.
Here are four beauties....

Buff tip - it lives around birch trees and looks just like a birch twig!

Leopard Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth.

This poor chap is unable to eat.

Emptied of egg boxes each trap was then carefully examined to make sure no moths were overlooked (quite a hard job with some of the tiny weeny micro-moths).

As Charlie shouted out each of the different species, assistant Jill expertly recorded each one. Eventually there were 200 species logged - probably about 1500 individual moths. An excellent haul, thanks to the perfect trapping conditions during the previous night.

Once the moth traps were empty the NCVs toddled off for a little look at the magnesian  limestone grassland. There were all kinds of flowers to see...

...as well as some more interesting creatures such as this 
male Silver-washed Fritillary butterfly and grasshopper.

Everyone enjoyed this sunny session in a tranquil setting.
Hard to believe it is a military training ground!!

This nice old oak tree offered a welcome refuge from the baking sun for our picnic.
Thanks to Liz for organising this - and to the 'Just Delicious' Coffee shop in Pateley Bridge for supplying such an excellent spread of goodies.

And then things changed somewhat.
A brave band of 7 accompanied Liz to Greygarth to have a go at some balsam pulling.
As with last year - it didn't look too bad from up here.

But, close up, it was a different story.
Lots of the pink stuff - luckily not yet seeding.

 All over the area there were sun hats to be seen doing their best to battle against the heat, the reeds, the nettles, the boggy conditions in order to gain some control of the situation.

Everyone worked for over an hour in the sweltering sunshine,
 blissfully unaware of the results of the election of the new prime-minister.

By the time we packed in there were many patches much improved - 
but many more still to do. ☹️

Old Spring Wood: 16-07-2019

Sticks at the ready chaps!

Any of the above sticks would have been less than helpful for the NCVs' task this week. What was needed was something long, strong and light enough to hold in a bashing position. 

Something more like this...

As you may have already guessed - the task involved the use of said sticks to bash the bracken growing in remaining section of Old Spring Wood not covered during our first visit there some weeks ago. There was an incentive for NCVs to turn out for duty this week as woodland owner Rosemary was laying on a special bracken bashers' lunch. Who could resist?

And here they are at work....

Halfway down the hillside, over by the boundary wall, 
lay a nice juicy patch of bracken just waiting to be swiped.

Everyone wound each other's clockwork mechanism up and off they set.

NCV Vikki seemed to enjoy her first experience of BB.
Mind you this picture was taken at the start of the proceedings.

Looking back across a completed patch was a bit disheartening 
as things did not appear much different.
However - they were!

 Alistair made sure no pieces were left under the tree branches.

 Some NCVs likened their stick swing to that of Roger Federer

One group of NCVs swept around the outside of the area 
and started approaching it from below.
As you can see - the bracken was fairly tall 
but not nearly as tall as it used to be a few years ago.

 Coffee time was an alfresco affair, with Alistair making sure his head didn't fall off. 

Over rigorous bashing can cause neck screws to become loosened.

Ken and Graham stretched out side by side, enjoying the respite.

There were a number of areas of woodland where rocks and fallen branches lay hidden beneath the bracken. Anyone catching one of these obstacles with their stick started vibrating violently as if in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

And then it was lunchtime and the long plod up to Rosemary's began. Everyone here?

No, as it turned out. Ken had taken a wrong turn and was later than everyone else arriving at the dinner table. He turned up assuming that folk would be worried about where he had got to; a search party perhaps. But no - everyone was oblivious to his absence.

All he was met with is "Have you been bashing until now?"

In future we will keep him on a lead.

Once up at Rosemary's, Alistair flopped down in the nearest chair.
Luckily his head was still attached to his neck so eating lunch was not going to be an issue.

Everyone waited in eager anticipation for their feast.

Ken recovered from his extra long trip to the hill top in a nice easy chair.

After a huge spread of burgers, chicken, nut roast, chips and veg

 the fruit pies and custard were brought out. Hurray! Custard!

Three cheers for the chef in her pinny.
Hip Hip .....

 After lunch it was back down into the wood with VERY full stomachs.
Anita trialled the 'walking backwards' technique to see if it was more effective/easier .

Liz tried out the 'fall forward on your horizontal stick and then pull the bracken back over it' technique. This was trialled a couple of years ago, at Guisecliff, to good effect.

Occasionally you had to be a bit careful not to swipe off little gems 
like this Blusher toadstool.

This, however, was easy to see - Ruth ad Ros K. tried it out for size.
A perfect NCV kennel.

Liz had a sneaky post prandial lie down.

And then it was all over. Just one more frond to bash. 

Stan suggested that someone should design a perfect  BB stick.

Carbon fibre: a slightly flattened, aerodynamic shape: centre of gravity 1/3 of the distance from the tip. 

Anita suggested it should be fitted with a 'swingometer' (bashometer?) to check which NCVs have done the most bashing. 

Jan (tool master) - over to you!!