Wood Hill Farm, Clifton & Longside Farm: 03-03-2020

Pateley Pigeon Post 

NEW HEDGE FOR THE SIX DALES WAY!

by A.Hack

It was back to Wood Hill Farm, Clifton this week for most of the NCVs. They had been promised that they were not going to need suede gauntlets and goggles to protect themselves when removing overgrown hawthorn bushes. Apparently all they required was a spade and sufficient energy to plant just over 100 saplings. 

These newly planted trees are to be part of a brand new hedge to mark a section of the course of the Six Dales Way as it snakes through Farmer Myles' land. They were the last of 1200 trees meant to have been planted 3 weeks ago, but Storm Ciara's aftermath meant the task could not go ahead. The majority of the trees were planted by willing volunteers on the Saturday of Storm Dennis (well done those Vols) and these were the remaining ones.

As usual the NCVs were willing to let our photographer capture their work, so here they are, grafting away....

 These two NCVs made a start...

...then these two joined in.

Pretty soon EVERYONE was digging and planting.

In spite of the promise that hedge removal was not on the cards the NCVs got the trees planted so quickly that something else just had to be found to fill in the rest of the day. Cutting down prickly branches reared its ugly head once more. However - the NCVs rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in without any complaints....

Of course - hedge removal requires...

...the construction of a bonfire.

'5, 6, pick up sticks.'

'7, 8 lay them straight'.

As the hedge was removed so new trees were planted in the spaces generated.

Some were protected with spirals...

...whilst others had to be marked with some white plastic to make 
them visible for Farmer Myles to re-visit with tree guards later.

One NCV had to be given a severe talking to, 
by task master Ken, for sitting down on the job.

Elsewhere across the region....

At the same time a splinter group of NCVs was also hard at work.  The intention was to burn the remaining brash from the previous hedge laying activity at Longside Farm, Ramsgill(a tough ask given all the recent rain). They also needed to plant 100 saplings into the hedge to fill in the gaps that were left once it had been laid. Photographic evidence of their progress can be seen below.

For any readers who are wondering why a hedge needs laying - or how to do this - then spend a few wonderful minutes watching this old ministry of information film. They don't make movies like this any more..... 

HEDGING  (discovered by NCV Will)

(Health warning - smoking of a pipe whilst laying a hedge is not a necessary requirement!)

There were a number of sections of 
hedge that were totally devoid of vegetation.

Immediately the two NCVs tasked with doing the planting
 started inserting canes and sharing out the tree guards.

Within no time at all these two NCVs had the whole lot of trees planted 
and protected from any passing rabbits.
Now - what's going on in the background?

Behind the hedge lay a long line of brash, left from the original laying work.
 Clearly - not a one but a two fire job.
Three NCVs elected to carry out this part of the task.

Andrew and Graham worked at one end and soon had a roaring fire going.
Note that they started on a piece of empty ground.

At the other end of the line things did not go so smoothly.
Osian worked hard to breathe life into this bonfire.Having opted to start his fire in the centre of a brash pile (for ease) he struggled to generate a single flame that lasted more than a nanosecond. 

Sloooooowly Osian fed the proto fire with brash.
His job was made more difficult by the boss having forgotten to bring loppers.
Luckily Graham went to fetch some from home.

A clue to the root of the problem was clearly visible at the base of the hedge, which was completely choked with detritus from the recent flooding. 
The brash was obviously soaking wet.

In the end fire supremo Graham went to his car and brought out a secret weapon - 
his blow torch. That helped - but not a lot.

In spite of this, by the end of the session, all the brash had just about disappeared in a puff of smoke - AND - the hedge was, finally, after three years of work, complete!

Well done that team!