Hackfall Woods: 25-08-2020

ABOUT TIME TOO!!!

For the first time since the beginning of February, on the very last task day of the summer season, the NCVs were visiting Hackfall Woods to carry out some routine maintenance. We did wonder what lay in store as a result of this lack of  attention. Would the paths be impassible? Would the gullies be completely blocked? Would the cascades be a shadow of their former glory? 

Luckily NCV Paul lives close to the wood and has been doing a few jobs in there over the last few months, as part of his daily exercise, so we knew the situation wouldn't be too dire - but there is only so much a man on his own can do. So - let's take a look and see what had to be done......

The group was small this week - just 6 NCVs including the photographer. 

Could this have anything to do with the visit 

coinciding with the arrival of Storm Francis?

One half of the group worked down by Alum springs.

7 months of mud to clear out from the gullies.

This one had all but disappeared into the mire.

This one was on the skinny side.

Perhaps it is just a crack in the rock?

The cascades needed clearing of debris 

but were too dangerous to work on.

These logs, however, could be moved safely.

This very large, heavy one had to remain where 

it was for the time being. A job for next time.

Strong woman Alice Crosby, of the AONB, was standing in for Liz.

In spite of the foul weather she was happy in her work,

 glad to be out of the office for a change.

Had these two had an argument or were 

they just taking social distancing to extremes?

A glance inside Fisher's Hall shows why they had chosen to stand outside.

They did not want to go home with trench foot.

Far below them the river level was rising fast.

White water rapids were there for the taking 

if any of the NCVs had brought their canoes.

NB - please forgive the rather hazy appearance of the next set of pictures. I could say that I was trialing a new 'soft' look, akin to that favoured by many wedding photographers. However - the truth is the rain kept landing on the camera lens.

The other half of the group walked across to the 

Swinton Estate end of the wood.

Guess what was waiting for them there?

The stout hearted trio almost threw in the towel 

when they got to this vast balsam forest.

Don't worry - they didn't. They took the 'slash and trample' 

approach to stop the plants seeding.

Paul used his trusty pancake pallet knife - the must have utensil 

for all NCVs wanting to make an impact. 

It would have taken too long to pull up every stem

 so Alistair used his spade to good effect.

After about an hour and a quarter the whole area was done.

These last two stems were dealt with as lunch was called.

Unlike the other team, this group managed to find a place to sit 

down for coffee and lunchtimes.

 Ros E. models this summer's  range of evening wear

 (available from all high street stores).

Shoulder bag and yellow hand luggage by Gucci.

Ros K. models the latest in waterproof headgear - the plastic wig.

She's not convinced that the public will be rushing to order.

One job that both teams did was collect litter.

They were pleasantly surprised by this small amount that they came across.

Not bad considering the large numbers of visitors that Hackfall has hosted this year.

To finish off - here's another little glimpse of what life is like north of the border in the garden of NCVs' Julia and Dave's holiday cottage. Last time they were there they sent us that lovely video of the pine martin. This time it's a clip of a red squirrel. Pity we don't see these in Hackfall!

Click HERE if you cannot see the video through the link above.

Next week the NCVs are being given a week off, so the next blog entry will be on 8th September.

Thrope Farm to Newhouses:18-08-2020

HERE WE GO AGAIN! 
😧

(This blog entry has now been updated with some additional photos. The editor's lost camera turned up inside her walking boot the next time she went to put it on. Well - where else would you expect a camera to be?!))

Yes - it WAS too good to be true. Last week's task without invasive weed control at Humberstone Bank turned out to be just a sweetener to keep the NCVs from becoming bolshy. 

This week it was BACK TO BALSAM. The initial invitation never actually mentioned the nature of the job - just a simple 'Task day at Limely Farm'. Well - that could involve anything, the NCVs thought. Maybe something really exciting and unusual? Let's sign up for a place right away.

No - it couldn't. When are they going to learn? A vague task description during the summer months is code for balsam pulling or bracken bashing. The only way to ensure a good turn out is to (a) be economical with the truth or (b) promise a good supply of cake. As option (b) is out of the question during the pandemic*, Liz had to go for option (a). 

(*There was some discussion about why this is the case last week. Presumably once word gets out to the covid 19 germ population that a cake tin lid has been removed in an area they immediately swarm to that location to join in the feast, infecting everyone in the vicinity.)

By the time everyone turned up at Lofthouse Fire station it was too late to dip out. Jackie Smith (person in charge of the Upper Nidd balsam eradication project at the AONB office)  was there to organise operations. What she had failed to organise was some good weather. It rained ALL DAY. Not only did this make progress up the bed of the river rather treacherous in places, it also resulted in everyone getting very, very damp, as you can see from the photos.....

In some places there were little balsam shoots here and there amongst the rocks.

These were easily uprooted and scrunched up.

Other plants were much thicker and deeply rooted.

Some had these rather unpleasant red growths.

We wondered if this had anything to do with being sprayed by the contractors.

Of course, once pulled up, the stems had to be crushed.

Tom took this job seriously and jumped up and down with gusto.

So much so the earth shook and the camera wobbled!

Of course, it wouldn't be a balsam day if it didn't involve having to delve

 into prickly vegetation. Here intrepid Dave A. heroically ventures into acres

 of nettles. Hope you had on your PPE Dave, otherwise 

you will have fizzy legs tonight!

Everyone was heartened to see that there were plenty of places 

where there was no balsam. They searched high and low but there was

 simply none to be had. This made up for those few places 

where it was growing in abundance!

Many stretches of the river were dry - in spite of all the rain.

The water would simply disappear underground through a swallow hole.

Here the river can be seen in the lower right hand corner.

It disappears in the centre of the picture and is 

nowhere to be seen in the top left hand corner 

Phew - No need to worry. The water hasn't cascaded down to Australia.

Andrew found it again, coming out further downstream.

Sometimes the river was so deep the NCVs 

were forced to swim or head for the hills.

Brenda did just that and, apart from keeping her feet dry, 

found quite a bit of higher level balsam.

All along the river lots of fossils could be seen - crinoids, not NCVs.

Ros E and Brenda were pleased to experience a 'Livingstone I presume' 

moment when they met Tony and Andy coming downstream 

which meant that they didn't need to go any further. Job done?

Oh no! Not yet. On the way up to the road a whole area of balsam 

was discovered growing in amongst the grass at Thrope Farm. 

(From bottom left right up to the far wall.)

Curses! Just when we thought it was home time.

And finally, all balsamed out, the weary NCVs trooped 

off along the road back to the cars with the rain dripping down their necks.

At least the surface was a flat one to walk on!

Humberstone Bank: 11-08-2020

Hurray! No balsam. No bracken. 

Instead - tree guards! It had been a long time since our last visit to Humberstone Bank to sort out the tree guards that were empty or in need of restoring to the vertical. Regular readers will know that the terrain at this particular venue can be challenging (vertiginous/boggy/strewn with old conifer brash etc). However - it was nice to tackle a task that didn't include invasive weed eradication - the focus of our post lockdown efforts of late. As it turned out we were working in a steep sided valley that we had planted part of some time ago - no brash to trip us up but there were some boggy bits at the bottom of the slope.

Without further ado, let's see what ensued.....

Once parked at the hub everyone had to take a numbered lump hammer. 

This had to be kept for your personal use only. 

Paul inspected his hammer carefully to ensure it was virus free.

Arrival on site was met with a number of 

tree tubes in need of particular attention.

And then they were off. Everyone worked in pairs 

and moved down hill focusing on a line of trees.

Before banging the posts in securely everyone had to check

 inside the tubes to make sure there was actually a living tree within.

Ok in there Andrew?

Empty tubes were removed but the majority had trees in so had to be weeded.

Great handfuls of grass were pulled up from the base of the tubes.

Some had bracken growing out the top - these needed 

de-tubing and sorting out big time!

Here's one being disentangled from the unwanted 

attentions of its tube lodger.

It thanked Adrian as he moved on to the next patient.

The hill was alive with the sound of vols.

(Now there's a cue for a song!)

Cowboy Roy Rogers joined us for the day.

Tom valiantly propped Adrian up to ensure he didn't fall backwards down the slope.

There was one little area where about four tubes were laying flat on the ground.

Obviously empty?

No! Closer inspection showed them to contain live trees 

that had been undermined by something that had burrowed around their bases.

These had to be restored to their correct position and the soil packed around their roots.

There were plenty of upright tubes that were treeless. 

This was one of the piles at the end of the day. 

There was one other, much smaller, pile so not too bad a 

result, considering how many were planted and checked.

Worked stopped at this wall. 

However - a glance beyond showed

 that this wasn't the only visit to Humberstone we would be

 making in the none too distant future.

Coffee break and lunchtime provided an opportunity for Ros E 

to try out the newly discovered 'panorama' option on her phone.

It proved very useful when dining is done in a socially distant manner.

Perhaps you can make out Ken's head at the far right hand end 

(near to the gap in the wall)? 

Half a mile further along three NCV ladies are sitting at the left hand end.

Just in case you would like to see them close up:

 

"What's Tony doing?"

"Just making sure his arm is still attached after all the hammering."

Two final pictures of interesting things spotted:

Eagle eyed Liz spotted an owl pellet in the grass.

Lots of bones and fur in this one.

This eight legged chap was snapped on a tree.

Some good camouflage there Incy Wincy.

The afternoon was rounded off with the long (very, very hot) walk back to the cars. It was wonderful to remove work boots!