St Cuthbert's, Pateley Bridge: 19-10-2021

If the NCVs thought that they were in God's own country when they worked in the churchyard of St Cuthbert's, Pateley Bridge, a couple of weeks ago, then they must have felt as if they were in seventh heaven this week. Not only were they provided with drinks and fruit cake  on their return, they were also plied with delicious hot soups and rolls at lunchtime!! 

All hail church wardens Jane and Margaret.

 They are our favourite ladies!!

The NCVs were doing their second stint of helping the church get their nature and conservation project underway - a project to improve all the Upper Nidderdale church grounds for nature and wildlife. There was more removal of unwanted holly, ivy and brambles and some tree thinning on the agenda.

Without any further ado let's take a look at the pictorial evidence of a day well spent....

As the weather gods had ruled against us Liz brought

 the AONB gazebo to keep the tools dry.

This required a real team effort to work out how to 

dismantle the structure when it was time to go home.

One important instruction was - on NO account prune

 the veteran Holm Oak, which is protected by a TPO....

...even though its lower branches 

are covering the nearby graves.

Special permission from the council 

will be needed for that.

The holly, however, can definitely be dealt with.

That's it Tim - in you go. Just leave the oak alone!

Brilliant job. That looks better.

Now - what else needed doing?

Well - this holly has to go too.

And all these little new holly shoots.

(Someone's going to have an achy back tomorrow!)

Tony got down on his knees to tackle these....

...as did new volunteer, Sarah. 

They weren't going to be walking bent 

double for the rest of the week.

These legs came to light at one point in the day.

The front corner of the churchyard was revisited 

as there was still some tidying up to be done here.

I think we can safely say that this area is now sorted.

Just that little pile of brash to shift.

Oh - yes - the brash. 

Now - where was that going?

Follow me - bring it this way....

Ah yes  - the mega dead hedge.

We'd forgotten about that. 

There was still plenty of space to pile up more this week.

This nice little space was opened out from what

 had been a brambly/weedy heap.

Anita used the turves from the 

path edges to create a little lawn here.

Bowls anyone?

Hang on - turves from the path? 

Why were they available?

Well - Adrian brought his power hose and 

cleaned all the slippery, weedy paths and steps.

He was ably assisted by Brenda the brush

who also doubled up as a path edger.

Hence the turves.

Although path cleaning makes you very happy 

it does tend to splatter you with mud!

In the back corner of the church yard was 

a thicket of young trees which were

 struggling to compete with each other.

Some selective thinning was 

definitely on the cards here.

Not only will the remaining trees benefit 

another two gravestones were discovered!

Before Tim started work on this holly he couldn't 

have got anywhere near the base of the trunk.

Now the crown has been lifted and light 

can reach the dank, mossy ground.

Well - that WAS a good day's work. The church's project is underway - now it's over to them with the baton.

Good Luck!!

Fishpond Wood: 12-10-2021

These may be pretty but they are NOT always wanted!!! 

Yes - sorry to disillusion any readers new to this blog but, although the pink flowers of rhododendron ponticum are quite nice to look at whilst they are out, this plant is a non-native invasive species, threatening a variety of habitats and the associated flora and fauna. This is why the NCVs were back in Fishpond Wood, Bewerley, this week, tasked with the job of removing any that was growing where it shouldn't have been. The work was started way back in August 2014 and has been a reoccurring event on the NCV calendar from time to time.

The pictures below show what was done this time.....

This pair of NCVs were tasked with removing this enormous 

bush. They didn't seem unduly bothered by the prospect....

...and got stuck in right away before Liz

 had blown the starting whistle.

The result of their activity was, as usual, 

an ever increasing pile of brash.

This, however, was not a problem for the smiling Ros K. 

who promptly set to and dragged it uphill 

(with a little help from her friends.)

Gradually the brash was all transferred up here....

...where it was supplemented by a second rhodie bush 

that was being demolished by Tim and Anita.

So far so good. But now what?

Well - fire chief Graham got a fire going, goaded into action 

by Will. who kept poking him with a big stick.

In no time at all he had a good blaze going and 

the brash pile started to be consigned to the flames.

Expert brash processors Paul....

....Will (still with poking stick to hand in 

case Graham slacked)...

...and Andrew ensured that the

 fire's fuel supply was maintained.

The coffee break was a welcome moment of inactivity....

...and by lunchtime Ros K didn't have

 sufficient energy to remain upright.

A little look at the results of their work will help you

 understand why they may have been a little tired.

Hang on - wasn't there an enormous

 rhodie bush here this morning?

There certainly was. 

If Boris Johnson needs a role model for the 'Northern Power House'

he need look no further than these two.

Or the other team that had worked further up the 

slope on enormous rhodie bush B, which has also,

 miraculously, disappeared.

All that remained by 1:30pm was a smouldering 

heap of twigs and leaves.

Great job gang!

Some things of interest....

There were a number of flowers out.

is this a sign of climate change?

Rhodies are usually in bloom in early May so 

was this bush late to the party or very early for 

next spring's celebrations?

A tiny little nest came to light during the work. 

It was dwarfed by this nearby Fly Agaric toadstool. 

(Welly toe - size 6) included to give a sense of size.)

Inside the bushes were many glass bottles. 

This was one of the nicer ones.

Anyone who hadn't already seen the Fishpond ice house 

went in to have a look.

The European cave spiders are still very much in residence.

The afternoon was rounded off with a rather unsettling moment.

As the NCVs were about to set off a herd of cows, calves and a bull 

suddenly hurtled down the track towards them.

Everyone ran out of their way double quick - 

not something they want to have to do on a regular basis!!

And finally - honorary NCV Harry has decided to 

put in a complaint of exploitation.

His mum (vol co-ordinator Liz) forced him to sweep up

 leaves outside the NCV barn before having to go to school! 

Shame on you Liz. 

Don't stand for that kind of treatment Harry!