Old Spring Wood: 12-04-2022

Oh I went down south for to see my Sal,

Singing ‘Polly Wolly Doodle All the Day’

Singing ‘Holly tree removal all the day…’

Sorry - got carried away there. It was a song amendment that was just begging to be heard - and it tied in nicely to today's task for a small, but perfectly formed, band of NCVs. They returned to Old Spring Wood to continue removing the holly that is encroaching on the oak trees and the blue bell lake. Care was taken only to remove trees that were not home to any early nesting birds and all the brash was dead hedged along the footpath edge in order to create a good habitat for wildlife. The photos below show what was achieved.

NB Heavy rain eventually stopped play at one o'clock, by which time everyone was soaked through and feeling cold. You may find that the quality of the pictures deteriorated along with the weather!!

Here you can see the nature of the problem.

A few brave bluebells were trying to grow 

under the dense cover but not doing very well.

The oak trees are having to compete for light, water and nutrients.

Here the NCVs have lifted the crown of the holly...

...to allow the chain saw to be deployed more easily.

Having the benefit of the chain saw was great - 

although the sheer quantity of brash created 

swamped a well used footpath.

"Everyone on clearing duty please!!"

It was all hands to the pump....

 ...to shove the brash into the hedge as tightly as possible.

Right - that's the first tranche processed. Bring on the next wave!

And on it went. Here Brenda battles bravely with a prickly opponent.

Are you checking that the top of the dead hedge is level Ruth?

Master stake maker, Paul, got to work with his 

bowsaw, billhook and lump hammer to ensure

 that the hedge was well secured with upright posts.

Tim and Tom (sound like the Flowerpot men!)

got to work on this monstrosity.

By close of play it was gone!

Not all the wood was dead hedged. The really big logs

 were piled up for drying out ready for a log burner.

The footpath into the wood from the White House Lane entrance

now looks much lighter.

What a pity we can't just wave a magic wand and make all the 

holly bushes disappear!!