Wrong uniform - wrong tools!!
Any new NCVs may have been forgiven for turning up looking like the little chap above when they read that this week's task was to be at the MOD training ground at Ellington Banks. If they had done then they would have felt a little foolish. The only tools that were needed were bow saws and loppers, and there was definitely no need for camouflage.
It has been quite a while since the NVCs have been to Ellington Banks - a place where there are some rare magnesian limestone flora and great crested newt ponds to take care of. In fact, the last visit was 21st February 2023, after the cancellation of two other days due to dreadful weather conditions.
No such worries today. The forecast looked fairly dry, so it was hoped that a good deal of encroaching scrub could be removed. Certainly there was plenty to get rid of!! The pictures below show how the gang got on.
As expected, the area to be de-scrubbed
was thick with saplings both
here in the top half of the site...
...and here, lower down.
This was not going to be easy!!
From time to time it felt like
traversing an assault course
there were so many lumps and bumps!
Osian deployed the troops
then set about making the bonfire.
This soon got going well
despite the damp material.
The team used the 'mob grazing' approach
and worked in a line, nibbling back
the scrub, until finally...
Oh I say - you chaps -
there was a large pond hiding here!!
Everyone enjoyed the
sun during lunchbreak.
Now - what are these four
plotting? Alistair looks decidely
shifty!
Post lunch, Paul lorded it over
his minions.
By close of play the area looked
very different, both at the top...
...and at the bottom.
MOD ecologist Karen will spray the new
shoots when they emerge. Apparently
this has been very effective in other
areas of the site.
Time to stop burning, or
brash piling, and go home.
Karen and Friedy are now
working for
"Help the Aged".
(NB The lead was not for Will!)
Before departing the team took a little
walk up to the newt ponds...
...and were rewarded with many
sightings, including this smooth newt.
Whilst all that hard work was going on, back in the NCV barn three others were working hard to ensure that the tools were in good condition. Thanks for that Team Tool!!
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