Tuesday, 8 July 2025

The summer walk: 08-07-2025

 

The NCVs were able to relax this week as, instead of working hard with tools, they went on their summer walk. It was a gentle 5 miles, taking in 10 of the local sites where they had worked in the past (if you count the two they had to drive past on the way back to Pateley Bridge). They finished with lunch in the Crown hotel in Pateley.

Here are a few pictures to mark the occasion:

The walk started up at Nought Moor car park...

... so required a short sharp uphill stretch to get to Two Stoops. 

Wall to wall sunshine was forecast and,
 thanks to previous days of scrub clearance, 
the views were stunning.

The warning on the gate set the 
scene for the next section of the walk.

It wasn't too bad at first.
A nice woodland where giant
stinkhorns grew.

"Cor guvnor! What a whopper!"
(NCV included to give a sense of scale)

The bracken, too, was giant sized.
Dave and Julia didn't know which 
way to turn.
It was all a bit of a challenge.
Thank goodness we weren't on
 bracken bashing duty!

This tree gave us a nice bit of 
bracken free shade.

Extreme caution was needed along the ridge 
as the sheer cliffs fell away from 
the path on one side.

The photo above was taken by one 
of these brave NCVs who walked out onto
 the enormous viewing rock.

Let's just stop here and make sure 
everyone has made it through 
the bracken shall we?

Then it was down a little way to 
follow the path to Northwoods farm.

 Everyone enjoyed their coffee break in the sun.

Especially Liz's biscuits!

There were a couple of 
awkward stiles to negotiate.

This sign showed we were on the right track.
however, the single shoe was a little worrying.
What had happened to the wearer?

Hopefully he hadn't been eaten by this 
gigantic lizard that roared at us 
as we went by.
(Blades of grass included for scale.)

No worries about these cows.
They ignored us - too much grass to eat.

Luckily Liz had not booked in at this 
wayside cafe for our lunch. The 'carrots only' 
menu would have been healthy
 but rather disappointing.

The return to the cars took us over
the moorland....

...via the Guisecliff mast.

The arrival back at Two Stoops meant that 
we were almost back at the cars.

Now all we had to do was drive on a 10 mile
 diversion to get the two miles to Pateley,
thanks to some totally unexpected road 
works that had been set up whilst we 
were walking!
Luckily the Crown Inn was waiting for us.

The company was well catered for by the friendly staff.
Our meals were served in no time flat
and were absolutely delicious.
Thanks Staff!!!!!

And thank you Liz for organising 
this lovely day of relaxation.
You are the queen of 
volunteer co-ordinators!!

Tuesday, 1 July 2025

A variety of tasks: 01-07-2025

 

You're joking!

I say, I say, I  say.

What kind of pony can you ride on all day without going anywhere?

Answer? A peening pony!

As the month of June rolled over into July the NCVs celebrated International Joke day (yes - there really is an international joke day on the 1st of July each year) either by sitting on a peening pony, or running around doing a variety of tasks. As a result, there was little time for joking. Everyone was just too busy.

So - first of all - those ponies....

Meet Trigger - the peening pony. A headless 
species that only has three legs and no tail.

Ride 'em cowboy.
Yee Hah!!

Trigger had been bought at the local
equestrian mart. Four more ponies were 
required so the NCVs made them, 
using Trigger as a template.

Once the herd was ready for use
the tool sharpeners climbed onto their 
mounts and got to work.

Grassland officer Joe
gave them a training session on
how to 'peen' the scythe blades.
(i.e. remove the nicks in the cutting edge.)

At the end of the session the new ponies were
led into the stable for a rest.

Whilst all this was going on the rest of the team
carried out job number one, which involved
tree tube tidying.

Then it was on to Millenium Green and job 
number 2 - dealing with a fallen tree branch 
which had squashed the caterpillar tunnel.

Branches were lopped and sawn.
(Note the new 'bump caps' being modelled 
by Tom and Ken. These stylish, lightweight
hard hats are great for keeping noddles safe.)

The branches were then collected up...

...and brash piled.

Once the tree was removed,
the caterpillar tunnel miraculously 
bounced back up, though not quite to its former glory.

However, with a bit of renovation
involving willow wands from another 
structure...

...it looked as good as new.

Time for a coffee break...

...then it was on to job number 3;
clearing the bridleway at Glasshouses verge.

Osian and Liz got busy on job number 4, 
which meant them  having to power up 
the strimmers to cut some grass.

They were focusing just on the area of verge
near the picnic benches, where
the yellow rattle seeds planted last year
have failed to grow.

In most other parts of the verge
the rattle has proliferated
and suppressed the grass.

In these areas there are large 
quantities of various wild flowers, 
including an extensive patch
of common spotted orchids.

Cut grass was raked...

...and transported to a compost pile.

By two o'clock everyone was plum tuckered out and needed to call time. Not a single joke had been told but everyone had enjoyed the day never-the-less.

Special note - 

Thanks must go to Amy who has made a whole pile of safety goggles bags out of old pillow cases. These will prevent the new glasses from getting scratched.