Crimple Head Farm: 08-04-2025

 

Let's recycle those tubes!!!

This week the NCVs were working at Crimple Head Farm, near Beckwithshaw, a new venue but an old task. They were back on de-tubing duty. Trying to get rid of as many tubes as possible by the deadline for the free recycling window towards the end of May. This Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust tree guard recycling project led to 140,625 tubes being recycled last year in parts of the UK. That’s 25.031 tonnes of plastic saved from landfill or being left out in the environment. Once the tubes are collected, they are washed, shredded, repelletized and returned to Tubex where the pellets are fed back into the manufacturing process of the Tubex recyclable products.

So - let's see the first part of this process in action.

Cue the NCVs!

There were three different boundary 

woodlands to clear. This was the first 

and the terrain was relatively benign.

The gang split into two teams. 

One working in the wood, removing the tubes...

... and throwing them over the fence.

Here they were processed by a second team

who removed the tree stakes

and packed the tubes into bags.

Emma and Helena developed their 

upper body strength by dragging the bags 

down the field to keep up with the tube removers.

Reinforcements arrived, to help process

 the tubes, from inside the woodland, 

once they reached the end point.

Although the woodland was extensive,

the teams worked so well that they 

had finished wood one by coffeetime, 

with two full tube bags to show for their efforts.

Then it was into the cars for a short drive to woodland 2. Only part of this area needed clearing as a scout group had already done 2/3 of it.

This time everyone needed to get 

inside the woodland due to a deep ditch 

preventing easy access to the fence.

Once over the stile the gang were like 

tube seeking missiles, working their way 

through a mass of low branches, searching 

for their targets.

There were some trees that were 

more than ready for release.

Others had grown at an angle

and couldn't be persuaded to 

give up the base of their plastic case.

Another two bags were filled here....

...by lunchtime.

Then - you've guessed it - it was on to 

woodland 3 (on foot).

The intention to revert to throwing the tubes 

out to a processing team had to be abandoned.

Another ditch just made the method very difficult.

Instead, everyone, once again, worked together.

By 2pm the job was complete. 4 more

 bags of tubes were ready for collection.

And here they are, alongside

 the dream team.

Now - all that had to be done was

walk all the way back to the cars!