Thunderbirds Are Go!
Luckily 30th September 2025 was the official 'International Thunderbirds Day' . This meant that the NCVs were able to get some help. They called in Scott, Virgil, Gordon, Alan, John and Brains to deal with the equivalent of the Thunderbirds' arch-nemesis 'The Hood', in the form of the holly invading the bluebell lake of Old Spring Wood.
Unfortunately, because Liz had to attend a NNL office event they did not have the benefit of her chain saw. Never mind. The NCVs are made of tough stuff. They can do great things with bow saws and loppers, as you can see from the pictures below.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, NCVS ARE GO!!!
Upon entering the wood the team in
Thunderbird 1 homed in on this monster.
It was down and processed before lunchtime.
The processing was carried out by the crew
with help from Thunderbird 2's team.
Who is that at the front of the picture?
Ahh. Brenda! What a nice smile -
and what a good dead hedge!
The team of Thunderbird three, normally more
used to space travel, dealt with not just one,
but two horrible hollies.
One down...
...one more to go.
Processing sometimes took a LOT of effort!
However - Osian was able to practise his
caber tossing skills at the same time.
Coffee time allowed the Thunderbird crews
to relax and chat.
Thunderbird four got busy with this
holly and made a good job...
... despite normally
being used to working under water.
Of course, now that it was down,
the crew had to shift it.
Nearly there.
It was decided to rope in
Thunderbird 5 for this one.
Yes - I know T5 is usually in orbit
above the Earth, but they could see
that additional manpower was needed.
T3 popped up to fetch them....
...and down it came.
Right everyone. Let's check how it all looks.
Excellent! Much clearer in both directions.
A good day's work.
With that, each of the Thunderbird crews
headed off down the hill to their awaiting
aircraft.
Update on an old hedge planting task:
Last week we received information on the progress of the hedge the NCVs planted, alongside a track leading down to Bivouac, as long ago as February 2014. Not only has it grown extremely well, but it provided an excellent resource for a hedge laying training session as part of the recent Swinton Park's 'Nourish Partnership Climate Action Forum'. Proof of this (if proof is needed) can be seen in the photos below:
Feb 2014.
The new hedge.
Sept. 2025.
The hedge before the trainees get fully underway.
The hedge after laying. Well done trainees!
And - finally - a bit of news from the Nidderdale wallers for their task on 1st October; their final visit to Breaks Fold Farm this year:
Despite unexpected heavy rain in Leeds at the outset (Rob & Duncan questioned the likely conditions in Thruscross), we stayed on plan to finish the stint. Arriving in light rain, wet weather gear was donned and the gang got going. The rain had mainly held off during the morning so the task was completed and site tidied in time for a midday lunch - a comfortably relaxed affair.
Adequate stone was at hand to place
the final two layers before a coffee break.
The cover band and toppers were then added in time for lunch.
No wonder they all looked so pleased with themselves!
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