High Rails, Heyshaw: 21-10-2025

 

Trowels and wellies at the ready -

marginal working required!

A break from hedge laying was on the cards this week as the NCVs were invited to visit High Rails Farm, near Heyshaw,  in order to do some planting. However, they were not inserting tree saplings, as is a normal activity at this time of the year. Instead they were planting about 2000 marginal plug plants around the edges of a number of ponds. These ponds have been created as part of a wider wetlands creation project, run by the NNL's pond officer, Christie Irish. Apparently "the 17 new ponds, scrapes and wet gutters will all to help drain the bridle path and make the land a better habitat for wading birds on the moorland edge."

Liz's email asked everyone to bring a trowel and (ominously) mentioned that the ground was VERY MUDDY, so advised wellies.  So - without any further ado - let's see what went on. Was anyone lost in the mire? Did anyone fall in a pond? Did anyone get into a scrape? Were all the plugs plugged in? 

There was rather a long walk from 

the meeting point to the work site.

Arrival at the gate gave everyone

 a taste of what was to come.

The bridleway did, indeed, need draining.

The new drainage ditch shows just how

 much water has already, thankfully,

 been taken  off the path.

Up at the worksite trays and

 trays of plugs lay in wait.

What looked like numerous tussocks of rush turned out 

to be rafts of potted sedges awaiting planting.

There was no chance of an early finish today!!

Luckily there was a 15 strong turnout 

including no fewer than 4 new vols!

This group got busy on this pond....

...whilst others walked to the top of the site.

There was a breathtaking transformation

 as each pond was completed.

Where once there was mud, now there was....

...mud.

Never mind. WE know that 

the plants are there. Next summer 

things will look a lot different.

Newbie Deb seemed to enjoy herself,

despite the filthy conditions.

Sophia felt herself slip sliding away towards 

the water as she plugged in a marsh marigold.

James decided to kill two birds with one stone

 and used the deep forward bend 

planting technique to stretch his hamstrings.

A flock of sheep joined us in the hope we 

had something tasty but soon lost interest 

when all we offered them was a trowel 

and a sedge plant to plug in.

At coffee and lunchtime everyone joined together 

to partake of the Michelin starred restaurant

facilities.

They had plenty of cake this week.

It was both Liz's and Brenda's birthdays,

so this made up for the lack of furniture 

in the restaurant. 

Thanks Liz and Brenda!!

On the way back to the road everyone 

had to plant up the edges of the main ditch 

with sedge.

The final job was trying to clean the worst of

the wet clay off wellies, gloves and trowels.

Liz had organised the delivery of a 

state of the art outdoor cleaning facility 

for the gang to use.

Did all the plugs get planted? 

Not quite. These can be used on another 

project pond.

Tiplady Farm: 14-10-2025

SECONDS OUT - ROUND TWO!

Yes! This week saw the NCVs bravely going in for a second round in the fight to lay the hedge at Tiplady Farm. They were determined to finish the job - despite the hard work involved and the prickly material they were dealing with. The only question that now remains is - did they emerge victorious?

In a word - no. However - the group was half the size it was last week and the hedge was much more substantial than the end where work began. In spite of this, they did do very well - as you can see below.

So - here was the opponent.

Very thick indeed.

Everyone got busy removing unwanted material.

How are we going to get through to 

the stems on the other side?

Paul managed to find a way.

Amy wielded a rake to keep

 the car track clear of brash.

Brash was taken up the hill for burning.

The fire looked promising to begin with.

By coffee time everyone had cleared enough

vegetation out to take a break and enjoy

the plentiful supply of cake, kindly provided by

landowner Janet. (Thanks Janet.)

Then it was back to the boxing ring

 to start actually laying the stems.

Andy wore his chain saw helmet to

protect his head from thorns.

Friedy and Brenda worked 

on the next section downhill.

Paul and Osian worked 

on the next section uphill.

They got on like a house on fire. 

Which was more than could be said

 about the fire itself, which had died out 

after a while. Will had to give it the kiss of life.

At lunch time Andy brought out a tin

 of delicious almond tart.

Happy birthday Andy - and thank you!!

Just as the tin was being passed around

look who arrived!

Bet you can't guess what they

 had been doing all morning....

PICKING GRAPES!!!

HIGH UP IN THE DALE ABOVE STEAN!!!!

How mad is that???

Can grapes grow way up there?

Clearly yes.

Apparently they picked 6 barrels of red

and green grapes.

Not only that - they came and joined us

at Tiplady Farm and did an excellent job.....

... of putting in all the fence posts and rails

to complete last week's part of the hedge.

As for this week's sections - a good job was done.

(Plenty more to do though.

Round three in about three week's time.)

Once again - some news from our walling group guests who have now moved on to a new wall:

A cool, grey and remarkably calm first day at Timble Grange. The team met at the crossroads and walked 250m up the lane to the anomalous metal gate that marked the start of the public footpath and adjacent wall. Rod & Barry headed off to the Bewerley store for some gardening gear & work boots, retrieving the bars & pins from Breaks Fold on the way, and arrived back in time for coffee. 

In the meantime Andy, Dave & Duncan moved the wire fence and made a start on tidying up the top courses of stone. 

The wall was reasonably sound  at first

but later sections needed a more

fundamental restoration.

Now that looks much more livestock proof!!

Some 13 yards were completed at end of play. 

Barry opted to clear rushes that grew close to the wall and then removed the rest of the wire fence safely away from the wall and clear of the footpath. The Knabs Ridge wind turbines stayed motionless all day.

Tiplady Farm: 07-10-2025

This week was the International Week of Happiness at Work, which chimed very well with the NCVs' task of hedge laying. As it is a job the NCVs enjoy, there was a good chance that they would, indeed, be happy in their labours. They were back to Tiplady Farm to work on the second of their hedges. (The laying of the first was completed in January 2024.) 

Alongside the workers was an inspection team from the 'International Working Conditions Inspectorate' (IWCI) to check on happiness levels of the workers. They were using the Int. Week of Happiness at Work point allocation system H, a tried and tested assessment scale used when checking on hedge laying work in particular. Their final report is included below.

Stem size of hedge plants?

This can make or break a worker's morale. In this case the stems were, for the most part, reasonably thin.

Score: 8 points

 However, points were lost as everyone realised that they were behind a wire fence that needed removing before laying could begin. Some "Oh Nos!" were heard.

Score: - 3 points

Sub total 5/10

Prickliness of hedge species? 

The presence of blackthorn, hawthorn and rose can often result in low happiness ratings. The Tiplady hedge contained all three. However, the presence of numerous hazel trees boosted the score here. 

Score:  5/10

State of the working surface? 

Weather conditions can markedly affect the score here. The recent passing through of Storm Amy could have left the ground sodden and muddy. However - not so. It was as green by 2pm as it was at 9:30am.

Over trousers were taken home clean!

Score: 10/10

Support from managers?

The appearance of Liz's chainsaw is bound to add happiness points. Likewise her extra trip to collect additional tools showed a good level of support.

Score: 10/10 

Energy level boosters provision? 

The supply of coffeetime goodies from Amy was guaranteed to put smiles on NCV's faces...

...as was the delicious cake provided by the landowner!!

Somewhere comfortable to sit, out of the wind, always scores additional points.

Score:  10/10

Number of workers smiling as they work? (Add one point per smiler. Sample of work force to be checked: 33% or 6 workers out of the 18 present) 

The NCVs are a pretty forgiving bunch when it comes to working conditions so smiles are usually in good supply:

Plus 1 point.

Plus 2 points

Plus 2 points

Zero point due to a broken spade handle.

Score: 5/6

Correct tool provision? (Loppers, bowsaws, pruning saws, hammers, axes, spades. metal cutters,  wood, nails and rakes  should be available.)

In fact ALL of the necessary equipment was in good supply and the inclusion of fire lighting resources was very welcome saving mounds of brash having to be left in the field.

Score:  10/10

Progress made? (Account should be taken of number of workers and time worked.)

The length of the hedge to be laid was 150m. By close of play 150m of fencing had been removed and 50 metres of hedge had been laid. Everyone felt very pleased with themselves. 

Score: 10/10

Overall score: 65/76 = 85.5%  Grade A equivalent.

Overall Comment:

The inspectors found that this group of workers were working at an unusually high level of happiness, especially given that they were working in an unpaid capacity. There was a high degree of camaraderie within the group. Those interviewed seemed highly satisfied with their day of hedge laying and were willing to return next week to continue the job.