Hackfall Wood: 02-07-2019

First of all - apologies for my failure to publish a blog entry last week. The editor was holidaying on a remote Scottish island and wi-fi facilties were simply not available where they were needed. Suffice it to say that the NCVs were working along the pathway of the River Nidd, up at the Summerstones estate, pulling up balsam in rather wet conditions.

This week it was back to Hackfall for the monthly landscape maintenance visit. We were told that wood would need to be transported to various locations, so it was clear that the steps and path edging work started last time were going to have to be continued. Balsam was also mentioned but everyone felt reasonably confident that it wouldn't take up much time. 

So - let's have a peek at what went on shall we?

 A turn out of 15 allowed a number of small teams 

to be sent out on a variety of quests.

Inevitably there were a few little patches of balsam here and there,

However - these were quickly hunted down...

...and laid to rest.

Some stone steps half way down Limehouse Hill needed sorting out.

So a small team got busy with mattocks and spades....

...and, working as a team....

...soon had them looking very smart.

Meanwhile, down at the Sandbeds, work continued on repairing 
the steps under the beady eyes of supervisors Julia and Sally.
Note that Julia kept a metal bar to hand to poke the men below if they stopped work.

Occasionally things became just too much for Osian.

He simply sat down and refused to continue with the job.

However - a direct jab from Julia's spike soon sorted him out.

Eventually the steps were complete - and much easier to walk on.

Lunch (and coffee break for some) was taken
 in an idyllic position down by the river.
Here, dippers, grey wagtails and a kingfisher were spotted.

 Down near Fishers Hall an unsightly 

drainage pipe needed camouflaging.

Pipe? What pipe?

 The final job of the day involved a lot of muscle power and some creative thinking.
The plan was to take 2 large pieces of felled ash...

...swing (or, to use the correct terminology from the afternoon, twiddle) them round....

 ...so that they could be rolled from here...

...along here....

...to here!

So now there is more seating near Fountains Pond

 for visitors to sit and admire the fountain.

Or use as a see-saw.

Guisecliff: 18-06-2019

FOILED AGAIN!!!

This is the second time that the image above has been used in the NCV blog in recent times. Last time road closures were just an obstacle that had to be overcome in order to reach our work site. This week they actually prevented us from being able to travel to the upper reaches of the River Nidd in order to pull up balsam. (Phew!)

Instead the NCVs met at the barn not sure what lay ahead.

The day began with the long trek up to the edge of Guisecliff Wood 
in order to bash bracken around the three cup and ring marked stones.

The view behind us was beautiful.

However, the view behind the wall was definitely NOT beautiful.

Julia and Ruth set off immediately, bashing a path through the bracken so that walkers can reach these special rocks, dating back to bronze age times and protected by Historic England. Once they had done the big reveal on a large rock they discovered that it was not one of the historic monuments! Never mind ladies - it's all good exercise.

Alistair and Andrew...

...along with visiting volunteer, Rachael,
 cleared a track up to and around another rock.

Luckily theirs definitely WAS a proper cup and ring marked rock.
The NCVs had to make sure that the rock surfaces were not cleaned off in any way to try to protect the markings.

This trio of bashers were a little underwhelmed by their chosen rock.

The first task was finished in record time for an early coffee break.
What's that you are eating folks?

Oh - just a little something that Tony's wife (aka domestic goddess Alwin) whipped up, the day after returning home from a two week holiday, 
to celebrate Tony's very special birthday.
THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH ALWIN (and happy birthday Tony.)
 Both the carrot cake and the raspberry cake were delicious!

And then it was off down the hill to the next job, 
further into Guisecliff Wood.

And the job?
To lift up and secure an almost deceased fence that the farmer would like to resurrect.

Well - a little bit of stake insertion here...

...and some judicious use of tree ties...

...eventually turned an almost non-existent fence into a passable imitation.
(Not quite our usual standard but the best that could be done given the material we had.)

Then it was a bit more uphill walking to reach the lovely Guisecliff Tarn.

 Here the NCVs had their lunch - and another piece of cake.

At one point there was a good deal of excitement 
as a fish was seen swimming under a rock.

Andrew considered spearing it to take home for the BBQ but as it was only about 2" long decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting wet.

Then it was onward and upward amongst the very old trees.

The final job on the agenda was to try and improve the muddy sections of the upper path through the wood.

In the absence of wheelbarrows, spades and 50 tons of gravel the NCVs opted for any pieces of deadwood they could find.

Not sure how long these two patches will last.

Further along there were some rocks that could be harvested for stepping stones.
Osian took the easy way out and rolled some down to the path.

 Superwoman Liz managed to cart them some distance before dropping them into the mire - only to splash 2 NCVs with a good deal of mud.
Thanks Liz!!

Ros K. tried out the stepping stones and felt that they were of excellent quality.

Finally it was time to start the long trek back to the barn to give boots a clean.
Osian - in his size 100 boots found it all a bit of a tight squeeze in this particular trug.

This little field mouse wouldn't have had any trouble fitting into the trug
 but didn't have any dirty boots to worry about.

Old Spring Wood: 11-06-2019

Oh no - not another unwanted plant!!

Oh yes, afraid so. Bracken is back. It's time to get the sticks out and start bashing.

So the NCVs, never ones to shrink from what has to be done, picked up their sticks and ventured into Old Spring Wood, fingers crossed that they would be greeted by an improving situation.

First of all bracken expert Osian gave a short master class, 
to anyone who was unsure, about the difference between ferns and bracken. 
We do NOT want to bash the ferns.

Andrew wondered if giving the bracken a 
good talking to would make it go away.

Those who have been around the bracken bashing block a 
number of times before ignored the teacher and simply got on with the job.

 As it turned out, on the top plateau at least, 
bashing bracken was a bit like making jugged hare. 
You first have to find your bracken before you can jug it 
and there was very little to be seen!

As well as the abundant bilberry bushes there were lots of ferns - 
but bracken was thin on the ground. 
The whole of the top plateau (an area that used 
to take a whole work day to bash) was finished by 11am.

Coffee time was swiftly followed by a change of scene. 

Everyone moved down to the middle of the wood 
and found a reasonably good situation there.
Though not quite so bracken free, it tended to be in patches.

Suddenly numbers were almost doubled by the 

arrival of the A team from Open Country, 

who were able to stay until lunchtime. Thanks lads (and Sharon)!!

Talking of lunchtime - what a good job we remembered to bring our 
bags down the hill with us. If we had had to walk back up to Rosemary's 
we may never have felt like coming back down!

Having sorted out a sizeable chunk of the middle area of the wood before lunch,

the focus shifted to the very bottom section afterwards.

Conversation took a rather bizarre turn as, for some reason, the merits of different kinds of coffins, and the various ways they could be recycled, were discussed. 

Down at this level there were large swathes of bracken which gave 
NCVs a chance to whack away with impunity. However, even here there 
were large patches of ground where only other vegetation grew.

Although the aftermath of the bash does not leave a 

bracken free view, at least ferns and foxgloves are now visible.

Needless to say - there are other areas of the wood still in 

need of attention when we re-visit in a few weeks' time.