Christmas Walk: 17-12-2019

A special treat for the workers!

Yes indeed! This week the workers turned into walkers, rambling up to Prosperous Mine from Pateley Bridge. Consumption of packed lunches in muddy conditions was swapped for fine dining in the wonderfully cosy and welcoming Bridge Inn, Pateley Bridge, funded by the AONB office. Thanks for that folks - much appreciated!

And here is a record of the day.....

No need for tools to be collected - 

just some hi vis tabards and a couple of first aid kits.

These were collected from the barn which is 

now completely compost heap free.

Hurray!

On meeting at the car park it was clear that this was a group of two halves. 
Those who were Christmas hatted....

...and those who were not.

Christmas? Bah. Humbug.

Then it was off on our way - the group taking a while to pass, there being 23 of us.

(Actually 22. One - who shall remain nameless - was missing. 
He had forgotten to get out of bed and joined us at the end of the walk. 
Note - please ask Santa for an alarm clock.)

Water was streaming off the hillside making the 

first section of the path muddy in places. 
Still - at least it wasn't raining.

Everyone slowed down a bit on the misty, uphill stretch.

Once at the top of the rise we could stop and 

admire the view that was now visible through the mist.

At one point we passed a long stretch of well built dry stone wall that had been 
re-built by four of the group, who are the Nidderdale dry stone walling volunteers.
Well done chaps!

 Then it was off to Dub bridge for a coffee and Christmas biscuits break.

 

Towards Prosperous mine there were the remains 
of the old mine shafts and spoil heaps to be seen.

Oooo. What are you lot looking at?

That's a very deep hole. Luckily, having just eaten Christmas biscuits,

 none of the NCVs were thin enough to slip through.

Another little stopping place...

...by another little bridge.

Then it was down through Heathfield caravan park to the Bridge Inn for lunch - 
the high point of the day.

 Everyone clearly enjoyed their soup on this table.

 Well done for wearing a Christmas jumper as well as the hat, Andy!

 Hurry up and take the photo - we want to get started on the sandwiches.

Thumbs up from this table too.

This cosy twosome were spoilt for choice.

Now - which sandwich do you want Ruth? Graham?

High points over it was back to the car to find, in the editor's case, 
that a disgruntled robin was sitting on the steering wheel inside -  
having left copious quantities of poo on the dashboard.

Lots of hot water and disinfectant were needed back at home! 😕

So - as you can see - the NCVs really enjoyed their day. It has got them off to a good start with the Christmas festivities and will give them something to remember on their first work day in January 2020.

They would all like to wish their readers :

A Very Merry Christmas 

and a Happy New Year!

NCV barn: 10-12-2019

Last day of term!!

😃

This week's task was the last of the year. Once the work clothes were washed at the end of the day they could safely be put away for four weeks. However - before that could be done there was a little matter of some work to be seen to. Originally we had intended to continue laying the hedge at Longside Farm. However - due to the dire weather forecast - plan B was put into operation and everyone met at the barn to shift the giant grass heap from the side of the building, ready for it to be transported elsewhere, and fix the neighbouring boundary fence, as well as a few other little jobs.

Looking at Plan B in action......

Firstly - and most importantly - the wood burner had to be
 lit to take off the chill at one end of the barn.
Within a short space of time Tony had a roaring blaze going.

 Jan and Phil took the cosy option of remaining in the barn, 
near the wood burner, to carry out tool maintenance.

Well, someone has to do it.

Outside, a team of grass shifters got to work.
This was not easy as the grass was compacted 
and had started to compost down.

As the grass heap on the far side of the wall got lower, 
so the one on the near side of the wall got higher.

NCVs armed with hay rakes got busy 
keeping the new heap under control.

                                Lower and lower...............................Higher and higher.

By coffee time the job was well underway.
Note the land towards the wall at the right of the picture is higher than the left.
It is NOT all grass. Phew!

The barn was a little cramped for coffee as a 
good deal of floor space was taken up with the hedge laying tools 
that had been left ready to collect at the start of the day.

It was clear that these were going to have to be shifted before lunchtime.

So, without further ado, new recruit Brenda got busy.
"Now - where are these kept?"

 Some handy hedge rails were spotted up in the rafters.
"We'll have them" thought Liz.

So - out they went to the van to be 
transported updale, to Longside farm...

...along with some useful posts.

Liz then cut up some old wood for the wood burner 
and David transported it into the barn.
David - does your head go to the top of that hat?

Meanwhile - how were things at the side of the barn?

The grass heap had all but disappeared....

...and Andrew had gone up in the world.

A huge heap of old bits of wooden stake had been collected ....

 ...leaving the way clear for the fence to be put to rights.

Paul's extra long legs made it relatively easy to use the post knocker.

Andrew showed off his staple hammering skills 
as the old stock fencing was put to good use.

And a final top wire was pulled tight to finish the job.

Just a bit of tool cleaning to do and we were good to go just after lunch.

Paul went the extra mile and chopped up some 
kindling for the wood burner before he went home.
Give that man a medal!

Longside Farm: 03-12-2019

Last week it was to pastures new, to plant a new hedge.

This week it was a return to old pastures and the laying of an old hedge, namely that at Longside Farm. 
Regular readers of this blog will know that it is almost 2 years since the NCVs took this hedge to task and managed to reach the half way stage (possibly a bit further than that). Now was the time to get a crack on and make a bid for the end of the field. This hedge just wasn't going to lay itself. If left to its own devices it would just grow tall and thin out at the bottom. 
So - NCVs - Are you ready? Are you steady? Let's go.....

BUT WAIT!! First a hedge has to be prepped.

Lots of forward facing branches had to be pruned out .

This, of course, led to the generation of 
heaps of  brash to be transported out of the way.

By the end of the day the brash pile stretched out - 
almost another hedge in its own right.

First out of the blocks when it came to pleaching was Tom with an axe.

Others were close on his heels wielding billhooks.

The cutting involved precision engineering rather than speed.

Liz's chain saw got a lot of use on the 'too thick for a saw' stems....

...although this team decided that they would stick to the old fashioned way.
Luckily they had the mighty Osian in their tool kit

The stems started falling right, left and centre - 

some more willingly than others.

Dave decided this one required a warrior pose to assist in its laying.

Lump hammers and mells were deployed to insert the posts.


Much trust was put in the person hammering by the one holding the post.

Coffee time and lunch time were spent lounging on the picnic tarpaulin....

...which gave the NCVs some fun and games 
when it was time to fold it away in the strong winds!

Eventually railings started to be attached to the posts.

It was starting to look like a laid hedge!

Some of the blackthorn suckers that were sprouting up were dug up 
in order to harvest them to fill in any gaps.

By the end of the day the NCVs felt that they 
had done a good job, though there was still a long way to go. 
Back next week for more!