Picking Gill Nature Reserve: 18-01-2022

 

This week is the 'Big Energy Saving Week' - a national campaign to help people cut their fuel bills. Well - what better way for NCVs to do that on a very chilly morning than to turn up for a hard day's work outside, wearing plenty of layers? No need to have the heating on at home. No lights required, no computers being used, no ironing or hoovering being done. And with the added bonus of doing other good things for the environment!! A win win situation.

The venue this week was the Picking Gill nature reserve near Eavestone and the task involved preparing a hedge for laying in a couple of weeks time. The reserve is well overdue for some TLC as can be seen from the state of the information panel and the pond below.

So - let's take a look at what was done ....

Care was needed on the icy puddles.

The hedge looked rather daunting...

...but NCVs are not easily daunted!

Paul was slowly absorbed by some hungry hawthorn but Tom 

remained blissfully unaware of his plight.

Whilst helping Andy, Graham took the opportunity

 to practise his ballroom dancing.

 
In no time at all there were two enormous 

piles of brash that needed dealing with.

Alistair and Graham wasted no time.

A fire was soon flickering and making inroads on the brash.

The hedge was being tackled from both sides.

Unfortunately brash from the road side had

 to be lifted over the kissing gate.

Not an easy task!

Another issue that had to be dealt with 

was the removal of  a wire fence.

But hey - what's  the removal of a wire fence to the NCVs?

Each hedge tree was protected by a plastic 

spiral which had to be removed and collected.

Thanks Will!

The plastic bags of ,often shattered, plastic started to mount up.

In the end there were 6 sacks in the back of Liz's vehicle - 

which meant that Graham had to be drafted in to help 

transport the two barrels of saws and loppers back to the barn.

Eagle eyed Andy spotted a couple of baby hawthorn trees 

so dug them up ready for infilling the gaps in the hedge.

Liz spent a while finding out how long is a piece of string.

Answer - 50m. Now Phil - how many hedge

 stakes and rails will she need to buy?

Once the hedge had been prepped 

it looked a lot less daunting.

And then it was on to a bit of halo

 coppicing of a large hazel tree.

This generated a third pile of brash to 

replace one that had just been burnt to ash.

The tree looked a lot better after the job and lifting its crown

will help to prevent the brambles scrambling up into the canopy.

Six little NCVs sitting on a wall....

Coffee and lunchtime was a treat in the sun.

A walk up the hill behind the work area allowed everyone to see 

just how big this lovely reserve is. (This is just one corner.)

For years we have been driving past it on the way 

to Ripon and never knew it was there!

At the top of the hill was what must be the

 UK's smallest war memorial. An unusual use for 

an unwanted gate post!!

Hackfall Woods: 11-01-2022

 

This week it was the first visit to Hackfall in 2022. A day of routine maintenance, clearing gullies, sweeping benches, moving fallen branches etc.  Without any further ado let's see what was achieved....

Oh heck - what have these 2 NCVs 

spotted that has got them worried??

Maybe it was this??

Well - what a good job the NCVs are at hand!

Liz negotiated the debris...

...and deployed her bow saw.

Oh Ken - do you need a hand?

"Definitely - Andrew! Over here please!"

Goodness - it's made bit pf a mess of the fence!!

Now - is Julia just clearing stuff away

 or harvesting some materials?

Harvesting materials, obviously.

This feeble dead hedge keeps rotting down

 so needed replenishing.

Brilliant - replenished hedge now creates a 

definite barrier to anyone thinking they 

might just take a short cut down

 the slope to the sand beds.

Talking of brilliant dead hedging - 

these 2 ladies look slightly happier now that 

they have improved a second skinny little barrier.

Wonderful weaving girls!

And look at this nice clean bench - just one of the ones that were 

cleared and weeded.

Err, excuse me - just don't you drop any crumbs or spill any tea 

on that there bench. They've only just cleaned it!

Yet another horizontal tree. 

Storm Arwen to blame perhaps?

Let's clear the path at least.

This one was a little less monstrous.

This gully was chock full of rotting leaves and mud.

Not any more!!

So - to sum up - a very busy saw related day with a great team that cracked on making the paths safe for visitors. Well done to the NCVs for another hard day of graft.

Just to finish - is this a piece of tree decoration that the fairies forgot to pack away on 12th night or a string of rather unusual fungus?

Day Ash Farm: 04-01-2022

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

As the New Year started the NCVs were waiting, with bated breath, to see if the latest covid wave would prevent them working in the great outdoors. But - for now - it hasn't and  they are still free to do good for the local environment. Their breath could be unbated!

And so it was that they set off, on a beautiful cold, sunny morning, to Day Ash Farm to get on with the job of removing the encroaching holly from the woodland. They were determined to clear as much ground as they could before the spring flowers want to start growing. 

Here's how they got on....

Last time, this oak had been left with a holly trunk in front of it.

However - Liz, her chainsaw and her trusty assistant

 David soon sorted that out.

Everyone else concentrated on clearing the top 

edge of the woodland - either of little bushes like this....

...or monsters like this.

Brenda bravely deployed her loppers on a monster....

...and, with a little help from Julia and Anita, soon won the fight.

Ken decided not to bother with tools. He just got down 

on his knees and prayed that the tree would keel over.

(It didn't - Liz and her chainsaw had to be drafted in.)

Paul noticed that this tree was sporting a special ribbon.

Definitely one to be freed from the surrounding holly.

Osian took his chances and worked

 on freeing up these birch trees.

Well done that man - a good start to the New Year.

Ros E. selected this sycamore for attention.

She got there in the end ....

...although these holly trunks around the back...

 ...needed Chainsaw Liz and Superman David's

 help to shift.

At coffee time Julia proudly showed off 

her Christmas present from Dave...

... and nearly came to grief as it started

 to collapse into the boggy ground.

Andy passed around a tin of delights 

which restored Julia's karma.

And what were these treats? 

The most DELICIOUS chocolate brownies.

Break times gave everyone a chance

 to catch up on holiday news.

Well - nearly everyone!

Slowly but surely the tide of incoming brash grew and grew....

...as NCVs trailed backwards and forwards across the field,

dragging their prickly loads.

Gradually the brash was turned into a dead hedge 

along the remains of the old boundary wall.

Hand made holly stakes were hammered into the 

freezing ground to help secure the hedge in place.

Julia, now fully recovered from her seat

 disaster made a good job at this end.

And this crew were very pleased with their efforts - quite rightly!

Of course, as is often the way with this type of task, there is still more work to do. However, the woodland floor is now a lot clearer than it was and, hopefully, the mature deciduous trees will benefit and there will be a good crop of spring flowers growing this year.

Don't worry Andy - we'll be back in the autumn!!