Whinney Hill: 13-03-2018

Pateley Pigeon Post 

Rhodie Bashers Strike Again!!

by A Hack

For a second week on the run a group of local NCVs turned up when no one was looking, cut down and then burnt tons of rhododendron vegetation on a hillside at Whinney Hill, Warsill. 

Well - at least they thought no one was looking. In actual fact I, an undercover reporter (well - under a nearby gorse bush reporter)  for this august newspaper, was hidden away photographing this shocking event. However - when faced with clear evidence of the crime - the landowner was dismissive of my efforts to bring this group to justice. He said: 

"It's not a problem Mr. Hack. In fact - it's just the opposite. They are solving a problem for me. The rhododendrons are a real nuisance - they are invading the oak woodland and poisoning the ground. My wife and I can't wait to be rid of them."

So - no shocking story after all? I will leave you to judge for yourselves from the pictures below. As for this particular reporter - it's the last time I go sitting in a gorse bush chasing fake news!

The state of play on arrival - 

heaps of brash to burn and still lots of rhododendron bushes to cut down.

The lighting of the bonfire on top of last week's patch seemed to be a priority.

It was the only way that the intruders were going to get rid of the evidence.
Thanks to a bag full of dry kindling this was a much quicker process than last week.

 As you would expect - lots of lopping and bow sawing was going on... 

...both to remove stems....

...and to process the masses of cut brash for the fire, 

Dragging the cut vegetation was a hard job - 

but the intruders were determined not to be beaten.

There was so much brash a second fire was decided on.
This, too, got going very quickly.

As the day went on so the brash got burnt.
The bonfires grew hotter and hotter.

 The group had the audacity to sit eating flapjack at coffee time...

... blatantly laughing and joking, as if they hadn't a care in the world.

 All over the site vistas were opened up as stems were removed.

A possible badgers' sett was discovered...

...as were the remains of Yorick, who the NCVs knew well.

By 2:30pm, after 5.5 hours on site, 
the group was just too tired to continue.

There was still a 

small patch of rhododendron bushes left to cut...

...but no outstanding brash to be processed and burnt at all.

Whinney Hill, Warsill: 27-02-2018

Nidderdale - last week!

In case you were wondering why there was no NCV blog entry for last week - snow stopped play. We were meant to be back at Ellington Banks but had to cancel due to the 'Beast from the East' (see state of play in Summerbridge above).

So today, as the beast reluctantly retreated into its cave (waiting until as late as Monday to do so), 10 NCVs were carrying out a very familiar task in a completely new place, namely rhododendron removal at Whinney Hill, Warsill. Unlike the rhodies of Fishpond Wood, these were in a much smaller, fenced off area, so the task didn't seem too overwhelming on first sight. However - there was plenty to do - certainly more than one day's work - as can be seen below..

 Before work started.

Firstly, everyone had to squeeze 

into the car parking area.

With loppers, bow saws and fire lighting equipment to hand the band of happy workers got busy....

 Heads down and in they go.

A bit of brash starts to accumulate.

Meanwhile the all important fire had to be lit using a 
cardboard box full of inflammatory materials.

Things looked promising.

Until the inflammatory materials failed to set 
light to the rather damp stuff that had to be burnt.

Anita tried giving it her blow of life.

To no avail.

So Tony tried with a more 
substantial huffing and puffing method.
Still not promising.

2 and a half hours later they had a respectable bonfire going.
Hurray!

 

Just as well really - because whilst this was going on 

the brash kept accumulating.

 It was being dragged from the oak woodland area 
to the bonfire area at a rapid rate of knots.

Heave Anita.
Put your back into it!

When Osian collapsed into a bush we 
knew it was about time for lunch.

Well - that and the fact that David  was so hungry he 

started eating the rhododendron.

OK Chaps - take a break.

 Then it was back to work.
Guess who?

Tom and Osian - Rhodie bashers extraordinaire.

 Then, suddenly, the edge of the area came into view.

And with one mighty saw we were through - 
at that side anyway.

 By 2:30pm we'd reached the end of our energy supplies 
but had achieved a good deal.

Well done that team!
Don't forget to come back next week to try and finish the job...

...and burn the 47 yards of brash that is still waiting.
It was too late to keep piling it on the hard won bonfire...

...so we just had to leave it to burn down.
What a shame!!

Masham Moor: 20-02-2018

Hairy green, brown eyed alien on Masham Moor?
No - something far less worrying. Read on.....

This week the NCVs had no excuse to retreat to the cosy barn for a spot of tidying. The temperature had risen to a tropical 6-7 degrees (though feeling lower in the wind) so things were just about bearable to allow them to get up onto Masham Moor. Here they helped carry out the task they were meant to do last week when it snowed. The aim was to help the Yorkshire Peat Partnership with an innovative experiment to plant Sphagnum moss as part of their efforts to restore the area's upland peat bogs.

NCV Osian explains....

As part of a peatland restoration and management programme a scientific study is looking into which of the Sphagnum reintroduction methods work best, evaluating how quickly the moss grows, the impact on greenhouse gases, water quality and downstream flood risk.

The study site was reached after an off-road journey by car and then a trek on foot carrying tubs of moss over the heather moorland during which a flock of 30 golden plovers were spotted.

The walk to the planting site.

Everyone gathered at the weather station - 
the only point of reference for miles around.

NCVs then got to grips with the highly technical task of, errr, chucking moss on the floor. There was a bit more to it than that, but essentially this is one of the four methods of moss reintroduction being studied. So, several builder’s bags of finest grade North Pennines sphagnum moss that had been helicoptered onto the moor the previous day were carefully scattered on predetermined plots of moorland. For more information on the project and an idea of what the helicopter brought in see this video https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/video-helicopters-fly-in-to-improve-north-yorkshire-moor-1-8442669.

Special delivery from Amazon Prime drones.

Some of the 60 plots on the moor where the study is being run.

At first moss was simply spread on some plots.

After a brief drinks interlude, the team turned to planting greenhouse grown plugs of moss at 1 metre intervals. As several team members remarked, “this greenhouse moss is in for a hell of shock”, a reference to the rather cold conditions on top o’ t’moor.

 

Volunteers were undertaking extreme moss planting. 

 

Were these rarely observed lesser spotted blue NCVs, 
lunching amongst the heather?

A shot from the front confirmed the sighting.

It was clear that, during lunchtime, volunteer task leader Osian 
took his supervisory duties very seriously indeed. 

After a prolonged lunch under the North Yorks sun and largely out of the bitter wind the volunteers got stuck into the third method of moss introduction in the form of planting fistfuls of moss in varying densities while other YPP team members sprayed moss fragments in a gel vehicle onto other plots for the 4^th method of ‘seeding’.

Floristry skills were honed making bouquets of moss 

to insert at 1 metre intervals..

Example of a planting plot mapped 
for low and high density planting

Nearby were some recently constructed dams - 
another technique to retain water on the moor.

All in all a good day's work. It was an unusual and worthwhile task and it will be interesting to see the results of the study.

NCV news from elsewhere....

Firstly -whilst everyone else was planting moss, Jan was in the barn continuing with the shelving project. This week he was making shelves to go between the wider ones to give even more storage space.

Some nice 'mezzanine shelves' added.Thanks Jan!!

Also - a couple of weeks ago three volunteers gave fellow NCV Tony a helping hand, laying the hedge in the field of his new home. An excellent job was done which will benefit wildlife, as well as keeping the field stock-proof. Many thanks have to go to the AONB for providing us with the training to be able to do this and for the loan of some of the extra tools we needed. (Thanks also to Tony's wife Alwin, who fed us like royalty on both days!)

The hedge before starting.

A problem to solve.

A fine pleach achieved!

The final result.