Sunday 19 June 2011

Recruitment stall at Styal's Wood Fair sunday 19 June 2011

I'm feeling lazy and so I'm going to quote from Sue's email.

A good day on Sunday - and we escaped the rain!!

There were a good number from MNTV who turned up to set up, help on the stall, tidy up or just visit!! We chatted to some potential recruits, including a guy who was interested in the Chester Group and another, the Wolverhampton Group!! Although we asked a few, no-one wanted to leave their names and contact details, so we gave out leaflets and told them how to get in touch with us if they were interested.

It was a lovely friendly atmosphere, and good to have time to chat to new people as well as amongst ourselves (I never knew that T. was a bee keeper with 3 hives!!)

Sunday 12 June 2011

Styal (Woods) 12 June 2011

Seven of our volunteers turned out to Styal and spent the day working in the Northern woods.

Since the National Trust has reacquired the gardens in the valley near the mill, the patterns and history of the wider estate around the mill have been more to the forefront of management minds. There have also been staff changes which may have altered the view from the top.

One thing that has been highlighted is that some areas of the Northern woods between Styal and Norcliffe hall (private) were actually historically managed as garden and would have been highly manicured.

So a current activity is taking back control of these woods from nature, to manage the wood more actively with a view to creating a more varied ground cover and more open structure. This will as a side effect improve the health of the woodland and allow the growth of "better" trees.

So today the task was to transform the woodland from being like the first picture dark and overgrown with lots and lots of holly to the second picture more open and lighter. The weather deteriorated over the day, getting damper with time, we wore ear protection as we were using a chipper to deal with the cut holly - so we spent less time chatting and more time working. As a result we finished a bit early, but pleased with our day in the woods

It is strange how you notice the rain more when you can hear it!

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Pie night at the Drum and Monkey - Tues 7 June 2011

There was an excellent turnout of twelve people last Tuesday 7 June, at what has become a regular fixture on the MNTV social calendar, the Pie Night, at the Drum and Monkey in Alderley Edge.

Everyone enjoyed the selection of pies available, but initially there were a handful of disappointed tummies when it transpired that the Steak Puddings had completely sold out... luckily there was a wide menu to choose from, so everybody was suitably fed and watered.

As usual, the conversation during the evening ranged across a varied selection of topics. I think it's fair to say that we had all put the world to rights by the end of the evening! No photos this time I'm afraid - I'll try to remember to bring my camera next time.

Sunday 5 June 2011

Bickerton 5 June 2011

Five volunteers turned up to Bickerton Hill (eventually having been delayed by traffic), met up with the warden and a similar sized group from Chester.

We spent the day replacing "King posts" or "strainer posts" - the larger posts that actually hold the tension in a modern stock fence. These are were dug in by hand, with the holes being back filled with a mixture of ballast and the original soil. Concrete is not normally required and makes replacing posts in the future a real pain. Though one post was placed in concrete as its hole hit bedrock.

Unfortunately we ran out of time so the warden will have to return with another group to reattache the wire.

The day was a little damp and the sun never really appeared but waterproofs where not really needed.