Sunday 27 May 2012

27 May Hare Hill

9 volunteers turned out and spent the day replacing lid slabs on a wide culvert.  It flows out of the lake which is situated in the grazing land north of the garden's carpark.

As the culvert at this point is about three feet wide the slabs have to be very heavy to make them strong enough to support the weight of a modern tractor - a problem that the original builder of the system did not have to face.

Sunday 20 May 2012

Styal 20 May 2012

Eleven volunteers turned out to Styal on what turned out to be a very hot day - and worked in the woods.


They spent the morning in the Southern woods, pulling and or cutting "balsam" this is an annual plant (grows from seed every year), is easily recognised with its three way leaf layout - and is quite easy to pull up,  Though when it is among nettles it is "easier" to cut the lot down! 





The afternoon was spent in the northern woods - clearing mud / leaf mould from steps.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Fencing near Hayfield 13 May 2012

Twelve volunteers turned out and spent the day maintaining some of the Stock Fences near South Head Farm.




This involved removing the staples holding broken / rotten posts onto the fence, then using a bar to remove any remaining stump from the ground. 

That leaves a hole which makes driving in a replacement post easy before the fence is attached to the new post.

A small group cleared badly degraded "top wire" from a nearby drystone wall - (which was there to stop sheep walking / running up and over the wall!) - but had more or less disintegrated.  While the rangers installed new posts and top wire on a section of the same wall where it formed part of the perimeter of the a plantation.
We also removed a redundant fence line from the middle of a plantation, (reusing some of the posts on the perimeter).  The mesh, some posts and high tensile wire were taken away for use elsewhere in the future. 

The sun shone most of the day though the breeze had a cold edge to it.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

26th AGM on Tuesday 1st May 2012

a few words from our Chair...
We held our AGM last night in the meeting room at Norcliffe Chapel, Styal.

Sixteen members attended plus Simon Hiley (Styal Estate Manager). Daniel reported on the 2011/12 year (membership, work hours/days/tasks, socials) and thanked the committee, members and wardens for all their work in making the year a success.

Denise presented the accounts for the year to 31 March 2012 and we elected the 2012/13 committee (Daniel, Sue, Denise, Ian, Philippa, Alison, Gordon, Adrian, Charlie).

AOB topics included whether to distribute future newsletters by email, our appetite for weekend trips given the Trust are now charging for accommodation, and a possible Diamond Jubilee BBQ on 5 June.

After an interval for homemade refreshments Simon gave us a very interesting and entertaining talk. He described the roles of Rangers (formerly Wardens) in the Trust, the development plans for the Styal estate and initiatives to engage with innercity Manchester schoolchildren (Youth Rangers). Hopefully Styal will succeed with their application for Heritage Lottery Fund funding as a first step in realising their ambitions.