Wharfedale Weekend - burning laurel in the Yorkshire Dales: 26-28th August 2016 (Bank Holiday weekend)

A fire, a storm and a Lentil Stew - 6 travel to Wonderful Wharfedale

Participants: Sue B, Tim O, Louise L, Neil B, John W and Ally H. Rangers were Peter and Roisin.

Staying at the Town Head Barn in Buckden.

It started on Friday night with a meal in the Buck Inn, 4 of us sat down to a very tasty meal and just after we had ordered John appeared so we added his order to ours and set about swapping stories. At a just before 8 pm Neil, Sue and Ally headed back to base as Louise was due to arrive at that time. Tim and John W stayed at the Buck Inn and tried the Cider and Beer.
Saturday dawned bright but cloudy and the task was lopping and burning laurel in Redmire Wood.

Redmire Wood was a short walk along the river from the basecamp and was created for Buckden House which was the residence of Sir John Charles Ramsden and his wife during 1831-1879.  The wood was cared for by the Stansfield Family until 1938.  The woods were used as a pleasure park and so had lots of interesting trees from all over the world.  There are carriage tracks going up the side of the hill for people of yester year to enjoy views of the valley.  It was this we were trying to get back.  It will never be as it was as there are some very large trees, some of which are quite rare.

The laurel had been left for quite some years and was out of control and so we were getting rid of it.  We did this by lopping and sawing our way through the big and small bushes and burning it. We spent the morning chopping, sawing, dragging and burning the laurel. 

We ate our lunch by the fire on a flat area of ground and swapped stories, during the afternoon we carried on lopping, sawing and burning. We put the larger branches in piles to form wildlife habitats or insect hotels. The thinner longer branches were piled up and cut up  with loppers and then put on the fire.

At about 2.30pm we decided to stop cutting so we could burn all the laurel that we had lopped and cut. Some of us headed back to the base camp shortly afterwards Neil and John stayed to tend the fire until it had burnt down enough to be left and wouldn’t set the rest of the forest on fire. Once we were all back at the basecamp we decided a trip the pub was deserved so the 6 of us headed for a swift pint. Ally, Sue and Neil headed back to base early to make the dinner and were joined just as dinner was ready. We dined that evening on Lentil Stew and Pasta with Salad, desert was Meringue with Strawberries and Cream.

Ally "chillin' "

That night there was a thunder storm which woke some people up but others didn’t hear and didn’t believe had happened.

Sunday dawned cloudy with moisture in the air it didn’t stay like this long though.  We breakfasted on cereal and toast with bacon and eggs available too. Our Ranger today was Roisin, she met us at 9.20 at the barn with two other Volunteers Simon and John.  We spent the morning carrying on with the work we had started the day before, but because there had been rain during the night and the ground was slippery we split onto two levels. John W and Neil got the fire going and we started lopping, sawing and dragging. The fire didn’t really get going with all the prodding and poking so we had a coffee break during which Roisin produced some of her cakes she had entered into the competition at Malham Show where she had been the day before with a stall for the National Trust. Unfortunately she didn’t win any prizes for her cakes we of course gave her first prize, during our break the Fire finally got going so we carried on burning. At about 12.30 Roisin took Sue, Louise, Ally, Simon and John to see five very tall Giant Redwood trees and den area.

We finished working at 1pm ate our lunch and then headed back at the basecamp. Cleared up and Tim, Louise and Sue headed for home.  That left Neil, John W and I as we were staying Sunday night we ended our weekend with a trip to the pub for our evening meal.

Many thanks to all who came and the Rangers for not cancelling the weekend due to small numbers. I look forward to seeing more of you next year.

Text by Ally.

Bracken clearance at Hayfield on Sunday 21st August 2016

Three staunch volunteers turned up at the Sett Valley car park to meet Vicky the ranger and her boss Matt. After making the short drive to Kinder reservoir we alighted the land rover and made the short but steep climb to the first worksite, the hill side overlooking the reservoir, and affording spectacular views over the moor towards Kinder downfall.
The job was to clear the bracken that threatened to swamp the trees that had been planted three years earlier. We had carried out the same task last year and, as we waded through the chest high bracken, our previous efforts were in obvious evidence; the growth of foliage surrounding the saplings being only half the height of the untouched plants.
After completing the first stage we stopped for a brew before walking ¼ of a mile to another area of planting.
Unfortunately the planting here had been less successful with many of the young trees succumbing to the harsh conditions of this more exposed site.
The weather was changeable varying from heavy drizzle to dry but very humid and sticky, so it was a happy but slightly soggy group that made the return journey to the cars.
Thanks to Vicky and Matt for organising a great workday and providing loads of interesting info on the area and the ongoing conservational aims for the property.

Text by Tim. No photo's this week!                

Balsam pulling at Hardcastle Crags on 14th August 2016

We spent today at Hardcastle Crags in West Yorskhire, a property we seldom visit near Hebden Bridge in Bronte country (Wuthering Heights).  Eight of us turned out and were joined by Hardcastle's second-Sunday-in-the-month volunteers.  We all spent the day pulling up Himalayan balsam from fields, hedgerows and woods around the Estate Office (Hollin Hall).  By the end of the day the verges of the lane were littered with piles of snapped balsam plants.  The plants are pulled at this time of year before their seed pods develop.

Ranger Drew told us about the ongoing field trials in nearby valleys of 'fungus rust' to see if this could be a viable biological control against the spread of the balsam.  Preliminary results look encouraging.

In the afternoon a couple of walkers stopped to talk to Daniel: one said how much less balsam there was this year than last (Drew agreed) and another asked why we were pulling up all the foxgloves (hee hee)!

Those of us working in the Estate Office's garden saw a couple of Red Admiral butterflies.  They were flitting about from ragwort to ragwort, obviously attracted by the vivid yellow leaves.

Drinks with Tim Jarvis on 10th August 2016

Long time members will remember Tim Jarvis (ex-Chairman), active in the group ~1995-2005.  He moved back to Essex over 11 years ago but from time to time comes back up north and did so last week.  Five of us met him for drinks in the Waters Green Tavern in Macclesfield, one of his favourite pubs.  There was no missing Tim - he was wearing a vintage Manchester NT Volunteers T shirt!  Tim's a real ale buff and had detailed notes of dozens of pubs in Macc, Bollington and Buxton to try over the three days - half a pint in each mind!

It was good to catch up with Tim, hear what he's up to in Essex, congratulate him on his recent marriage to Lolita, tell him about MNTV's current activities, show him the 2014 and 2015 Yearbooks and ask him to join us in Snowdonia next April.  Currently he works weekends so that will prove difficult but if a weekday job comes along and Lolita approves may be possible!

Bracken bashing at Helsby Hill on Sunday 7th August 2016

You can't beat a slash on a hillside in the sunshine. At least, not when it involves clearing a large area of bracken to protect an iron age hill fort, while soaking up the sun and enjoying views from the Pennines to Snowdonia.

We were on Helsby Hill, armed with slashers and a few saws and loppers, to attack the bracken that was threatening to overwhelm the ramparts of the iron age fort overlooking the village below.

Bracken, bracken, everywhere

As the bracken dies off in autumn, it draws the sugars from the fronds back into the root, which can grow strong enough to disturb the important archaeology beneath the surface. By cutting off the plants above ground, the sugars are lost and the root system is weakened, protecting the archaeology.

We had a large area to tackle, but thankfully we also had a large army to do so: 13 of us had turned out, even through Helsby is slightly further afield than many of the properties we attend. We set up base above the sheer cliffs above the village, and after a short safety talk ("Don't fall off!") we set to our task.

Andy shows how to master the 'casual pose with bracken slasher'

The bracken was thick and high, but progress was quick with the strength in numbers that we had. Within half an hour of starting, Neil felt we'd done enough to earn our morning break - we managed to get another 15 minutes done before stopping, but we were already making visible inroads.

After more slashing, more progress, and few dogs nosing around the bag that contained the chocolate brownies, it was time for lunch, during which Lisa was viciously attacked by a wasp, albeit without being stung.

"I was up there": Tim tells Lisa how he was first to reach the ramparts

After lunch we worked our way up the hill, with Tim probably claiming the honour of reaching the ramparts first. Eventually more people reached the top of the slope. John was less lucky than Lisa when he disturbed a wasp nest and got a dozen stings for his trouble.

MNTV shows the  bracken who's boss

By the end of the day there was not much bracken left for the Chester group to continue the work the following Tuesday. We had a quick photo at the trig point (Neil used my boots as ear-muffs) and headed for home.

Atop Helsby Hill