Into the Jungle

For the last two work parties we have concentrated on opening up some of the paths in the woods. South Gloucester council would normally keep a lot of our paths clear from March onwards by regular mowing but they have not been able to do this for the last two years because the machinery they use has not been available - it's broken and not yet been replaced. Consequently we have needed to to this work by hand as best we can. It's hard, time consuming work and we struggle to keep all the paths open all the time. 

For the work party on Wednesday 25th June, we tackled the path from post 6 at the top of the steps up from the bridge along to the viewpoint near post 8. Four volunteers went along and opened it up. 

This was what we started with ...

... and this is how it looked when we had finished.

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Six of us went along to the Sunday 13th July work party. That day was in the middle of an official heatwave so working out in the open, in full sun at temperatures around 27 deg C was not a viable option. We took to the woods! It was still hot but we did have plenty of shade and had decided to finish earlier than our usual time. What we did was to clear the path that runs from post 17 on the Jubilee Way along to post 16 in the old plantation.

This is post 17 and you can see the grass and other vegetation encroaching from both sides.

Going past here into the wood we found a fallen willow causing an obstruction ...

... and an overgrown path through undergrowth and brambles. A bit of a jungle!

We started by clearing some of the larger obstructions and bits of vegetation that were hanging over the path.

Aiden and Cathy cleared a lot of brambles alongside the path ...

... and before long we had a pretty decent pathway through the central section.

This was carried through to post 16 which you can see just behind Aiden's right arm.

Quite soon the whole of the path had been cleared to create a really nice short walk in the shade.

The volunteers worked hard to get the work done in trying working conditions. They should be very proud of all their efforts this morning.

Opening up Hedges

At the work party yesterday, Sunday 8th June, we did more work near the entrance to follow on from the work done by the volunteers from BT who were with us last Wednesday (see previous blog). Seven of us went along and began by the welcome area near the entrance to the woods. 

Outside of the woods to the right of the entrance the hedge is becoming choked with grass and weeds.

And so too is the hedge to the left of the entrance.

It's quite important to clear away this grass and other stuff growing there to let more light in and promote the growth of the hedges.

Peter A and Eric got stuck into the left side and are making good progress, while ...

... on the righthand side Graham and Andy cleared away the grass and weeds that had taken over that area. 

Meanwhile, Erika has been very busy on the woods side of the hedge that Peter and Eric are working on, and she has almost finished clearing it. 

Before long, both sides of the two hedges had been cleared and are now in a much better state. 

Then, after a short coffee break, we moved off to the open area of the valley path near post 10 where there were lots of primroses and bluebells back in March and April.

The primroses and bluebells are now long gone and have been replaced by lots of bracken and grass as you can see in the following photos.                                                                      

This is looking uphill from post 10 - compare this with the primroses.

This is the same path looking back towards post 10 where the bluebells were.

We got stuck into the bracken scything and raking...

... and we soon had it all cleared away to leave an open space that will catch the sun and maybe produce some wild flowers!

The volunteers worked hard all morning to get the work done and both the valley path and entrance hedges were soon opened up again. 

BT Volunteers Clear the Way

Yesterday nine volunteers who work for BT came along to do some work in Filnore Woods as part of a company volunteering scheme. A couple were familiar with the woods but most were making their first visit.

The bracken and grass alongside the fence between us and the allotments has grown a lot and the grass in the welcome area at the entrance is considerably longer too, as you can see in the following photos.

The work for the day was to clear these two areas.

Most of the volunteers hadn't used a scythe before so we began with a training session. They soon picked up the basics and with some practice in the welcome area were ready for tougher stuff.

It was a steep learning curve but progress was swift and before long a lot of work had been done.

Soon it was time for a break after a long morning and we stopped for some lunch.

After a rest and some food we were ready to get back to work and set to with a will.

Work continued after lunch until the whole area next to the allotments had been completely cleared

The volunteers put in a lot of effort and worked really hard all day with no complaints. They were a pleasure to work with and achieved a lot. They will be welcome if they are able to return and help us again sometime in the future.

Return to the Paddock

In my blog post from last October about clearing the Paddock area I speculated that we would need to do it again when growth started. Well, it's not officially summer yet but a lot of growth has already taken place

For the work party last Wednesday 28th May, we returned to the Paddock and this is what we found. 

Over the winter and spring, the hazels have put on some growth and the ground cover has increased considerably. No sign of the path we created to run alongside the fence!

Four of us - Erika, Eric, Alan R and me Alan W had turned up for the work party. We decided that with only four of us the priority was to open up the path from the entrance stile, then clear alongside the fence to the exit further down Vilner Lane. This would create a usable path through the Paddock and leave some vegetation for the wildlife.

Erika, Alan R and Eric started to clear from the fence line back towards the stile while I went in the opposite direction clearing towards the lane entrance. 

Erika came back to help me and it wasn't long before we had established a path wide enough for easy access to the lane.

We left a lot of the vegetation in place, things like hart's tongue fern and Herb Robert. Anything that provides shelter or is good for pollinators will be beneficial in the long run.

Compare this photo with the one at the start of this blog. The tree left of centre and the hazel right of centre will help a comparison and you will see how much change can be made by only four people.

The volunteers worked hard all morning to get the work done and the paddock path was soon opened up again. I expect we will be back to do a similar job but probably this year in the autumn if not before.

Mowing at the Viewpoint - Take two

Last time we were at the woods we were up at the viewpoint to begin scything the grass. There were only four of us so the area wasn't completely cleared. For the work party last Sunday 11th May we returned to complete the job. Eight of us went along and set to. 

This photo shows what we left the last time we were working here.

The day was warm and sunny, and the grass was dry. Good conditions for scything.

Eric began dealing with the grass near the path edge ...

... while Jim and Andy started scything the grass further along near the bench. 

Aiden and Cathy had been mowing closer to the top edge of the slope and were now raking up.

Will, Jim and Andy are contemplating what they have done so far before carrying on to some tougher stuff further along the path.

Looking back the other way, new volunteer Helen has been cutting and raking some of the grass from last time that has already grown considerably.

We finished around midday and you can easily see the difference from when we started.

As usual, the volunteers worked hard all morning to get the work done. The viewpoint will be tidy - for a while at least, thanks to Helen, Andy, Will, Eric, Jim above. Also Aidan and Cathy who had to leave before this photo was taken. I just hung around with them taking photos and moving some grass around!