Water, Water Everywhere

For the work party on Wednesday 23rd October, our main plan was start the construction of some 'leaky' dams. We've had problems in the past with water from the stream that runs down the valley flowing over the path by the tool store. 

 

When I arrived for the work party the stream was well over the path and pouring out from the downstream  end of the culvert pipe. There seemed to be a blockage in the pipe which I tried to remove, but with little success.

The other volunteers soon arrived and we set about solving our blockage problem. With some 'torch shining' up the pipe and some poking from the other end ...

... and a bit more poking with a bigger stick, the blockage was cleared. It turned out to be two tennis balls and a large lump of rock. The stream is now back to its normal course through the culvert and the path can dry out properly. We've installed a kind of grid over the pipe entrance which we hope will stop large items getting in. Fingers crossed!

We could now get on with the work we had planned to do. This was to start building some 'leaky dams' higher up the valley the stream flows down. A leaky dam is one of the methods used to help flooding problems. A leaky dam is built from the natural materials found in the woods and restricts, but doesn't stop, the water flow. We'd had looked previously for a suitable dam building site ...

 

... and thought that these two might well be suitable.

We began by moving the poles that would form the main part of the structures from other parts of the woods to the stream and started to lay them across the water.

Erika and Eric are building the lower dam, Alan R and Alan W (I'm taking the photos) are having a go at the middle one ...

... while Peter and Graham are doing the upper section.

The main structure of the lower dam is near to completion...

... and the upper section is progressing well.

The middle dam is just about finished, just needs a few tweaks ...

... and the upper bit gets its final piece.

You can see the 'three dams' stretching up the valley ...

... and the ponds that are already forming.

We had a tricky start this morning clearing the pipe which delayed the start of the dam building but we made really good progress. You could be forgiven for thinking that calling our structures dams is a bit pretentious as they are just piles of sticks, but dams are what they are. We will leave them for a while to let them settle in, then see how they are getting on and adjust them if needed.

Erika's October Photos

 While in the woods last time, I planted an oak tree for my mum. I grew it in my garden from an acorn off a local tree. 

Here is a photo of the oak tree in the hedge near the entrance.

   

These are more photos of some other things I saw that day.

Autumn dogwood leaves go very red, and fungi are abundant in warm, wet autumns. There are aerial roots coming out of an alder tree, which loves soggy feet, some Stinking Iris seeds and Ivy flowers.

    

    

All photos by Erika Booth.

The Paddock Again

For the work party last Sunday 13th October, we returned to the Paddock where we did a lot of work earlier on in March this year. Seven of us went along and were surprised by what we found. 

This photo shows what we left the last time we worked here.

And this is what we found this time. Over the summer, the hazels we coppiced earlier have put on a lot of growth and the ground cover has also increased considerably.

One important job was to repair the woven fence that had lost a stake. Peter A, Peter M and Graham got on with that while Eric began dealing with some of the undergrowth.

At the other end of the fence Erika and Andy started to clear away the weeds that had taken over that area. 

We decided to shift the path to a more direct line from the stile and steps, keeping closer to the fence instead of winding through the hazels. It would be harder to maintain a pathway through the hazels as they grow larger. As you can see, Eric and Graham are up to their knees clearing away the undergrowth.

Peter M finished off the repairs so the fence is now complete again.

Meanwhile, Andy and Eric made progress clearing the area close to the stile and steps.

More help arrived and the work was completed quite quickly.

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 not until next year when nature wakes up.

Foot of the Pylon Field

On Sunday 25th September we had a regular work party. Three volunteers - Alan R, Eric and Peter went along and dealt with the overgrown edge of the path alongside the allotments at the foot of the pylon field. As you can see in this photo there was a lot of vegetation to get rid of.  

They spent a lot of time and effort with scythes and rakes to clear away the unwanted stuff that was encroaching onto the path...

...and completely cleared the path. With only three people to do the work it was a fine effort.

Giving the Primroses a Start

On Monday 9th September, we were helped by another five volunteers. This time they were from Dalcour Maclaran and came to help us as part of their company volunteering scheme. The area up the valley path near post 10 has a lot of bracken and other vegetation growing on it. This is where lots of primroses and some bluebells grow in the spring. The primroses need lots of light so we had to clear the bracken away to give them a fighting chance.  

This was the rather daunting sight that greeted our volunteers Emma, Henry, Lucas. Ollie and Sam.

They hadn't used scythes before but after some tuition they set to and were soon making progress.

They got the hang of scything quite quickly and removed the bracken and grass until ,,.

,,, the whole area had been cleared and we could look forward to the primroses appearing next spring.

Having cleared that area we moved on to the rather hidden part that is the former cowshed. This is now just some concrete slabs - no buildings are left; but it would be good place to safely light a fire. It is tucked away behind some trees and lots of brambles ...

As you can see from the photos above this was no easy task ... 

... but Emma, Henry, Lucas. Ollie and Sam got stuck in and made real progress.

They also recovered our bench which had been damaged and left halfway down the slope below the viewpoint. It was carried down the hill very carefully then left in the now cleared cowshed to await repairs.

It was a marvellous effort and we were so impressed by their hard work and cheerfulness. Dalcour Maclaren should be proud of you, and you are welcome back anytime you like.

All Downhill from Here

At our work party on Sunday September 8th we carried on from the previous work party to complete the clearance of the path from the bridge down to the ride past the allotments towards post 2. We had reached the pylon last time so it was all downhill from there.

You can see that the path was getting narrower as the grass and other vegetation encroached.

Andy and Eric started at the top then worked their way downhill.

Alan R and Chris began at the bottom and worked uphill. 

I went to the middle and did some uphill, and some downhill. 

When Chris had finished his section at the bottom of the hill he came up to help me finish the middle bit, and join up with 'down hillers'. Alan R finished off the bits left by the BT volunteers the previous Thursday.

Before long the the two sections met and we had a complete path again. Some strenuous work on a sunny morning to achieve our objective.