Brambles

At the work party last Wednesday 27th November we headed up to the top of the pylon field where there is a large patch of brambles to the left of the path. We can't entirely stop them from spreading but by removing the current growth we can hold them back for a while. 

These photos show what we started with.

We took our 'bush' scythes along because they have stronger blades than our 'ditch' scythes. The ditch blades are used for cutting grass while the bush ones are better for tougher vegetation like brambles. We also took some slashers which have a stout blade on the end of a long wooden handle.

Here, Graham is using a slasher to remove some bramble. Not an easy task though because the brambles are spreading through quite long grass which was wet after a lot of earlier rain. This wet grass was tangled amongst the brambles making cutting them down difficult and hard work.

Graham gets some assistance from Alan R with his scythe. 

Erika and Eric get stuck into the brambles along with Graham and Alan R. Meanwhile, I was raking up the cut down stuff and taking these photos.

When we'd finished cutting and raking we had a couple of piles of brambly bits and a pretty much clear patch of grass.

We still had some time left before the end of the session and used it to dig out a channel on each side of the steps leading down to the bridge. This will hopefully lead any water runoff away from the steps directly into the stream and make the steps a bit less muddy for visitors and their dogs.

Wood Chip and Steps

Autumn is well under way now and we need to get on with maintenance and repairs. Part of this involves the paths that go up and down our various hills and banks. We recently had a delivery of wood chip from South Glos so for the work party last Sunday 10th November we used some of it to repair steps. I went down to the woods a few days before to check on the leaky dams we'd built a few weeks ago only to find that the stream had almost completely dried up and there was no water behind them at all As I was there, I walked around  to see how things were looking in general and found that ...

... the flight of steps going down from post 6 to the bridge needs some care and attention.

And four of the steps had been removed completely then thrown into the scrub alongside the path.

The first job was to put some wood chip into bags and carry them up the valley path and along to the steps near post 6. We moved a lot of wood chip, there's loads more around the corner at the top as well as the bags you can see here. In particular, Andy put in a tremendous amount of work shifting the chip.

Then Erika, Graham, Andy and Rob began the repairs to install the steps that had been moved ...

... and spread wood chip on them to level off the front edges.

The rest of the steps down down to the bridge were dealt with, then we crossed over and spread more wood chip to level the steps on that side of the stream.

This job was finished off - Graham is checking that it was done properly! It was a good morning's work and we achieved a lot.

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.