Dams and Path Edges

We constructed three leaky dams a couple of years ago to help reduce the problem of flooding downstream in the valley path. The idea of a leaky dam is to slow down the water flow not to stop it completely and as you can see in the following photo the dams we built were doing a good job.

After a couple of winters though, they began to show signs of age and needed some refurbishment.

You can see here a build-up of small pieces of wood, branches and some silt. 

We had taken a lot of wood up to the dam area at the last work party and intended to use it to rebuild the dams, but a closer inspection showed that the build-up was mostly the result of the small pieces floating down the stream, and that the majority of the structural pieces were still in good condition.

We cleared away most of the debris from the upstream side of the middle dam and found we still had a viable structure.

The dam furthest upstream wasn't quite so easy to clear ...

... but Luke and I kept at it and soon uncovered the main structure.

It didn't take that long to clear and tidy up the dams so we had a lot of poles left over and time to use them. The path edges up above the stream needed some repair and replacement and that occupied us for the rest of the work party.

Peter and Cathy are installing some new poles and pegging them in place ...

... Eric  and Luke are dealing with a tricky repair to a curved section.

More help arrived and the job was soon complete ...

... and we have a nice new edge to the path.

Further down the valley path we have a lovely patch of primroses and bluebells. A welcome sight as we move into spring.

A different day to the one we were expecting but a successful morning's work.

Finishing Off

For the Wednesday work party on 25th March we finished off the work we've been doing to create the new open space we have named the Glade.

Part of the work we did over the past few work parties involved the coppicing of some of the small trees that were in that area. This produced a lot of material varying in size from fairly substantial logs to thin twiggy bits. The logs will be used elsewhere in the woods for repairs to the steps we've built and the twiggy bits fill the dead hedges. Between these extremes there were thinner pieces we can use as stakes, and thin pliable ones like heatherings. We are going to use these to refurbish the leaky dams we built last year.

The volunteers completed the last section of dead hedge and sharpened some stakes, then

 we moved the larger logs, stakes and heatherings up to the dams.

This is one of the three leaky dams we built last year to help control the water flow in the winter that can cause some flooding lower down the stream near our tool store.

This is the second dam and you can see that both of them need some care and attention.

Earlier on while we were in the glade we heard a noise that turned out to be a falling tree. It had fallen over the Jubilee Way path and was causing a blockage so Aiden, Jim, Peter and me went across to deal with it. It had broken at its base and was still attached to part of the stump. 

We cut the branches up into manageable pieces ... 

... then moved the trunk across the path out of the way.

Elsewhere in the woodland there are signs of Spring with primroses alongside the path up the valley near post 10 ...

... and more primroses and some bluebells alongside the main entrance.

Good progress has been made over the last few work parties and the glade is ready for use.

Building a Dead Hedge in the Glade

Having pretty well cleared the glade area we now had some empty spaces. They needed to be enclosed to define the area so for the Sunday 25th February work party we began building some dead hedges.

This photo is looking into the glade from the path alongside the Sort It centre ...

... and this is looking back at the path from inside the glade. 

It was alongside this path that we started the dead hedge.

Jim, Cathy and Eric started placing the upright stakes that form the 'skeleton' of the hedge that supports the body ...

... and helped by Peter they are now weaving some thinner branches between the stakes for the 'body'.

This is the resulting dead hedge alongside the path, leaving a gap for an entrance.

The hedge was extended around the corner ... 

... and we finished off for the day after making a lot of progress with the hedge.

We returned for the Sunday work party on March 8th and carried on from where we had left off.

We were going to carry the dead hedge on towards the trees to make a proper boundary.

Stakes were placed up to the point where we reached a small shrubby tree. It was not in a good state so we decided to take it down and use the resulting material to extend the hedge.

The material was cut and trimmed to make more stakes ...

... which Eric hammered into the ground to extend the 'skeleton'.

This was then filled to make the body.

Over the two work parties an extensive hedge was made to form a neat edge to this new area. There is still some way to go before the hedge is complete but the volunteers have made a lot of progress.

A Path Through the Glade

For the first work party in February on Sunday 8th we returned to the 'glade' and started to create a new path. It was to run from the back of the cleared area across another scrubby section to join the Jubilee Way. There were five volunteers present so we hoped to make good progress.

These photos show where we intended to make the path.

Andy, Chris and Graham started to clear away some of the scrub and brambles ...

... while Eric took on some of the bigger bits.

Graham worked hard in some tough brambles and made a good open space for the pathway. 

This is other side of the tree in the previous photo. The path goes past here then on to the gap between the two trees in the background, under the 'arch'.

While we were making space for the path we found some interesting fungi. These are known as 'Jelly Ears' (Auricularia auricular-judae) which can be found all year round on dead or dying wood, particularly on elder wood which is where we found these.

With the work for the day completed we gave the new path a trial run before heading for home.

Compared to what we were faced with when we started we made good progress today. As we move into spring and on towards summer there will be more work to do here to keep the path open and available to our visitors.