With a little help from...

Main 'gate' to Lodge Park

This weeks task began with re-gravelling the 'old' entrance to Lodge Park. Two key helpers were the tractor and Maddie, who provided valuable support to Mike & I, albeit with very differing roles. Seven Tonne bags of gravel later the job was done and although much energy was expended I wouldn't have like to have done it without the tractor and Mike's expert skills at the tractor controls.

Woodland menace!

Self portrait, at the edge of  Ragged Copse?

Thus far I have resisted in sharing my frustrations with some of the issues I have come across with our countryside mainly because generally I like to be upbeat and genuinely enjoy my time in the great outdoors. However I can't resist a bit of a rant about tree damage by that 'cute' little grey squirrel some clever person(s) decided to introduce to this Island in the period 1876-1920. It stems from my short walk around Ragged Copse at Sherborne in my lunchtime followed by the work we did to make safe the woodland play area for local school children  at the Pleasure Grounds.  Although I did enjoy the lunchtime walk around Ragged Copse , especially seeing healthy growth of the ash planted this year, the gloss was taken off by observing the really bad squirrel damage to the line of young to maturing broadleaf {mainly Beech}  trees. This was followed up by  even more damage to young broadleaf trees at the Pleasure Ground area we were working in, these trees will die, or when Mike can fit it in his busy schedule, will be felled.  Unfortunately I have seen such damage in most of the woodland areas both at Sherborne and in the wider North Cotswolds NT sites. I have also read articles which question whether Squirrels do that much damage and even suggest that young trees are not at risk. What nonsense, I can only hope that the results of the Forestry Commission survey regarding this issue, due 2011, come up with something that will make a difference {I haven't yet tracked down its conclusions/action plan}. 

Abstract art

tadpoles v newt

less busy spot but where?

Lodge Park pond

Four men went to mow, 3 volunteers {me, Simon, young Andy} and 1 Ranger with usual array of kit. No dog 'cos Maddie was keeping 2 visiting dogs company back at Mike's home.  Cracking day,  only downside is I was on strimming duty  and had to wear a safety hat with visor and ear defenders.  Pressure on to make Sherborne and Lodge Park presentable for the events at the weekend (one being a 10K 'fun' run, bit of an oxymoron if you ask me}.  Only problem faced all day was a fuel shortage soon remedied by Mike. So at the end of a hot day all tools remained in good working order. Did have a a couple of breaks one at lunch with a pleasant walk around the Pleasure grounds and the other in a revisit to the Lodge pond where  I'm pleased to report the pond life was looking healthy.

Growing pains

broken willow branch down in the water meadows

• Its quite staggering what heavy rain interspersed with the odd warm dry day will do for plant growth this time of year. In the space of a couple of weeks footpaths, streams and woods that have been maintained look overrun with vegetation. This is the pain bit since on top of usual tasks there is now a regular piece of essential maintenance to clear access points, signs and paths. So the first example of this was all to evident at Rack Isle this week. The water courses especially the one in front of Arlington Row was  covered in a thick layer of vegetation in spite of early work to keep it under control.  At ground level there was no trace of the fisherman path to the river  Coln. 

• So it was not surprising that the first job with Mike this week down in the water meadows, to make safe some of the willow trees, required both strimmers along with the pole and chain saws.  Last time I was down this way the ditch was dry and there was a clearly defined pathway. So the day consisted of a good deal of clearance with strimmers so the bridges, signs, parking area and access were visible again. On the positive side when the power tools were off the water meadows and adjacent woodlands of Century, Commons and Picardy was a great place to be. Not a person in sight or that much wildlife but the usual buzzard & rabbits, a glimpse of a deer in the deep grasses and a lesser whitethroat. There was also a brief sighting, with the aid of Mike's binoculars,  of a an unusually coloured buzzard perched in a large willow.  The only other sign of life all day was the sounds from the Wildlife trust team working further down the windrush/sherborne brooks developing habitats. 

Sculpture in the making

Chosen ~200 year old ash

A request from a sculptor for a substantial piece of wood for a project related to Nelson Mandela is to be satisfied by a recently felled ash at Sherborne's Pleasure grounds. So todays first task with Mike was to cut the above ash into suitable lengths {~2m} each weighing in at  ~ 2 tons! Quite a challenge to cut through this size of tree but Mike was up to the challenge. Fortunately the tree was on flatish ground so I didn't have to worry about Mike or me being crushed by the wood if it rolled our way. Needless to say even we were not strong enough to load this monster onto the trailer something Mike will deal with using his tractor and a suitable load bearing trailer later. Feeling confident Mike turned his attention to cutting up a nearby sycamore tree almost as large as the ash but on more of a slope. Tricky but again the job was completed safely.  I ought to stress both these magnificent trees were previously felled by tree surgeons because of serious damage.  Such mature wood will provide useful revenue for the trust.

We moved on from here to the East Belt to complete the excellent work carried out by the 'ANTS' plus M&M removing Laurel and giving the opportunity for some healthy ground level plant growth.

Locals putting me under pressure

The challenges of the day weren't quite over as Mike had one more clearing job to do at the bottom end of the Pleasure grounds in an area called the 'Bowling alley'.  A large limb had dropped off a beech tree falling down over the Ha ha ditch and over the stock fence. Before we could reach the area I had to open a gate with an awkward lock and then lock it again once Mike had driven through. The audience above, especially the bull,  did make me a little nervous but I managed. We arrived at the site where quite a bit of clearing of brash was needed before Mike could access the large limb which was leaning upright against the beech trunk and resting on the ditch bottom. This was not an easy chainsaw job, not least because of the lack of space on the Ha ha wall where Mike had to do some of the cutting. However with the aid of some rope and extreme care the Beech was blocked up and loaded onto the trailer. The Ha ha wall sustained some damaged but was 'gently' pushed back into alignment. Good job done so we headed back up the field to the exit gate. The herd however were clearly keen on again putting me under pressure and started running from their quiet grazing back towards the gate. This included the Bull but fortunately I unlocked the gate in record time and managed to close it before too close an acquaintance. Was Mike smiling, all I know is he was happy to be driving and not leaving the vehicle.  

One small job to do before end of play but this was helping out one of the locals and included some refreshment and pleasant local engagement.