Hedge sitting

Hedge 2, view from Clarks Close towards Sandy Hill Copse

Dead tree makes fine den for sheep, looking over Sherborne

Last minute changes meant no Bat count this week, Mike occupied in the morning with meetings and me flying solo on Hedge duty. So I was challenged with completing the Chicken fencing for Hedge 2 and this meant tackling the existing thorny sections from the remains of the original hedge, some 200+ years old. It also was to be my turn in joining up the 3 sections of chicken fencing needed for this 120+ metre run and this proved tough on my fingers! On the plus side there are worse places to spend your time with great views over the Sherborne village and park land. The sheep proved entertaining expecting food every time I moved the 4x4 plus their many lambs were clearly enjoying the fine weather and freedom to play. Had a quick lunch break visiting Sandy Hill copse and was impressed with the Douglas firs that exist there.

Mike joined me in the afternoon and while I finished off work on Hedge 2 he set to on planting the blackthorn, hawthorn and hazel for Hedge 1. I joined him later on in the afternoon to help in the planting. True to form I hit a rocky section for my first plantings which brought back memories of planting ash saplings in the East Belt. Fortunately it did get easier although Mike's rate of planting was as usual a good deal faster than mine! Still, pretty good progress was made and Hedge 1 was well on the way to completion by close of play. With the volunteer group in tomorrow there was every chance for completing the planting for Hedge 1 and Hedge 2. Overall a pretty good effort in constructing 2 new Hedges, all we need now is some reasonable rainfall to help establish the new Hedge plants.

'Hedging' my bets or monkeying around?

Hedge 1, Sandy Hill copse

The Monkey strainer,  Hedge 2

Who says sheep can't count! click image to see

Tough goal set by Mike today to complete the construction of Hedge 2 and surpass the efforts of last week on Hedge 1. I was worried especially as Hedge 2 was longer in length and there were more environmental challenges to face. True Mike had made an early start in preparing the ground, setting up the high tensile wire and pounding in the first 5 posts. Add to this we had the tractor on duty so perhaps  we had a fighting chance.  Helped by good ground conditions,  using the metal bar and Drival we had fixed into the ground the first row of posts by lunch, a great start.

Spent lunch time on a wander around Sherborne village and the fields around Sherborne Brook . Good news was the sight of so many healthy spring lambs especially since many sheep farmers {especially those without adequate shelters}, have suffered tragic losses due to the extended cold & snowy conditions this year.

The afternoon began with an assessment of the existing fence line which stretched between Sandy Hill copse and Clarks Close. This was to provide the other side of the Hedge 2 rectangle but needed the addition of some new posts to replace the less stable existing ones. The good news was Mike used the tractor with bucket to drive the posts into the ground but the bad news was some of them were located in the middle of the existing stretchers of blackthorn hedge which needed to be 'pruned' back {painful!}. The next step was to return to the newly constructed post line and use the mighty Monkey strainer to set the wire tension prior to fixing the chicken fence wire. So Mike took charge of rolling out the chicken fencing along with joining up the separate batches needed to cover the entire fence line length. Meanwhile I was kept busy stapling the high tensile wire to the posts and using the pig ring gun to hang the chicken fencing from the high tensile wire. Working flat out the chicken wire fencing for the new fence line was completed by close of the day but this left the installation of chicken fencing for the old fence line. Close to meeting the challenge but no cigar! Next challenge would be to plant the 1000 hedge plants made up of Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Spindle for the Hedge 1 and Hedge 2 rectangle 'frames' , then wait 3 or so years for the hedge to mature. 

Building Hedges

A better way of rolling out high tensile wire

Its been a while since my fencing techniques were put to the test, last year in Littleworth woods,  but today they would be severely tested for the days sizeable construction task. True Mike would be there to provide the expertise and experience. The job to be done was to create 2 new hedges near to Sandy Hill copse, each 100M in length and each requiring 2 rows of poles forming one long, narrow rectangle for framing the hedges. The hedge plants would be planted in between the 2 fence lines and protected by 3.5 feet wide chicken fencing fixed to 2 lines of high tensile wire. On the positive side Mike with tractor had cleared the area for the 2 hedges earlier in the week, fixed the 4 end straining posts and had the essential fencing tools to make the task easier. This included the 'ancient wheel' for rolling out the tensile wire plus a new monkey strainer and pig ring gun. The pole saw and chain saw were also part of an extensive tool set and needed to clear some overhanging branches from the fence line. The rest of the tools comprised of the metal bar, Drival, spade, axe, chisel,   staples, hammers, tamper, farmers boy and wire cutters. Seventy poles and 2 rolls of chicken wire completed the materials required.

Hedge 1 posts fixed and one side of the fencing almost done

In spite of the positive elements helping this work there was no escaping the physical endeavour needed to fix into the reasonably receptive ground some 60 posts, which by the end of the day tested our power reserves and the ability to lift the heavy Drival needed to drive the posts deep enough into the ground. It was with some satisfaction that we had fixed about half of the chicken fencing to the 'installed' fence posts for the first hedge by close of play. The hedge planting, completion of the chicken fencing plus hedge 2 would have to wait for next weeks all out attack. Biassed I know but we were both pleased with the progress made and a pretty good standard bit of fencing achieved. The new monkey strainer & pig ring gun also proved to be an improvement over the older versions used in the past and the ancient wheel was a big improvement on hauling around the heavy coil of high tensile wire.

High flyer, with Bar code!

Sherborne Brook, on holiday for Bar-Headed Goose?

A hard ask from Mike today as we were to pay a visit to the Water meadows to complete the wood stacking and some fence clearing near Century wood. My last visit here wasn't paved with glory and this time we were more cautious with Mike driving the 4x4 with no loaded trailer! On the way to the work area we bumped into Richard and John from the Wildlife trust who were repairing part of the fence line alongside Sherborne brook where previously great work had been done in re-establishing the river bank using the 'hurdle' approach using faggots. In this case this meant a line of hurdles down the centre of the current widened brook. This was done ~1 year ago and already the river was deeper, clear  and with lots of evidence of water voles presence. Much useful conservation topics were discussed but this meant we all started to feel the cold given the time of day and cloudy conditions. This was soon remedied when we started the days task and with the temperatures rising we were soon taking off the layers.

Had a warm and rewarding lunch break walking along the Sherborne Brook where several treats awaited me. The first was witnessing a Heron catch its lunch, the second spotting the newly built swan nest with attending swan, {near the Boat house} and lastly seeing a most unusual goose for these parts. It turns out it is the Bar Headed goose {very distinct with the black 'bar' code stripes on the side of its head}. Not in my phone bird app. , not surprising since its home is central Asia!

Returned to the Water meadows for the afternoon where we finished the wood stacking in spite of Maddie who was in a playful mood as she attacked the wood piles with her usual energy!  Having completed this task Mike persuaded me to revisit the access point alongside Century wood where we were to do some fence clearing. On this occasion the deep mud had dried out so access wasn't a challenge. However evidence of our last trip was still visible where the deep ruts were still clearly defined. However the fence damage I thought I had caused was mis-reported and apart from some 'rotted' posts there was only a couple of scrape marks on the big strainer post to show for my collision. Granted that was enough to dent the new trailer but I felt better having not destroyed the fence. Afternoon weather was very pleasant and a very enjoyable day all round.

The Fallen, a Tandem response

Hard to imagine I'd face the trickiest driving conditions this winter over the Easter bank holidays but the strong easterly winds plus cold temperatures had left the high Cotswold roads with icy snow drifts which are just not going away. Another consequence of these unseasonal conditions, helped in one case by white rot fungus disease, brought about the falling of an ash in Leasow Furlong and part of a large beech in Little Setts near the cricket ground at Sherborne.

So having recovered from an annoying chest infection, {I rarely get ill,  I blame it on some bruised ribs}, I arrived at Sherborne where Mike was ready to go with the 'tractor and big trailer' plus the '4x4 with trailer'. The first task was to finish the clearing of the fallen Beech near the cricket ground and with some trepidation, {after last weeks trials} I set off in the 4x4 with Mike following with tractor. Good news was the ground was a good deal firmer than the water meadows so no sinking in the mud. Had to manoeuvre up the side of an elder hedge alongside an '80 acre' ploughed field but there was a useful grassy verge so no impact on the field. While Mike cleared up the large beech cordwood with the tractor grab I set to with axe on splitting the blocks Mike had cut the day before. Didn't expect to be doing this so late in the season, but with the wood store empty and demand still there, the extra wood was important. By lunch had added to the wood supplies in the nursery and apart from a hole in the hedge and a scar on the surviving part of the beech, all was clear.

'Leisure' furlong, again no picnic!

The afternoon promised more of the same but down in Leasow Furlong where fallen ash needed attention. Last visited this wood  last May, where fallen larch and 'prep' for a boy scouts camp was the task, but this time we were to work in the eastern side of the wood where some pretty old and strange looking multi-trunk ash dominated, the result of long ago 'coppicing'. After some energetic work, much needed in a brisk cool wind, we filled the tractor trailer with cord wood and after blocking and splitting filled the 4x4 trailer with wood supplies for a local customer. Mike deposited the cord wood in the nursery and we then drove the 4x4 to unload its wood loaded trailer manually at the customers residence in Sherborne village. A productive but tiring day so was pleased to get back home and turn into a couch potato in front of the TV!