Back to the woods: Thinning and Laying!

Maddie getting stuck in

Thinning in the West Belt,  just down from the A40

With some relief it seems the St Jude storm, the main 'force' which passed South of our area, caused no significant/visible damage to Sherborne's trees. So Wednesday it was all go for my first thinning of the season in the West Belt continuing the work from last November. A beginning had been made over the weekend so Mike had a good idea what needed felling. After a good start, where the trees were felled to the ground with relative ease, the work became more challenging. This was due to the felled tree getting held up with the canopy/branches of nearby trees.  Consequently I was rapidly re-acquainted with the key techniques to bring such trees to the ground. The large tree lever came into its own with rolling the trunk or levering from the trees base ,  if this failed then dragging the tree backwards using a convenient piece of cordwood as a lever, or a combination of all.  Lunch time arrived all too quickly and in surprisingly pleasant weather I relaxed down by the Sherborne Brook. It was to be a day of singles where one egret, heron, buzzard, swan and merlin plus a peacock butterfly were on show.

The afternoon was spent back in the West Belt where a couple of surprises were in store.  The first was Maddie attempting a 'tunnelling '  technique for felling a tree which I suspect was her playing rather than helping. The second was Mike choosing to go 'off piste', and as our thinning meant we had reached the eastern edge of the West Belt, he decided to carry out some hedge laying {hedge planting being my only experience of building hedges thus far}. So with some nifty chainsaw cuts of the existing line of shrubs and with me with pole hook to bend the cut shrubs over to form the hedge, we soon had the start of a natural hedge formed. Quite impressive I thought but the hedge laying was bought to a halt for the day due to some overhanging branches blocking our progress and requiring a pole saw.  So it was back to thinning to complete a constructive days work.

There's nothing quite like it....

Mud provides extra challenge in the nursery

So after lucking out with the weather for Snowshill Apple weekend , having Tuesdays session with the Wildlife Trust cancelled due to heavy rain, it was fingers crossed for Sherborne today. Well seems my luck is holding as the weather gods seemed to be in a good mood. Fortunately the recent wet weather has meant I now travel well prepared with waterproofs, wellies etc. Just as well I had my wellingtons on hand as  the day was to be spent in the Nursery producing wood supplies in deep mud. Deliveries were to Windrush and our first to the Sherborne village shop where the owners were so impressed with the amount of wood delivered for the first load, concluded that the additional load they ordered was not necessary. Not a problem for Mike as the unwanted load was to get a deserving local home. Further loads were used to top up the wood store which is slowly filling up for the winter demands.

Autumnal colours on show at Sherborne

In the fine weather I spent my lunch in the Pleasure Grounds where I was surprised to see a Comma butterfly and then I bumped into a number of walkers enjoying the balmy conditions. I had chance for a quick look at  Sherborne Brook where I spotted a lone egret , the usual heron, lots of mallards & gulls and to my delight the swan family parents minus their offspring plus a lone swan upstream of the weir. The 50+ canada geese we spotted flying in formation, from the Nursery, were not there so must be enjoying a rest down in the Water Meadows.

This NT press communication could offer a ray of hope on much needed support for our environment from farmers, this being linked to the imminent decision by Owen Patterson/DEFRA on how the CAP funding is used. Wildlife Trust also produced this communication on the same subject, I like the picture of the hare!.

Short and sweet

Weather we'd like for Apple weekend 

Tuesday at Snowshill provided dry and sunny weather which was a great help as we erected the 3 large Marquees and collected/setup the tables in readiness for the apple weekend celebrations starting this coming Saturday at Snowshill. Our hope for the great weather of last years event may be a stretch but the apple collection will be much improved given better growing conditions this year.

Morris was at Sherborne today which can only mean one thing, a visit to the bat roosts for a bat count. Not so lucky with the weather, heavy persistent rain, we seem to be making up for a relatively dry year. Nice surprise at the bat cave, given the temperatures have been mild of late, as there were one or two bats flying around in this winter roost. The final tally was 83 lesser horseshoes in the bat cave,  31 in the kennels, 5 in the Bothy and a record 56 in the Nursery cellar. They all looked in good shape and the total for this time of year pretty healthy. Even though we completed the count in record time we were all soaked, so since the rain showed no signs of relenting,  Mike called it a day for any further outside work.

Possibly not my best decision but I opted to pay a visit, while in the area, to the Water meadows and river Windrush. In the heavy rain I was glad to be wearing wellingtons as the previously dry paths were pretty damp. Not much luck in spotting wildlife but the Sherborne brook and Windrush water levels were looking better given a fairly dry year. Good to see the newly erected rustic fencing down by the  Windrush completed and  surprised to see one of the large pastures adjacent to the Water Meadows ploughed. The  sun did finally make an appearance but by this time, even with waterproofs, I was pretty damp. Spotted a heron, cormorant and red kite before I left the meadows area. To end the day I paid a visit to Clarks Close where I had a quick look at the hedges we built and aside from the weeds most of the hedge plants looked to be growing well.

Return of the PALAX!

Busy time down in the nursery

With the threat of arctic weather I succumbed to wearing a jumper for Wednesday at Sherborne. The first surprise of the day was the news that Mike had secured the loan of Ebworth's wood processor, this closely followed by a realisation that in the unexpected sun I found it much warmer than expected. Its a good job we had the PALAX wood processor because we had two full trailer loads to produce and deliver in the morning. All went to plan and by midday I was ready to enjoy my lunchtime in the Pleasure Grounds. Had the chance for a quick survey of Sherborne brook and sadly the swan family was again absent but I still think there's a chance for them to return before the youngsters go their separate ways.

The afternoon was spent in more wood processing, this time filling up the big red trailer { ~2-3 normal trailer loads}.  Part of the load was made up from wood reclaimed from the severed limb of the 500+ year oak which certainly proved a challenge for feeding through the processor because of the awkward shapes of the cord wood. Still by close of play the wood store was left looking quite healthy which should help meet the demand which will be increasing rapidly as the colder weather begins to dominate.

Windrush, Slaughter Farm

Out today with the Wildlife Trust, Will & John in charge, with a return visit to the section of the Windrush which passes through Slaughter farm near Bourton on the water. As usual a good turnout even though the weather was chilly but sunny. Again it was clearing shrub and small trees to open up the ground to more sunlight which will encourage sedge and general vegetation growth in the 'oxbow lake' area adjacent to the river Windrush. Plenty of sawing so keeping warm was no issue. The highlights were some tasty cakes supplied by 2 generous volunteers plus a sighting of a kingfisher which sadly I missed.

Following the reports on the badger cull has been a sad affair and not helped by the failure to complete the cull with an extension to follow. Martin Harper's blog sums it up pretty well, so DEFRA's potential credit on CAP implementation is somewhat offset by this poor showing. 

Taking 'Stock' and the 'swans song' ?

Belted Galloways sheltering on Rack Isle

The only 'swan' [pub in Bibury]  I saw today!

Managed to penetrate dense fog to arrive in one piece at Sherborne today. Mike was 'chained' to the office so I was to visit Bibury to check on the Belted Galloways on Rack Isle and to ensure the electric fence was in good order. Maddie came along for the ride and I managed to get to Bibury before the rush so managed to secure a parking place. Surprisingly, given its October, I was ambushed on my survey of the electric fence by a small army of enthusiastic Japanese tourists. Hopefully the NT won't be too damaged by an enforced 'photo session' down by Arlington Row, obviously they were going for character not beauty!  Soon completed a check of the fence {still charged}, ensured the water troughs were full and all Galloways were present and well. On my return journey back to Sherborne I was treated to my second viewing of the day of the much missed Red Kites, this was a close up view of a Red Kite taking advantage of a road kill of Pheasant. The morning was completed by a visit to number 61 Sherborne to mow its lawn in readiness for the new tenants arriving this weekend.

Lunchtime was to prove a shock for me as the swan family were absent from Sherborne brook, no card or call to let me know!, but hopefully they will return before the young cygnets go their separate ways. So at least the youngsters are flying now. I had to make do with 1 egret, 1 heron and 1 buzzard.

The afternoon was spent in the nursery where I was re-acquainted with splitting with Mike blocking with chainsaw. The wood wasn't the best and I wasn't  'match fit' but in spite of a couple of showers we managed to add a reasonable load to the wood store supplies. More is needed to meet what is an increasing demand for this local wood service. So quite a day with lots of variety and I'll certainly sleep well tonight.

Had to add as a late addition other fine blogs by Martin Harper on CAP {CAP2, CAP3}, it even puts Owen Patterson in a better light. If Patterson follows up his promises I would be only to happy to give him credit on this key issue.