Rocking and rolling in Folly Copse

Good outlook over Cats Abbey buildings and 'water meadows'

Folly Copse thinning close to boundary wall

Sherborne was bathed in sunshine today with a continution of thinning in Folly Copse, with James,  forming the mornings task. It proved to be quite interesting since several of the felled trees needed encouragement to reach the ground. So both tree levers for 'rolling' the trunks, some 'levering' using a convenient bit of cord wood and some nifty chainsawing from James were all used to good effect to build up the much needed cord wood piles. The only downside to the days work was the lack of wildlife on show, so I was only too happy to spend a few minutes spoiling Pepper before returning to Cheltenham and the afternoons walk with Ollie.

The good and bad {Fracking} in Martin Harpers blog , the ugly could apply to a number of things associated with Nature conservation: Lead ammunition , Truss on Bovine TB amongst many {Owen Patterson was bad but...}, Driven grouse shooting.

The Dark Knight awakens

No horse for me and the one highland cow had smaller horns

Pleased to see Maurice back with us in fairly good shape and ready for the December 2015 bat count. Mike and James with me formed a formidable Bat team with Maurice raring to go at the 'bat cave'. The outside ambient temperature was a 'toasty' 14-15 degrees and inside the temperatures were on the high side  at 11 degrees {norm being 7-10}. The lesser horseshoes appreciate the warmer temperatures and 119 were comfortably settled in their winter roost. With the Kennels at 3, Bothy at 21 {record}, cellar at 3, this gave a total of 146 probably close to the norm {we missed December last year but November 2014 yielded 138}.

Had some fun closer to home this week as I had to shape up as a cowboy to round up some stray calves. They had broken through a fence line damaged by a fallen willow and were {4 of them} exploring the path near Merlin way and the bottom end of Burrows playing field. Olly and I bumped into them on the path and as Olly wasn't helping too much I took him home before trying to get some help. As I couldn't locate the farmer I was lucky enough to get help from the Cheltenham local Ranger and after a struggle we got the calves back into Lotts meadow where the herd were happily grazing. The farmer, who had to come from some way outside Cheltenham, eventually turned up and did some running repairs on the damaged fence line. So here's hoping no more adventures from the plucky calves.

Update on 'Lotts meadow' cows today which shows the farmer's repairs were unsuccessful. This time while walking Ollie was confronted with a large horned cow running along the path connecting with Merlin way, then was pursued down Merlin way by another adult cow with a policeman and small crowd watching! I was trying to protect Ollie and not too worried by the cows. Farmer still not appeared and half his herd is still roaming around Burrows playing fields. Here's hoping they don't get bored and decide to investigate Moorend Grove.

Today Monday 21 'the longest night' didn't start to well as I had to encourage the Lotts cows from my front garden, at 5:30 am back onto Burrows playing field. Yes they made it to Moorend Grove and the amusing 'escapes' of the past week are becoming a pain, here's hoping the farmer gets his act together soon!!

Yo Ho Ho, sleigh but no horse power!

Picardy and Commons border 2015 xmas tree collection

Joined up with James at Sherborne on Wednesday, Mike away on a course, with the mornings mission to retrieve Xmas trees from the Commons. The good news was that the 'trees' were already felled and ready for collection from the Commons area. The bad news was there would be no tractor available to help this year and the location of the felled trees was sketchy. The happy recipients of this years NT Xmas trees were to be the Church at Northleach, the Sherborne house courtyard and Sherborne school.

Always good to drive down to the Commons near the water meadows area and the weather conditions were good, being warm with fairly dry ground conditions. So although it proved tricky to locate the site of the xmas trees it was a pleasant experience to scout around parts of Picardy and Commons in our search. We also had the benefit of positioning the 4x4 as close to the tree site as possible since the usual boggy conditions were absent. However the distance to the felled trees proved lengthy enough especially in the more muddy parts of the 'ride' and carrying a 14' tree {not the 18' tree of last year} was challenging. We did manage to load the trailer with 2 trees and transport both back to the estate offices safely. As a bonus on the return journey we were favoured by a herd of fallow deer which dashed across the ride in front of us and a greater spotted woodpecker near the house up by Northfields barn. 

Back in Black

Not blown down by 'Barny' but felled by fungal disease

Clarkes close and a new tractor!

Its been a while, almost 3 months, but joined Mike and James at Sherborne today in my standard , mainly black volunteer outfit. A mixture of a shoulder injury, more building work at home and Ollie has kept me from any volunteer work over the Autumn. It was a gentle introduction back to countryside work as I joined James in a quick tour of the Pleasure Grounds, the Commons ending up in Clarks Close to complete a survey of the Sherborne estate trees to check for damage after 'Abigail' and 'Barney'. Good news was no obvious tree damage so all attention was on the huge beech that had fallen last year in Clarks Close because of fungal damage.

As we reached the site of the fallen Beech, Mike had already reached there in a new 'Demo' tractor, and was continuing the work he and James had started on the fallen Beech earlier in the week. It didn't take long with the use of this high powered tractor to fully load the tractor trailer with plenty more still to load. What with a quick tour around the new tractor, with all its fancy electronics, and the tree survey work the morning disappeared and its was time to head back home. It was good to restart the work at Sherborne again.

Not wishing to end on a downer but the future again doesn't look too bright for the environment with DEFRA likely to be hit with huge cuts { they may not be brilliant but with ~35% budget cut plus the weak leadership from Truss it will be hard for the NGO's to keep the environment from a collapse akin to the huge Beech!}

Little and large Collapses!

Partial collapse of drystone wall at rear of Lodge Park

A somewhat larger collapse on a Perfect day in Nottingham

Its been a while since my last dry walling experience on Leckhampton Hill but Wednesday provided a much needed refresher in this very traditional countryside craft. Mike drove the tractor with its bucket loaded with good quality Cotswold stone while I followed in the 4x4. Having reached the worksite in a nice spot at the rear of Lodge Park the walling challenge soon became evident. No complaints about the quality of the stone available to repair the damaged wall but I was soon reminded of the challenges that drystone walling entails. After a false start, where it became necessary to undo the initial courses layed, we adopted a slightly different strategy to rebuilding the wall and this proved to be a good decision. Unfortunately time was not on our side to repair this particular gap and more visits will be needed to rebuild a number of gaps on this wall section. No bad thing, for such a rewarding and satisfying task!

After Wednesday's experience on tackling one sort of collapse Thursday provided a slightly different experience. Some days in life are good and some bad but occasionally you can get a 'perfect day'. Thursday proved to be that perfect day starting with Ollies first birthday with his mates Billy and Isla at Sheepscombe/Ebworth. After a really enjoyable walk around the woods and meadows on the Ebworth estate we ended with a much deserved lunch at the Butchers Arms Sheepscombe. Returning home to Cheltenham I was astonished to discover the amazing events that had taken place at Trent Bridge in the Ashes test. The day was completed when I took Ollie out for his evening walk and we were greeted by 3 green woodpeckers who flew over us to finally settle in the large, dead Oak tree in the nearby pasture. Here's hoping for more such days in the future!

Bat cave renovations

Ollie ready with tractor to clear path

Smart new gate at entrance to bat cave area

Ollie testing cleared steps to the bat cave

Wednesday marked the start of this years bat cave maintenance and care with Maurice and Mike leading the way. Fortunately for me previous visits had delivered more scaffolding/support materials and had cut a path through the dense plant growth. While Mike and Maurice did the initial maintenance work I carried out some basic maintenance of the steps which included uncovering some of them still buried under the vegetation. By 1pm Mike and Maurice had completed the maintenance work which would allow the new scaffolding construction to take place over the next couple months. Needless to say all the bats had vacated this winter roost and were in their summer roosts in the Kennels and Bothy. It was good to see the new gate now in place and also to hear that a new buzzard family were resident in Larkethill wood where we were working last week.

Seven up!

Some of this years cygnets on the Broadwater

Dad leading the family of 7

Last week was spent with the Wildlife trust on some good old Himalayan Balsam bashing on the river Coln at Whittington court, Andoversford and Owdeswell court. Last years efforts had proved effective in these locations apart from some isolated clumps. At the end of the session though we discovered at Owdeswell court a significant area of the invasive plant which would have to be dealt with in a later session.

Hottest day of the year for me at Sherborne wednesday and my first contact with this years Broadwater swan family.  The afternoon was spent on an unusual task of ditch creation, fortunately with Mike using the digger attachment to the tractor. James and I had the job of soil removal using the 4x4 + tipping trailer to deposit the one and half ton loads in a secluded area near Northfield barns.  Managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the Broadwater on one of the 'runs' to try and catch a glimpse of the resident mute swans. Fortunately the swan family were down at the Broadwater weir with seven healthy cygnets being guided by their parents {increase from 3 last year}.

More good news on the wildlife front at Sherborne with a Red kite pair rearing 3 young which should soon be fledging. Also in the Cleeve reserve area plenty of 'blues' to be seen along with some 'Duke of Burgandies' plus a rare sighting for me of a cuckoo!

A walk in the park...

Looking towards Sally Copse, Lodge Park

Bridge over the River Leach, Larket hill wood in background

2 friendly common blues in the 'meadow', front of 'grandstand'

It was to be a relaxing but interesting sunny morning at Sherborne on Wednesday.  It began with a bit of mowing at Ewe Pen where the young calves were looking good in the Bull paddock. Since Mike had arranged  to meet up with some AONB volunteers mid morning the mowing would have to be completed later. We met them at the rear of the Lodge parkland just off the Eastington road where Mike was take them on a pre- tour of Lodge Park. He guided us through this part of the surviving Bridgeman designed parkland {1726} working our way down to the river Leach at the Sally Copse end of the river valley. . As we walked through the empty pasture down to the river Leach there were good view of the avenues of lime trees {replacing the dead elms} which are slowly maturing plus of course the ancient oaks and beech dotted over the deer park leading to the Lodge Grandstand. . We were fortunate to see a brown hare crossing one of the stone bridges. We crossed over the same bridge and followed the river valley floor towards Larkethill copse appreciating this 'private' part of the landscape. After a short walk up the road outside Lodge Park, where 2-3 yellow hammers put in an appearance, we eventually ended up at the front of the Lodge Grandstand.  Nowadays it  looks over a meadow but was previously the mile long deer run where John Dutton lost a good deal of money gambling on the outcome of the deer coursing. It still surprises all that Dutton would establish the Bridgeman designed landscape at the rear of the Grandstand which is not the best vantage point to take in the views. We completed the tour by walking across the pasture adjacent to the Lodge copse back towards the river Leach. On the way we passed the Lodge 'long barrow' several thousand years old an interesting feature to complete this enjoyable informative tour.

The best laid plans...

Bonfire smoke marks work site on River Coln, Bibury Court estate  

River Coln water quality good, lack of plant life though

Another good working site by the Coln

Brash almost cleared by water ditch, tree on far bank on fire!

Planned further revetment work Tuesday on the river Coln on the Bibury Court Estate had to be cancelled at the last moment due to an irrational 'objection' by one of the local managers. The work will go ahead in the future but valuable time will have been lost to the detriment of the environment and to the fishing community. However, John not wishing to waste the volunteer effort available, rapidly reassigned us to clearing the substantial brash piles alongside the water ditch feeding into the river Coln.  Fortuitously the cold but sunny spell of weather suited the work especially since we had a large bonfire going to dispose of the brash. Alan and Del provided extra WT staff effort to bolster the 4 of us volunteers. Additional excitement was provided when an ember from the bonfire started a fire in one of the trees on the far bank of the ditch, but Del with some neat chainsaw work saved the day with the burning branch falling safely into the water ditch.

Bibury quiet, Rack Isle neat and river Coln with trout

Arlington row minus the usual far eastern throng!

James drew the short straw today which meant he entertained me and Ollie for some tidying up at Rack Isle Bibury, its been a while since my last visit. We used Pat's 2 wheel drive pickup so the cut grass/sedge could be loaded in the back for disposal in Sherborne's nursery area. After completing the small clearance task at Bibury, including the usual photo sessions with todays tourists, James decided to pay the Wildlife Trust team a visit to establish some useful contacts. They were still working downstream by the river Coln  on the Bibury Court estate where I was working Tuesday. Richard, John and Del from the WT were there today with 5 volunteers plus 'a man with digger'. It was good to see the brash cleared by and in the water ditch. Again the weather was good so we spent lunch with the WT team by the bridge over the Coln,  not a bad place to enjoy a break! After lunch we left this pleasant spot to visit the roman villa at Chedworth. Here James checked out the overflow car park area to determine whether Mike would need to make a visit with tractor and flail to prevent the bank holiday visitors from getting stuck in the meadow should there be the 'unlikely' chance of inclement weather over the next week.

Worth the wait in a cold draughty hide

Its not been a bad month, especially over the warmer periods, for butterflies {orange tipped, brimstone, red admiral, peacock, tortoise} but the real highlight was in my back garden where the first ever 'blue' {common} made a flying visit. Also 'bagged' my first significant Kingfisher of the year at Slimbridge last week on a cold windy friday.

What a load of Bull?

Some large company for Ewe pen work

Prep for last bit of walling at Ewe pen 'bull' paddock

Clearing wall line, springers observing!

Most of wednesday was spent at Ewe pen where we were to put up a temporary fence to protect the drystone wallers from the paddock residents. Start was slightly delayed while we sorted out the trailers as the rangers James and Michelle needed one for work at Bibury and we needed one for Ewe pen and wood deliveries. The first job however was a wood delivery to Windrush where we received a warm welcome which included refreshments. The next job was to travel up to Ewe pen to construct a fence and prepare the area for the drystone wallers who were to repair the damaged wall over the weekend. I noticed after we had started on the new fence line that the gate at the bottom of the paddock was wide open which was a little unnerving as the resident bulls had access to the work area.  This wasn't a great position to be in especially since Mike was sporting the new bright red NT colours. We completed the fence work late afternoon and then had to rush over to Windrush for another wood delivery. Another warm welcome greeted us with yet more gratefully received refreshments which included some delicious fruit cake. Maddie and Ollie didn't miss out as the customer provided them with some dog treats, her spaniel Benson quite happy to share.

Missed out on the April bat count which took place on Tuesday. It turned out to be a new record for Sherborne with 249 lesser horseshoes. Some good points in Mark Avery's anniversary blog.

Major works on the Coln, Williamstrip

Approach to the work site by the river Coln marked by the 2  trees

Trees cleared and stones laid on far bank of Coln, Williamstrip

The aim for the day, Revetment example on Sherborne brook

Monday was spent with the Wildlife Trust on river bank revetment work similar to Hyde Mill {river Dikler}, Greystones {river Eye}, and Sherborne {Sherborne brook}, but on a much larger scale. The location was on the Williamstrip estate on the river Coln. Over the years cattle and sheep have caused  a significant erosion of the river bank of the Coln and damaged the wildlife habitat for especially our old friend the water vole. This particular piece of work was scheduled over 2 weeks, involving a large number of WT volunteers, WT staff {including help from the Stroud 'arm'} and effort from the EA. Prior to this large endeavour work had already removed some riverside trees and laid large stones in the river to mark what was the original bank. As well as the revetment work some 'kick sampling' was to be carried out to reveal the state of the insect/waterlife which was believed to be at a low level inspite of reasonable quality water. The good news was there were signs that water voles were in the area even before the planned habitat improvements.

2 lines of posts positioned riverside of stones,  fascines in-between 

Other end B of revetment, inner post line established

Revetment end A, base layer fascines in place 

Fascines interlocked, all action along the river

Williamstrip our green and pleasant land!

All is tranquil on the river, all action upstream though

So lots of volunteers and WT staff, equipment {including my favourite sledgehammers}, posts, fascines and biscuits. Although wellingtons allowed some work to be done from the bank, waders were the order of the day and lots of effort banging in the posts/stakes which would provide the framework to support the 2 layers of fascines which would enable the new river bank to form along its original course. The key tips for forming a temporary bank were to keep the 2 lines of posts close enough together to secure the fascines properly and secondly to ensure the fascines were suitably interlocked for stability. With the weather set fair for the day and the days to follow its looking good for achieving the ambitious objectives of this particular project.

Fencing in the sun, only the brambles draw blood!

Some old friends in the middle paddock, Sandy Hill copse in background

Down in lower paddock all posts in place, alongside Crookmoor Ash 

Nice straight post line, extra support for middle strainer

Hottest day of the year, so obviously a good time to start erecting the new fence at Sherborne, down by Crookmoor Ash,  a continuation of the fence clearing work in March.  I & Ollie joined James in the 4x4 and trailer loaded with 40+ posts, wire and tools. Mike drove the tractor which provided essential help in clearing cordwood, brash, flattening the fence ground with flail and driving the fence posts securely into the ground. There was however plenty for James and I to do in putting in place the middle strainer and tampering in one of the end strainers. While I positioned the posts James finished off some of the remaining fence clearing by felling an ash and sycamore which would prove a risk to the new fence in the future. The day passed all too quickly and by the end all posts were in place and the ground cleared of brash and cordwood.  It would need another session to erect the stock fencing and complete the work for the lower paddock. All that remains! is to continue the fencing work for the middle paddock, noting the dense shrub shown in the pics above to remove first. Then the fence boundary by Sandy Hill copse in the upper paddock awaits, so no shortage of work in this small piece of the Sherborne estate.

Lastly, is it time for me to go completely green!, some useful manifesto refs.

A Heathering we will go!

Heathering weaved & twisted to secure top of hedge

Richard with chainsaw applying finishing touches

From RSPB scrapes side, work  remaining at Birch Copse end

Finished hedge with a couple of heatherings to spare

On a misty tuesday morning set off to Sherborne water meadows to meet up with the Wildlife Trust to resume the hedging work started in March. It being Easter it was a small {6} volunteer team lead by Richard who arrived with the essential 'heatherings' {hazel bundles},  his expertise and instruction graphics. Initially confidence wasn't high in becoming competent at heathering but with suitable prompting by Richard, and getting on with it, a respectable outcome was achieved. Weaving the hazel between the stakes and twisting the hazel stakes around each other eventually achieved the desired effect of holding the hedge firmly in place. It certainly made it clear that the previous positioning of the stakes and construction of the pleachers can make it easier or harder for the heathering to follow! Hopefully when the remainder of the hedge is layed next season the lessons learnt will stand us all in good stead.

A good blog by Martin Harper illustrating the difficulty in having meaningful discussions on Conservation with people who won't accept rational argument when profit or privilege is at stake. In this case this concerns brood management, DEFRA  and sadly involves a conservation organisation which has lost the plot {bit like Botham}. Revealing piece by Wildlife Trust on the state of rivers inspite of stirling efforts by volunteers//trusts over recent years.

Spring arrivals and one farewell

Dense growth over the fence line by Crookmoor Ash

Missed the March bat count but the total count carried out last week was a healthy 174 lesser horseshoes a good deal higher than last years 114. This could be explained by a cold snap deterring the bats from moving to their summer roosts. Joined Mike at Sherborne wednesday where the day started with a visit to the horse 'pastures' which are bordered by Sandy Hill Copse, Moors Copse and Crookmoor Ash.  Accompanied by Ollie we took the Clarks Close route joining the trail through Sandy Hill Copse. It gave Mike a chance to check out this area of the estate for fence & tree damage, as well as observing how the hedges planted a while ago were doing. The hedges by Clarks close/ Sandy Hill were progressing well and it was also good to see a very healthy number of new lambs in the sheep pasture in this area.

Curious locals investigating our presence in their pasture

Was greeted by 4 horses as we entered the first of the pastures and as we stopped to inspect a ~500 year Oak which had fallen Ollie had his first close encounter with these large animals who were curious to see what we were doing. The size of the Oak and its large limbs proved to be too much for us to tackle so we headed on to inspect the 'fence' line boundary by Crookmoor Ash. This fence line certainly needed a good deal of work given vigorous tree growth and fallen branches.  It was certainly going to occupy the whole day in clearance work, with chainsaw and pole saw. Even with the 'help' of Maddie in the afternoon there was plenty left to do for the volunteer group later in the week. By the end of the day we had created some significant brash piles, which the horses seemed to appreciate as an additional food source, and a good proportion of the fence line was cleared to hopefully allow a new fence to be erected.

Snowshill nestling in the Cotswold hillside

This Friday marked an emotional leaving do for Linda, Snowshill Manor head gardener. Also my last visit to Snowshill Manor as a volunteer, all good things come to an end eventually.

Hedging our bets 'Pleachers odds on' & 'Heathering a long shot'

In the beginning unruly shrub this side of old Sherborne brook

Other side of brook, RSPB scrape, 6 red kites appeared Thursday

To escape the frenzy of the Cheltenham Gold cup I spent most of this week, starting on a gorgeous sunny 'Ruby' Tuesday, with the Wildlife Trust in the Sherborne water meadows adjacent to the RSPB scrapes & up from Birch copse.  The work focussed on the  art of formal hedge laying  illustrated clearly by the following ref1 , ref2. My previous 'hedge' experiences have been with Mike {NT} and involve hedge planting and 'freestyle' hedge laying. Will, John and Richard led the first session with Richard acting as chief instructor.

'Before' state from RSPB scrape side, Birches copse downstream

Richard demonstrating angle cut and 45 degree bend

Before building the hedge along one side of the old Sherborne brook we had to first cut the existing willow, hawthorn shrubs back to the stock fence. The objective was to lay the new hedge along the pasture boundary and brook leaving the RSPB scrapes side open, promoting healthy growth of the new hedge and leaving a beneficial environment for water voles. It proved to be a rewarding experience albeit with some painful moments given the hawthorn barbs! To add to the experience on Tuesday a barn owl provided an exciting aside down by the Windrush, along with 2 healthy flocks of lapwings,  a buzzard and heron. Wednesday and Thursday offered up buzzards, hares, red kites, bullfinch, woodpecker, more lapwings and herons with white egret on the Broadwater along with the usual water fowl.

Support stakes in place, pleachers woven in-between and leaning upstream

View downstream, habitat water vole & bird friendly 

After state view, hedge taking shape

Clearance by impressive bonfire , still plenty left to do downstream

Over half of the hedge was completed onThursday aside from the 'heathering'. The remaining section would be completed probably next season but John, with chainsaw, completed some useful cutting back of the willow to the stock fence. Heathering would be carried out when material is available at a date to be set hopefully in the not too distant future. Needless to say the site was left in a tidy state and hopefully Mike will be suitably impressed when he returns from leave next week.