Winter by the brook

coppicing by the bridge

All clear but material needs to be moved to far bank

Looking much clearer along old Sherborne brook

Sad to see demise of old dead tree

First day of winter and a sunny but cool day with the GWT coppicing along the banks of the old Sherborne brook.  Will, assisted by Emma, lead the large volunteer team which headed down to the water meadows and initially focussed operations by the Gravelpits copse stretch of the brook and later moved onto the Birch copse stretch. We soon discovered that most of the coppicing was on the bank adjacent to the Gravelpits copse although I did get a good clump by the bridge on the other side. Was expecting to operate in the brook, having donned waders, but soon discovered the brook was too deep so had to operate from the bank. This meant I had to throw all the coppiced wood across the brook to the Gravelpits side where it would be tidied up by that part of the team working there. Was happy to see a couple of Red Kites but not so pleased to see that one of the iconic dead trees of the Sherborne estate had finally fallen leaving the landscape that much poorer.

Have resisted, for a while, mentioning the short comings of DEFRA, NE,NFU {and to some extent the NT } but the issues regarding Grouse shooting, wildlife crime and countryside mismanagement remain [although grudgingly criminal activities now being acknowledged by the likes of the Moorland Association]  as references by Mark Avery's blogs peak district and wildlife crime demonstrate.