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!

Going, going, gone!

Ebworth centre,  our empty large trailer

A sad day but we finally returned the wood processor back to its home at the Ebworth centre. At least the wood stocks at Sherborne should see Mike's customers through this winter and the Biomass system at Ebworth will not run out of processed wood now the processor is back to top up their stocks.

The days task was changed at the last minute from thinning in Snowbottom belt to hedge cutting ranger style. On the face of it this didn't seem to imply the usual physical challenge. However when Mike asked me to grab the chainsaw, pole saw and the pole hook [a new tool for me] then asked me to drive the 4x4 ranger to the nursery while he grabbed the tractor I became suspicious. It turns out 'the hedge' was a line of 20' high conifers stretching just under 100'.  The 'pole hook' {with extensions} was  vital in encouraging the cut conifer stems to fall away from the buildings they were sheltering. A lot of work cutting for Mike and plenty for me clearing the conifer from the fence line. Fortunately the tractor was there to do the heavy clearing and stacking. Not surprisingly we didn't manage to complete the job but the 2/3rds cut down left a significant pile of brash for later burning.

Spent the lunch break with a relaxing stroll around the Pleasure Grounds. There was a good showing of snowdrops especially on the western side , some aconites down near the Sherborne House and some early flowering daffodils. Could almost believe the winter is nearly over except there is a forecast for some more snow over the weekend. Pleased to see a healthy number of canada geese down by Sherborne brook again, something I haven't seen for a while.

Is there anything u can't do with a tractor!

I am constantly amazed with the variety of tasks a tractor can be used for in the countryside. Of course this requires the extra attachments plus a competent operator. Today was a good example of the tractor's flexibility plus the introduction of the much awaited PALAX wood processing machine from Ebworth, courtesy of Matt.

Wood processing machine loaded by Ebworth tractor

Mike and I with extra big trailer drove over to Ebworth to collect the PALAX.  Ebworth centre always a nice place to visit and especially to collect a very special 'toy'.  Matt loaded up his impressive tractor and duly placed the wood machine onto our trailer.  We have this new toy at Sherborne for the month since Ebworth {its buildings heated using biomass heating system} has already built up an impressive wood store to last much of the winter. It was lunchtime before we got back to Sherborne so the 'test drive' of the PALAX would have to wait until the afternoon.

It was surprisingly warm at lunchtime so I paid a lightening call to the water meadows. Coal tits , green finches and blue tits were out in numbers plus a solitary buzzard. All was quiet down in the water meadows and the water levels were at the highest level I have seen.  The water courses/ditches were in good clean order after stirling work by various volunteer groups over the course of the year. On the way back I saw a large dragonfly late for this time of year and then a rabbit being chased by a hungry weasel. No red kites or short eared owls but you can't have everything. 

Good to go, cord wood loaded this end, split wood out the other

Afternoon began with me! driving the wood machine around to the Sherborne Nursery and Mike with his tractor unloading and then reattaching the PALAX to his tractor's rear. The PALAX huge saw and conveyor belt  is driven via PALAX propshaft connected to the tractor drive. So with me supplying/feeding the cord wood and Mike operating the 'sharp' end the wood started to flow up into the trailer. Not all goes smoothly since the sawn wood blocks sometimes get tipped the wrong way and get stuck on the splitter. However as a first trial it was pretty successful albeit a fair amount of space is required to set the whole thing up. The day ended all too soon and the light at this time of the year disappears very quickly. This left Mike with the challenge of driving the tractor plus PALAX back to the security of Sherborne offices and me to drive the long trailer back in the dark. Good news is we both avoided any collisions !

The natives are getting restless!

I'm making another escape attempt as soon as it gets misty!

 Earlier in the week,  Matt the stockman for the Belted Galloways at Crickley, had phoned for Martin's assistance. One of his cows 'specialises' in breaking through weaknesses in fences and had spotted an opportunity in part of the stock fencing adjacent to the wooded area down from the 'fort'. So instead of completing the fence clearing work at Clump Farm Martin and I headed for Crickley Hill armed with the required fencing tools. The approach over two long stretches of stock fencing was to take out the top wire and replace with barbed wire to act as a greater deterrent to the rogue cow pushing at the old fencing posts /fencing. A new fence would eventually be required but for now this would suffice. Some basic clearing with loppers was the first step before some neat work with hammer, staples and the all important Myti Strainer braced against the straining post {not the 'monkey strainer' this time!} to get the required tension in the barbed wire strand. Unfortunately we ran out of barbed wire but a quick visit to Ebworth down the road remedied that and we completed the work before close of play.

As Mike was on leave, yep even Rangers can escape, Martin had the chance to use my spare day to catch up on the fence clearing at Clump farm.  Again the weather was misty but we ploughed on with the work with Martin cutting back the hawthorn, crab apple and eldar  as we advanced down the old boundary fence. At first glance, to my untrained eye, it looked like Martin with chainsaw was on a search and destroy mission. However there is method in the madness as a balance is struck between ensuring a clear ,stable fence line is made but healthy hawthorn,crab apple etc will grow back over time hopefully 'balanced' and not weakening the boundary fence.

Anyone seen the chain saw and fuel

Here's the chainsaw!

Found the fuel

For the first time this week the misty weather relented around lunchtime and the sun came out so we didn't feel so cut off from civilisation.  So after a hard mornings work we took a short break. At this point it became obvious we had quite an audience of the local sheep who obviously had heard about the need for more volunteers and were clearly keen to lend a hand. I did point out to Martin the H&S issues e.g. they weren't wearing steel capped chainsaw boots,  proper chain saw trousers or safety helmets. Anyway the sheep saw the sense in this and decided to take advantage of the new food source we had provided while we continued with the work.  Needless to say in spite of best endeavours we couldn't finish the work but we certainly left a large amount of brash for the ever growing bonfire the tenant farmer is building. Hopefully when lit it won't cause a panic throughout the land.