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!}

A mixed bag in 'scorchio' feeling temperatures

Almost warm enough for Sherborne House swimming pool

Started the day early at Sherborne, with Ollie in tow, for the February bat count. Morris had another mission so he only had time for the count at the 'bat cave'. I was on safety with Ollie on security whilst Mike & Morris carried out the count at the bat cave. Temperatures both inside and outside the bat cave were higher than expected for this time of year {9C-11C }. The final count was 162 lesser horseshoes in the bat cave, 0 in the kennels, 1 in the bothy and 11 in the cellar giving a grand total of 174 appreciably higher than last years count of 153. 

Crocus enjoying the sun in the Pleasure grounds

Where's Ollie?

With blue skies and in the sun the temperatures feeling very warm I spent the lunch time walking Ollie in the Pleasure Grounds. The display of spring flowers was still looking good with daffodils beginning to flower. There was a distinct change from the previous week with only one dog walker seen during my circuit of the grounds and this allowed Ollie sole access to the 'play area' and woods which he took full advantage of

Contribution to the wood store!

Always time for play 

The afternoon began by loading wood from the wood store in the nursery and this proved more challenging than normal as both Maddie & Ollie decide that it would be fun to chase up and down the wood pile whilst we tried to load the trailer. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in checking the array of 'toys'/equipment & documentation [brush cutters, pole saws, chainsaws, mowers, tractors....] in readiness for the H&S check on Friday. As ever the 2 Springers proved as helpful as ever in the warm springlike weather outside but all building on Ollie's experience as a volunteer ranger.

An 'exuberance' of springers?

Guarding the wood piles

2 cheeky youngsters

playing near the Pleasure grounds ice house

fighting off a hungry Ollie and interested Pepper

Glorious weather at Sherborne today and a second introduction of Ollie to Pepper another energetic, young english springer. It was a day spent at the nursery where the Sherborne wood service was needed to complete pressing orders of wood supplies. Although Ollie and Pepper were happy with each other there were clear boundary rules set by Pepper on her den & toys at the estate offices so Ollie was to escort Mike and I to the nursery in the back of the 4x4.

Lunchtime was spent at the Pleasure grounds where Pepper happily showed Ollie around the woods at speed  whilst we enjoyed the good display of spring flowers {snowdrops, crocus, aconites} and ensured the dogs didn't interact too much with the 'half term' visitors. 

The afternoon was spent producing more wood and delivering loads to a nearby village and locally to Sherborne. Ollie had company in the afternoon with Mike's springer Maddie who as the adult managed to remain in her own world largely ignoring Ollie's attempts to play. The good news was Maddie accepted Ollie in the back of 4x4 with good grace. It will be interesting to see how the relationships develop between all the springers over the coming weeks. 

Slightly disturbed by the strange actions of the Forestry commission and Woodland Trust over this woodland in Northants, I have to hope this was an anomaly if not what other areas of woodland have or may suffer  in the future with similar development initiatives. Good news is a good outcome achieved in this case no thanks to FC, Woodland Trust or certain staff of the Northants district council.

Posch but no Becks!

Interesting colour scheme, but new wood processor is here!

Early start today at Sherborne and an interesting one with a formal introduction to a solidly engineered Austrian wood processor with log lifter!. Introduction was by a Scot {who is a No to breaking away} and we soon got to know how to operate the 'beast' with its extra 'nobs', its going to be a great addition to Sherborne's boys toys. We are certainly going to need it with orders for wood already mounting.

Lunchtime was different today with everyone off to a leaving do which meant I had the place to myself except for Pepper. Good news was I was able to take Pepper for a long walk through the Pleasure Grounds. Enjoyed the experience with such a young Springer but its made me think twice about taking on two springers at the same time.

Temporary fencing up by Ewe Pen Barn

The afternoon was a little intense with the erection of a temporary barbed wire fence around the next site for more dry stone wall repairs by the Cotswold wardens. This was up by the Ewe Pen paddock which usually has at least 2 large bulls but fortunately they were not there today. No doubt the 'wallers' will appreciate the fence we put up when the bulls return! Following this task we needed to carry out some brush cutting both sides of the existing wall to further assist the 'wallers'. As if is this wasn't enough there were some larger shrubs to remove which needed my expertise with the 'Silki' given their size. A long warm day but as always very satisfying.

Something to keep a careful eye on, EU birds and habitats Directive

Dark Knight back from Oz

Sunny but very wet in the water meadows

After 2 weeks of cancelled sessions a respite in the stormy weather has at last permitted a return to some  normality. I got a head start on a sunny Sunday with a visit to Sherborne's water meadows which also included a visit to Greater Rissington. Water levels were very high and I only just managed to cross the waterlogged Windrush bridge to gain access to the Barrington estate and the footpath up to Greater Rissington.   A good day for wildlife with yellow hammers, green finches, chaffinches, bramblings, 'serin/siskin', buzzards, red kite, heron, cormorants, mute swans, 100+ lapwing, deer and my first spot of a large male hare of 2014.

Todays Sherborne session welcomed back from Oz,  Morris, who was joined by Simon, Richard with Mike and myself. So plenty of help for the February bat count where expectation for increased numbers of lesser horseshoes were high. Sadly this didn't prove to be the case with 138 in the bat cave, 0 Kennels, 0 the Bothy and 15 the nursery cellar giving a grand total of 153. This was 17 fewer than the January count and a significant increase is needed for the March count if we are to reach last years May high of 212. The count took a little longer than normal since a good deal of knowledge sharing from Morris was the order of the day, with tales from Australia including their healthy Bat status, and some current news on nearby Cotswolds bat roosts.

Ragged Copse, fallen larch to be cleared

The afternoon was spent at the top end of Ragged Copse where fallen larch had blocked the footpath. Access was going to be a challenge given the wet ground but with Mike/maddie in the tractor and me driving the 4x4 with trailer { Simon & Richard on board}  we risked an ascent up the Sherborne Park slope. Amazingly the journey was managed with minimal impact on the grass pasture  and Mike managed to position the tractor, with grab over  the boundary fence close to the area of fallen larch. Given the large team the clearance of quite a few fallen larch was completed and a survey of the paths through Ragged Copse checked for any other obstacles/threats. This all proved to be a timely operation as activity during this half term was busy & the families 'out and about' grateful for our labours clearing the paths for them. The larch were cut into lengths for loading onto the tractor grab where they were then gently loaded into the trailer. It seems the larch was to be used to enhance the play facilities in the Pleasure Grounds, what lucky local children!. With almost spring like weather all day it was a relief to be able to enjoy a rewarding day outside doing some useful work again. Mike couldn't resist informing us of plenty more clearance of fallen/damaged conifers & broadleaf waiting to be dealt with given ground conditions permitted access. Personally I can't wait to get stuck in and hope the future weather plays ball to help us catch up with an ever growing task list.

Keeping dry?

Winter colour in the Pleasure Grounds

Another wet day forecast (contributing to why this is the wettest January on record} but the show has to go on at Sherborne so I duly reported in and happily was rewarded with fine weather. The day began with a wood delivery to a nearby village and on the way back checked out a few things on the Lodge Park boundaries. The first was assessing a fallen beech branch which will need clearing at  a later date, the second was observing sheep happily grazing in the pasture where we had previously erected the temporary fencing adjacent to Larkethill wood and lastly, because we had the trailer, was to collect some of the wood previously stored in the Eastern borders of Larkethill wood. While doing this a red kite dropped in to see what we were doing followed by a buzzard. By the time we had dropped the loaded trailer of wood in the nursery it was lunch.  After spotting the usual birdlife on the Broadwater with the addition of 2  little grebe I paid a brief visit to the Pleasure Grounds. It was good to see fine displays of snowdrops & aconites and a good number of great tits enjoying the relatively mild & dry weather.

Riding our luck a little with the still dry weather,the afternoon was spent back at Larkethill woods . It is still one of the few areas of the estate where  its possible to use the tractor with trailer and the 4x4 with trailer without getting bogged down in mud and deep water. Before starting to gather up the cord wood stacks I had time to take Maddie for a short walk and wandered over to the Lodge Park boundary to check out the water levels by the river Leach. Surprised to disturb 2 herons by the river and noted the water levels were still high. Soon had filled both trailers and with the rain finally making its appearance retreated back to the nursery to end a pleasant day out in the country.

Final count 2013

Cheltenham avenue, near Bat cave

The morning was to prove damp at Sherborne, but fortunately we were to carry out the last bat count of the year so we were under cover most of the time. Morris was on good form, possibly because he's soon off on a 6 week Australian adventure, and much historic information was imparted on quarries in the local area plus their bat populations. The temperatures recorded in the bat cave were fairly high and the bats certainly took advantage with a large grouping to be found at a 12 degree hot spot. So in the bat cave were 142 lesser horseshoes, 0 in the kennels, 0 in the bothy and 19 in the nursery cellar giving a total of 161. This was slightly down on the last count of 175 but apparently this is normal as some males disperse to other roosts in search of females, so we are expecting at the next planned survey, a higher count in January 2014.

Spent a dry and sunny lunch with a leisurely walk through the Pleasure Grounds on my way to the Cheltenham Avenue to witness the end of the Autumnal colours in the beech and larch. On the way back I had a quick look over the Broadwater where to my surprise was a new swan family with one cygnet {a little late in the season}. They were in the company of significant numbers of canada geese and various ducks.

The afternoon was spent in the nursery with the wood processor, generating and delivering 2 trailer loads for local customers. Bad light and further rain showers prevented further wood processing work so next week will be a concentrated effort to increase our wood supplies as much as possible {we'll probably finish off the remaining seasoned wood left} before the wood processor returns to Ebworth. Clearly we'll need the weather to cooperate so hopefully the expected winter snow will hold off a little longer.

Just in case there was any doubt regards this Governments record on 'being green', Mark Avery's 'nature check' blog reminds us in detail how badly they are doing against their own targets.

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!.

The show goes on, despite shoddy supplier

Mum on guard whilst cygnets relax by the boat house

No delivery of the vital supplies by TP again and once more Mike had to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat with the help of Pat who kindly offered up some substitute material from his building store. Also included were some materials to allow me the chance of improving the construction of the 'bat cave' steps. So once more Morris, Mike and myself set to gathering together essential supplies & then loading the trailer prior to driving to the bat cave. Before setting off we had an interesting dialogue with a research student from Bristol University who was part of a team studying the impact on bat populations in the UK of increased artificial light within bat habitats {increased security lighting, more building lights, cars..}. It seems there is evidence suggesting that bats were having to travel ever further to avoid our artificial lights when hunting. As well as using up vital energy it also seems, as a consequence,  to reduce the time spent in nurturing their young. The researcher was with Mike's help looking at our local Bat status.  Current stats UK wide still show declining bat populations, the good news for Gloucestershire is that Bats seem to be doing better here. In particular the lesser horseshoe bat is under threat so Sherborne's success  wrt to lesser horseshoe bat is even more important. Not that we needed any more incentive to continue the work on their winter roost at the bat cave but it is nice to know it could be even more significant in the grand scheme of things.

I was relieved to escape to the relative cool of Sherborne brook at lunchtime as the morning was pretty hard going in the heat. The swan family were relaxing down by the boat house and all 3 herons were out and about with the juvenile favouring the safety of the large old oaks. No red kites today but one juvenile buzzard also perched at the top of an oak. I enjoyed a relaxing walk through the Pleasure Grounds on the way back to the bat cave and also the surprise of a couple of dog walkers as I pointed out the large metal bat hanging from the trees.

The afternoon soon passed by. Mike and Morris having done some good construction inside the bat cave and I had completed the critical improvements on the steps outside {'rises' now added to the top steps!}. No more materials left to continue without more supplies! and the next opportunity to proceed with the work is mid September, bat permitting.

Down by the Windrush in background, Water Meadows water management

Useful to note the progress on the major water management Project on the Windrush in the Water Meadows area. Sadly the water pump[s] won't operate given the lack of elevation in the water meadows but there is a plan B to use a solar powered pump so all is not lost. Most of the prep work is done so the contractors should be able to resume and complete the work quickly. However we will also be able to use the original pump{s} from the Northfield Barn, given its elevation,  to further improve water management . Add to this the work the Wildlife Trust will be doing on the Sherborne Brook again in the Water Meadows area and altogether this work when completed represents a Major step forward in conservation in the Sherborne estate.

Working in a coal mine....?

Finally 'captured' fritillaries, Cirencester park though!

Deep in thought for next stage of construction, our Dark Knight

Early start at Sherborne today, I even had time for a quick visit to Sherborne Brook where I was treated to the splendid sight of a kingfisher sitting on  a white post on the far bank of the brook. We had a fair size team working today with Mike-lead Ranger, Morris- Dark Knight, Richard and I as volunteers. A good job to since much work was needed for the planned bat cave construction work. The morning was spent by Richard and myself reconstructing the steps down to the cave entrance whilst Mike & Morris operated inside on early construction work.  Not all was plain sailing as outside we were plagued with flies and inside Morris uncovered some hazardous material which fortunately was safely dealt with.

Spent lunchtime down by the Sherborne Brook where I was pleased to see the Swan family, all 11, still looking healthy. Also present were 3 herons, 2 perched in the standing dead trees, one of them looked to be a juvenile! Bumped into some German tourists where we were treated by a close fly by of a red kite. Walked back to the Bat cave, for the afternoon work session, via the Pleasure Grounds and was happy to see the play area, constructed last year, busy with children and their mums/guardians.

My afternoon assignment was working underground with Morris {as his apprentice} while Mike initially with chainsaw fashioned timber blocks for positioning between Acrow props and the ceiling faults. Richard remained outside on safety duty and helping move materials from the outside to the cave entrance. With Morris directing location of Acrow props and using a spirit level to ensure correct positioning I was on 'tightening', nailing and moving the props to correct position using a lump hammer duties. Mike meanwhile after sourcing the timber blocks started to fix the strengthening poles between appropriate Acrow props. With the available  material we had managed to set up over 6 more Acrow props deep in the cave system. Lots more to do since the extensive shopping list compiled during the survey last week has yet to be procured. At least we have made a good start to the planned work and we will be getting stuck in again next week. As last year the work will need to stop some time in September since the bats will be returning to this winter roost in this month.

Newcomer to the Bat cave

In the Bothy, cute long eared brown

Out of the mist today our resident Dark Knight emerged ready for the second count of  2013,  so we all set off to the Bat cave with fingers crossed that the Bat population was still  as healthy as the January census. The good news was an increased population now of 164 [+3] Lesser Horseshoes and as a bonus my first exposure to a single Natterer squeezed into a crevice. As usual the temperature inside the cave was a pleasant 8C-9C compared with the outside temperature 4C. The roosts in the Sherborne village yielded 0 in the Kennels, 1 Long eared brown in the Bothy and 6 Lesser Horseshoes in the cellar so no change since January,  again good news. Next count will be the end of March and again fingers crossed that our Bat population remains healthy and the spring will provide a good supply of insects for them.

Was pretty chilly at lunchtime but I still enjoyed a walk around the Pleasure Grounds and Sherborne Brook. The snowdrops still looking good with an increasing appearance of daffodils. Was surprised by a sudden appearance of what i thought were small white ponies but turned out to be 3 Pyrenean dogs, friendly fortunately, with their owners. Also spotted a single Red Kite as it passed over the village.

The afternoon was spent up in Snowbottom Belt where we continued the thinning. Fortunately for me not too many Beeches but plenty to do and we haven't even finished the top section of the Belt near the lane. Good news was that the sky cleared and the sun made an appearance, so not a bad way of finishing the day.

We really need our bees

More detail from Mark Avery guest  blog on pesticides and bugs [Buglife conservation] lengthy but on the mark!.

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.

Crank up the volume

Frosty in the Pleasure Grounds

Completed Play area

'cool'  Sherborne Brook 

Plummeting temperatures, -8 centigrade early this morning and not rising above freezing all day, has meant increasing pressure on Mike's 'wood' service. So armed with the wood processing machine and an increasingly 'honed' approach to this way of processing the wood piles {I still prefer the axe approach but bow down to the more productive machine} we were ready to crank up the volume of wood production. Before we started however the xmas tree for the Sherborne House residents needed to be installed in the quadrangle. After a slight delay caused by the low temperatures, with the additional help of Pat & a helpful resident,  the tree now stands proudly in its festive place once more.   

A cold lunchtime was spent firstly in the Pleasure Grounds where I was pleased to see the completed Play area which looked pretty good albeit in the absence of children. No doubt the swing, see saw, climbing wall and two stepping stones features will get plenty of use in the years to come. Just had time to have a quick look down by the Sherborne brook which was swathed in mist first thing this morning but had cleared by lunch. Lots of the usual bird residents still enjoying the habitat here even in these cold temperatures. 

Throughout the day we managed to fit in deliveries to 4 local customers ending up with the Sherborne school and all of them were genuinely pleased to see us and have their wood for the cold weeks to come.

Playtime!

Childrens climbing wall

Natalie testing Mike's hand & foot holds

Surprise from Mike this morning as the day was to be spent in the Pleasure Grounds on local engagement duties. This was part of a Project to setup some child friendly facilities in the Pleasure Grounds which included a climbing wall, stepping stones , Seesaw and swing. Most of the material {larch based} was locally sourced and Mike had begun the work earlier in the week with the help of tractor  and directed by Natalie {manager}.  So in the morning I drove the Ford ranger while Mike drove the tractor down to the play site. Some tree clearance &  heavy tampering to secure the larch posts in the climbing wall, took up most of the morning.

Spent lunch down by Sherborne Brook where I bumped into our resident 'birders' who said they'd had a relatively quiet but wet underfoot observing day. Good news was that recent observations {includes mine!} indicate that some of last years winter visitors are back including Short Eared Owls, Red Kites, Hen Harrier, and Fieldfares. Add to this a Peregrine, Cormorant and Marsh Harrier? all we need now with the excess water are some waders and we have quite a collection.

The afternoon was occupied setting up the Seesaw support posts, surveying sites for swings and shaping the stepping stones and cutting the holds for the climbing wall {latter 2 tasks dominated by Mike on chainsaw}. We were ably assisted by a senior NT manager Natalie the first NT non Ranger I had seen in the countryside in my 18 months volunteering. So although I was not doing what I consider as core countryside work it was good to see manager involvement and also providing a hopefully enjoyable local facility for youngsters.

The dark knight rises

Alien lands on Lodge Park roof?

After the torrential rain, view over deer park

Toad of Lodge pond, courtesy of Andy

Last week was a wash out! but today Andy {work experience}, myself and Mike hit Lodge Park for some mowing and strimming. One or two surprises before we began the mornings work. It was sunny, we witnessed the bee keeper remove a few thousand wild bees from the Lodge chimneys and Andy captured a picture of one of the resident toads in the Lodge pond. Pleased to say the tadpoles and newts also continue to do well in this surprisingly well stocked habitat.

Our luck didn't last as the heavens opened as we started the mowing but we had to carry on since this weekend an Opera was to be staged at the Lodge so everything needed to be in good presentable shape. As the above image above suggests we did finally get some respite as the sun broke through late in the morning to allow us to complete the mowing and dry out.

The afternoon was spent in the Pleasure Grounds at Sherborne in the vicinity of the ice house and 'round' seat where during my mowing I encountered a large {6 children!}, friendly family all the way from Idaho! The day was not quite over as we made our way over to the bat cave to meet up with Morris, our dark knight!,  at the quarry.  Before we could make our way to the bat entrance Mike had to carve his way through dense vegetation, yes there had been quite a growth spurt since our last visit. The objective of this visit was to see if any of the lesser horseshoe bats were still in residence. I lost heavily on my guess on the numbers still present, with Mike winning with his zero entry! So the planning for the work needed to be done on this bat habitat can proceed with suitable haste and hopefully later in July should see start of implementation without impact on the bats.

Quite a day and marked with a return to what seems to be normal weather as my return trip home was hit by a violent thunderstorm.

With a little help from...

Main 'gate' to Lodge Park

This weeks task began with re-gravelling the 'old' entrance to Lodge Park. Two key helpers were the tractor and Maddie, who provided valuable support to Mike & I, albeit with very differing roles. Seven Tonne bags of gravel later the job was done and although much energy was expended I wouldn't have like to have done it without the tractor and Mike's expert skills at the tractor controls.

Woodland menace!

Self portrait, at the edge of  Ragged Copse?

Thus far I have resisted in sharing my frustrations with some of the issues I have come across with our countryside mainly because generally I like to be upbeat and genuinely enjoy my time in the great outdoors. However I can't resist a bit of a rant about tree damage by that 'cute' little grey squirrel some clever person(s) decided to introduce to this Island in the period 1876-1920. It stems from my short walk around Ragged Copse at Sherborne in my lunchtime followed by the work we did to make safe the woodland play area for local school children  at the Pleasure Grounds.  Although I did enjoy the lunchtime walk around Ragged Copse , especially seeing healthy growth of the ash planted this year, the gloss was taken off by observing the really bad squirrel damage to the line of young to maturing broadleaf {mainly Beech}  trees. This was followed up by  even more damage to young broadleaf trees at the Pleasure Ground area we were working in, these trees will die, or when Mike can fit it in his busy schedule, will be felled.  Unfortunately I have seen such damage in most of the woodland areas both at Sherborne and in the wider North Cotswolds NT sites. I have also read articles which question whether Squirrels do that much damage and even suggest that young trees are not at risk. What nonsense, I can only hope that the results of the Forestry Commission survey regarding this issue, due 2011, come up with something that will make a difference {I haven't yet tracked down its conclusions/action plan}.