Special Ranger 'Ollie'

Large Oak clearance from fence line

Not quite back on full time  duty at Sherborne but did pay two visits this week to Sherborne, accompanied by Ollie. The first visit was on Tuesday and a chance to trial whether Ollie could settle in at the Sherborne estate offices whilst I helped out Mike on my usual duties. As it turned out it was a good meet and greet /socialisation opportunity with  NT staff and the two resident English springers. First of the Springers was Pepper who at ~6 months proved to be  Ollie's most interactive meeting with a dog. Pepper didn't hold back and to his credit Ollie managed to get a couple of licks and 'cuffs' in although he was mainly on the receiving end. Next on the scene was Maddie with a much more controlled interaction but with more vocal noises to keep my young pup in order. All in all a good experience for Ollie who went down well with all, so much so I let him run free in the yard.

Today at Sherborne  with threatening weather I left Ollie {in Pepper's spot in the yard} on a long lead with his cage for refuge. Mike and I headed off in 4x4 and tractor to century wood where clearance of a fallen oak was to continue with emphasis on clearing the fence line and loading on the tractor trailer the substantial oak branches. Some tricky chainsawing of the Oak branches was performed by Mike and by lunchtime the trailer was full and the fence line cleared for repair. Amazingly it was possible to temporarily repair the fence {before a proper job was possible} as most of the posts were unscathed by the fallen Oak. On  returning to the estate offices I found the 'guard dog' Ollie pretty filthy, wet and glad to see me {unfortunately much whining had taken place throughout an increasingly wet morning}. Still it meant Ollie was to get his first bath and tired out by his 'socialisation' with all, he slept on the return journey home with no noises to make me feel guilty at all.

Pause for a pup!

A neighbourly lunchtime chat

A good wash by the weir

Heavy rain early morning but fortunately it cleared for Wednesdays session at Sherborne so another good September day weather wise for what will be my last bit of volunteering for the next few weeks. The length of my break will depend on how well my English Springer pup settles in we'll have to see.

Not surprisingly wood processing was to be the task to meet the rising orders for wood now Autumn's here. This second session with the new Posch wood processor provided an opportunity for introducing some fine tuning learnt from our first experiences. After the first trailer load was delivered to dairy cottage we had created enough space to use the wood lifter for the first time. The next load went to Bill in the village with the second manual unloading featuring launching the split wood over a barbed wire fence and wall of brambles onto a narrow path. The last load of the day was at the oldest house in the village where we enjoyed a well earned cuppa and biscuit plus a tour inside by its friendly residents of an impressive property

Lunchtime was especially rewarding with the weather rapidly improving and the swan family relaxing by the deep waters by the weir. Was treated to a visit by a grey wagtail and kingfisher who made good use of the remaining bit of the tree still in the brook. Two red kites flew over probably checking out if last weeks sheep carcass was still there. May manage a visit to the Broadwater next week while Mike's on leave and before the puppy arrives. It may be the last time I see this years swan family together.

Short and sweet

Sherbornes' Mallards skittish

Almost time to leave ...

Bit of a delayed start at Sherborne as Mike had to organise the 'ancient & notable' tree survey which included transporting the 3 volunteers to the survey area near Lodge Park. Today marked the end of this impressive one year survey which covered over 1000 trees across the Sherborne estate.  The challenge for today was to use the new wood processor for the first time which meant transporting it to the nursery, setting it up and getting used to operating it. There's no doubt it requires more co-ordination of both arms and leg to synchronise the various levers for the conveyor belts, splitter, saw and 'log grip'.  Needless to say Mike soon mastered it as did I although not quite as smoothly. At this point we decided adding in the 'log lifter' was something we would leave until next time. We did however get a load delivered before lunch which wasn't bad considering everything.

Whilst I enjoyed the pleasures of the Broadwater with the Mallards, egret and almost grown-up swan family Mike had to rejoin the survey party. 

As we were running late the afternoon session produced 2 more trailer loads of wood, short of our target but it proved a good workout for the new wood processor and with some fine tuning I'm sure the production rate will rise considerably.

No surprises in this Wildlife Trust piece

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

A long and winding wall?

New kid on the block, Pepper!

Interesting start to this weeks session at Sherborne as the first task was to unload the new boat from the long trailer. This mighty vessel has been recently bought to sail the Broadwater and of course to enable more effective removal of weeds from the water. Having unloaded the boat we made our way, with long trailer, to the Lodge where 40+ straw bales were waiting to be removed from the premises, now the exhibition of Mike's photos has finished. We then transported the bales to the nearby tenant farm where they came from and neatly stacked them in one of the barns. The farm is one of the smaller ones in Sherborne's estate but it certainly sets excellent standards in balancing its use of the land for wildlife & plants with the arable and livestock farming.

Not the Osprey I hoped to spot, but one of the pair of egrets

Lunchtime was spent entertaining the new springer puppy which has Maddie's colouring and then searching the Broadwater for the Osprey Mike had spotted flying in this area earlier in the day. I wasn't so lucky but it was still good to see the pair of little egrets, our resident swan family, heron, coots and mallards.

The afternoon was spent brush cutting along the estate drystone wall by the A40 and East Belt. This was a continuation of the work from last week and we must be well over the 1000 yard mark now and there is still a fair amount to go. At least my skill levels are improving in this area although the mixture of  'old mans beard', low lying tree branches and brambles were quite challenging in the hot September temperatures!

Link to the NT blog on the Chedworth Archaeological work I joined a couple of weeks ago, this was day 12 showing much more than I was able to see at the time! If you have the inclination there are several blogs covering each stage of the 'dig', just follow 'the previous' link.

More bad news on the environment, this time on SSSI's

A long, long time ago

Earlier work reveals wall/room boundaries 

First break, most of concrete covering removed

Some finer troweling revealing 'Mike's wall' 

Quite a change from countryside work at Sherborne as Mike and I headed over to lend a hand to the archaeological dig, started on Monday, at the Chedworth Roman villa. On site was greeted by Martin and Nancy the archaeologists leading the activity and ably supported by a capable team of 'young' volunteers, that is until I arrived! A good deal of work had been carried out which had already revealed an impressive mosaic which had been re-covered with soil for protection, so I had to make do with a picture. It also had defined the 1700 year old room boundaries containing potential mosaics and the Roman walls. My first task as an 'archaeologist' was surprising since I had the opportunity to use a mattock, sledgehammer, metal bar and lump hammer, albeit with care, to remove a layer of concrete covering the  top of the room walls. It was here that I uncovered my first Tessara which was but one cube forming a part of the mosaic. Its fair to say the work was harder than I had anticipated given the removal &  loading of many buckets and wheel barrows with concrete followed by transporting the contents to a large skip.

However the real work was to follow with the painstaking clearing of soil & concrete to the level of the Roman stone walls using a trowel. This needed to be done carefully so as not to damage any Roman artifacts and was also under the close scrutiny of the public who were showing a keen interest in the 'dig'. I was pretty much occupied for the rest of the day on this work whilst others more experienced were either directed to work carefully on the top soil covering the room mosaics or on uncovering the top of the stone walls, a job Mike proved pretty effective at. All in all a worthwhile experience with an enthusiastic and friendly group of people. A good deal still needs to be done to reveal the secrets this dig contains after which it will be carefully covered up until such time a suitable cover can be constructed ala the existing  West Range cover building.

Good message on Badgers from the Wildlife Trusts but is this government listening, although there is a little more chance given the exit of Owen Patterson who clearly not only lost the plot but was never 'on plot'.

A worthy Celebration!

Sherborne's cygnets almost adult size now

Wednesday at Sherborne was spent at Lodge Park with some brush cutting, tree tidying and stone collection for the Cotswold wardens who were repairing a wall in the village. More importantly I got to get inside Lodge Park for the first time where Emily the Lodge manager was making final preparations for an exhibition showing part of Mike's impressive photographic images of the Sherborne estate where he has been working for over three decades!

Puts some of my photos of Sherborne to shame but I can't begrudge Mike's  well deserved place in this spotlight.  Even better the exhibition at Lodge Park {access available weekends through to 31August , includes bank holiday} provided an ideal setting to show off Mike's selection of photographs of the living landscape of the Sherborne Estate where he has made a serious contribution to its care over many years. He represents what I think is an all too scarce breed which quietly, modestly and diligently looks after our beleaguered countryside, which in Mike's case not only includes its 'flora and fauna', but also the community living within it. Talking of the great variety of fauna to be found in the estate one of the villagers was lucky enough to spot an Osprey {6 august } catching a trout in the Broadwater. It was no doubt on its way back to Africa and Sherborne was a handy stop on its lengthy journey.

Hard graft raking on the Cirencester flood protection bank

Today was out in Cirencester with the Wildlife Trust at the old Nursery site close to the river Churn. The main activities were raking up after the brush cutting/mowing by the Cirencester council staff, clearing the fence line at the entry to the site which runs along the Palladium Way and cleaning up the small stretch of the river Churn. Notable wildlife sightings were 3 frogs {which survived the brush cutting}, kestrels having a bit of a fight overhead, a kingfisher, trout and the unwelcome Signal crayfish. A good turnout on a pleasant day delivered a better than expected outcome for Will who led the days activities.

Worth selecting this particular Mark Avery blog on the long running Hen Harrier debacle.