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.