Saturday 15 November 2014

Foggy, but no Compo or Clegg



This morning we were in a field at the bottom of Crimble Clough, Slaithwaite, planting 105 Hawthorn, 30 Hazel and 20 Rowan as a shelter belt. And 20 Sessile Oak and 10 Rowan in 4 small clumps at the other end of the field.

We were: Philip, Dave, Vashti, Cath, Trevor, Peter W., Peter T., Steve, Geoff, Geoff's friend (name not taken, our apologies), Dianne, Jess, and Ben. Simon was off poorly. Landowners Hannah and Alex are also in the photo.

Cake was Apple flapjack, capably distributed by Steve in Simon's absence. Geoff's friend also brought tasty biscuits.

Duncan's absence was noted again - we miss Harvey the dog! Apparently  he is injured. We wish him a speedy recovery. Harvey that is.

Sunday 9 November 2014

A damp start but a good day's work


So this morning we were in a field on the edge of Marsden, planting 300 trees and hedge plants. We were: myself, Dianne, Cath, Vashti, Philip, Geoff, Ben, Steve, Peter, and Hap. We were joined by the landowner, Jolly, and his friends, Ross, Matt and Matt. Ann brought us cake at 11am. Unfortunately that was also more or less the time that the rain really set in, and we ended the morning quite damp and muddy. This morning also saw the debut of my new super trowel - actually a cold-war era Hungarian army entrenching tool. £12.99 off Ebay, and worth every penny.

Saturday 1 November 2014

Woodland management at Guy Edge

Before.
After













Today we were at Guy Edge, Linthwaite. A very early CVTS planting site, from the 1960s. The land is owned by Kirklees and we have an official management plan drawn up in collaboration with their Forestry Officer. Today we were mainly clearing brambles and low hanging branches from footpaths. At some point we will return and fell a proportion of the numerous Corsican Pine on site. We were: myself, Philip, Dianne and Lizzie the dog, Hap and Steve. Guy popped along briefly to advise. Cake was chocolate brownies. A good morning's work, and good weather too.

Saturday 11 October 2014

Planting prep in Autumn sunshine

A lovely Autumn morning. We were myself, Jess, Dianne and Lizzie the dog, Ben, Geoff and Dave. We took 100 Hare guards and stakes, and 60 Deer guards and stakes up to Butterley Clough. I spent some time pruning the trees near the golf course second stile, since we will be carrying a lot more gear through there in the coming months. Seemed a good idea to make way. Stakes and guards are safely stashed on site ready for when new trees arrive. Lemon drizzle cake at break time (which was a bit late, as I lost track of time). Towards the end we helped Dave with his wildflower Meadow experiment. Which involves clearing a patch of Bracken and it's attendant root system, ready to be sown with seed in the Spring. Spoke to Bobby in the Sair and our pre-season meeting is now listed on their calendar.