Scammonden and Golcar Scouts

Golcar Scouts planting an Ash tree

Back to Scammonden today and we planted over 300 more Ash. We were assisted by a brilliant turnout of 19 Golcar Scouts, who were excellent workers! Weather was mixed, but the sun shone some of the time. Cake was a splendid coconut crunch. Regular tree society folk included myself, Philip, Neil, Geoff, Dave, Brian, Roger, Trevor, Ann, and new recruit Andrew (well we hope he is a new recruit, we tried not to scare him off).

We who also work on Thursdays

Trevor and Brian finishing off an ailing Birch

I was recruited by the Senior section this morning, and went round to various sites with Brian, Trevor and Peter to "beat-up" (which means plant extra trees) and to cut down a couple of dead Birches.

What we did on our half term holiday.

No tree planting today. A bit of snow, and the fact that a number of us were on half term breaks meant that we called it off. Myself, mother, Dan and Geoff did turn up, plus a couple of bright and enthusiastic Scouts. But we decided that the roads to Scammonden would be unpassable. We spent an hour sorting out reclaimed stakes and guards which Brian and crew had retrieved from Bolster Moor. We can use these in a couple of weeks time at Marsden. So that saves us some money and means the morning wasn't a total wash-out. Thanks Brian and crew for their recycling work, and to those intrepid few who did turn out this morning.

Access improvements at Fieldhouse

There is now a new gate, and levelled access, to Fieldhouse.

Scammonden. Herons in the trees!

Philip leans on his mattock and admires the winter sky.

Quite a nice morning, cloudy then sunny. Back at Scammonden attempting to plant Rowan high on the hillside above the reservoir. We managed 118 Rowan, which is not bad given the heavy digging and effort of dragging everything up the hill. Brian and crew managed a similar number down the bottom of the slope. While having coffee and cake we could see a number of herons roosting in the trees on the opposite side of the reservoir. I had not seen herons in such a big group before, and not seen them in trees. After the planting, off to the Sair for the mid season meeting.

Cath, Heidi and Neil hard at work. Previous
planting visible bottom right.

Finishing at the rifle range, not with bang but a whimper.

Rifle range sign cheekily augmented with CVTS waymarker

Second week at Lydgate, finishing off. We planted a further 140 trees, taking our total for this site to around 320 - Larch, Rowan, Hawthorn, Scots Pine, Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock. A classic tree society damp and cloudy morning, but enlivened by lovely bakewell tart at break time. We were, myself, Ann, Ben, Philip, Geoff, Neil, Dave, Duncan, Cath, Guy, and Josh the Explorer Scout. The shooting club is a very large patch of land, and depending on how this season's trees fare then we may well look to come back here and plant more over the coming years.