Isolation (not the song you think)

This morning was a three-fer.

I assigned myself to the nursery, on the principle that Dave would need help unloading and stacking logs. Sadly this message didn't get through to the chainsaw boys, who spent the morning felling larch and leaving it where it lay. So hardly any logs arrived, and the ones that did were felled on Thursday.

Stephen, Philip, Dave, Hap, Adrian and John were at Throstle Green. 

Geoff, Cath, Tanya, Sophie and Jess were at Scammonden deguarding.

https://youtu.be/N8lOLNfnCBg

You need to calm down

Back to Throstle Green Farm for another (short) morning of felling and logging. We were: Stephen, myself, Dave and John. Still work to do on Saturday.

At one point an ex-colleague of ours hurled homophobic abuse at as as he cycled past. And not in a friendly way (which wouldn't be possible anyway, it being homophobic and all). We were somewhat surprised, but we gave a genuinely polite reply, as he sped off.

Taylor said it best:

https://youtu.be/Dkk9gvTmCXY

Pull dub

 

Ah, look, Geoff has a little doggie friend.

Another morning of two halves.

Myself, Philip, Stephen, Hap, Adrian, John and Dave were at Throstle Green Farm to fell some trees growing too close to the roadside. Philip and Stephen had their chainsaws and everyone had full PPE. We had to buy a winch and some cable in order to fell a couple of these safely.

Meanwhile, at Scammonden, Geoff (birthday boy), Jess, Lee ,Sophie, Steve, Jon and Tess were carrying on the reclamation work.

One of the expertly felled tall larch.

Some gentle electronica this week.

https://youtu.be/ayjladnljoE

505

 

Continued work at the same spot at Scammonden as last week then down to the bottom of the hill in a Hap-inspired coda to finish off removing guards from the hawthorn we started on a couple of weeks ago. Weather bright but decidely cold in the brisk northerly, though it warmed up a bit as time wore on, and it was a thoroughly enyoyable morning. Still more guard removal and remedial work to do on the oak and rowan at the top. We were Lee, Jess, Adrian, Hap and Geoff.

https://youtu.be/MrmPDUvKyLs

Songs a bit random, 5 people, 505 by Arctic monkeys. Hey, I'm not getting any prompts from participants while I am away, so there it is.

Cold irons bound

 

This week we were removing guards, mainly from some Scot's pine, from a spot below Sledge Gate, to the east of last week's Scammonden session that stretches east all the way across to the track leading down from road. We also did some remedial work on a stand of oak (and rowan) immediately below the pine. These oak trees have suffered a bit in the prominent but exposed position, and relatively poor soil, and are quite small for their age compared to those sheltered by the Italian alder of last week. They are growing steadily, if very slowly, but some have fallen over and the stakes (and guards) needed replacing for quite a few: a bit of young tree tlc basically. More to do at this site next time. Weather was fine, chilly at first but warming up later.

 

We were: Geoff, Cath, Hap, Dave, Ben, Steve, and arriving later, Dianne, Adam, Susan and Susan's sister (?)

Apropos of nowt, a bit of Bob.

https://youtu.be/9hO-83CIVKM

Knives out

 

Well a game of two halves today, though the first half was very short, for me.

Within the first half hour I managed to gash my leg with a hook-bladed craft knife. A really stupid bit of behaviour, but "accidents" are inevitable, and this was the worst cut we (!) have dealt with. Several of us had first aid kits, and I was securely strapped up by Hap and taken to A&E by Jessica. 8 stitches and a tetanus booster. A cautionary tale for all. I am going to go back to using my much more blunt fixed short blade Mora knife. I won't be able to do myself the same degree of damage with that, hopefully.

We were at Scammonden again removing stakes and guards.

Those remaining carried on working. They were: Geoff, Sue, Adrian, Sophie, Tanya, Hap, and Jess.

Sue loves a wild mushroom, and found a special birch tree mushroom.

https://youtu.be/2Lpw3yMCWro

Gigantic!

Scammonden, again, again. More guard removal and reclamation. This week we were; myself, Tanya, Jess, Sophie, Dave, Ben, Kati, Adrian and Steve. That pile of trash guards is getting big.

https://youtu.be/2B6qerZlczw

We moved along Sledgegate and took a few remaining guards off in an area next to the road just above Baker's Stonecote, then moved to the far end of the road and entered the plantings next to the mature conifer plantation. This area, planted around 2010, along with the birch that stretch down from it on a small exposed ridge, is the last site on this side of Scammonden that requires significant guard removal. It is not so easy to get onto the site as it is overgrown, steep and chock-a-block with nettles, but once there it is a secluded and lovely young woodland with quite a special feel: the much larger Italian alder are doing a great job at providing a shelter belt for the oak. Weather was fine and pleasant, if a little cold for the time of year. We were: Geoff, Jess, Lee, Sophie, Ben, Kati, Hap, Adrian, Jonathan and Tessie.

Going up

 

Dianne, Jon and Sophie, and some guards.

Back to Scammonden for more guard and stake removal/retrieval. Maybe not as glamorous work as actual tree planting, but important if we are to plant new trees sustainably and responsibly.

Good turnout this morning with; myself, Dianne, Tanya, Jon and Tessie, Adrian, Hap, Geoff, Dave, Sophie, and Steve.

Lots got done and the heavy rain held off until we were back at our cars at the end.

There was some discussion about the various ways of pronouncing "up" by group members (received, estuary, and yorkshire).

https://youtu.be/L2xEKA0bw9k

Green light

Todays blog entry written by Hap. I was at home car-less. The following appears to be laden with old sitcom references, though one has been changed by the blog moderator (me).

Back to Scammonden today where the self appointed SAS section of the CVTS (special arboreal squad) took on the thorny challenge of removing guards from the hawthorn (and the dead ash).. in the words of President Bush "mission accomplished". We were; Dave (squadron leader), Adrian (whose sister Dolly made the sandwiches), Hap (punka wala) and Geoff (aka Wolfie).

And you know those chaps would approve of a bit of Beyonce.

https://youtu.be/bOXvqkC3W4M

It's a good thing

 Ben organised some of his Good Gym buddies to move some guards at Scammonden. Good man!

Details on the GoodGym page here:

https://www.goodgym.org/reports/changing-of-the-guards?utm_campaign=follow_up&utm_content=run_report&utm_medium=email&utm_source=goodgym

And a song

https://youtu.be/xSgcDU1qHWM

Walk on by

This afternoon we took a tour of three woodlands that are owned by Kirklees, but that we planted up years ago, and are in need of some TLC. Myself, Philip and Stephen were joined by Andy Wickham, who is Volunteer Coordinator for Kirklees, and liaises with the various voluntary groups carrying out woodland and parkland management.

With Andy's input we came up with action points for Guy Edge, Royd House Wood, and Woods Avenue Marsden. Once we have written these up we will send them to Andy who will get them approved and we can proceed with the various tasks.

Saw two deer at Woods Avenue. Brazen they were. Nonchalant.

https://youtu.be/jqfqVDHNW6c

Back for good

 This morning we were at Scammonden, again, but the monotony was lifted by the attendance of Steve!

Altogether we were: myself, Adrian, Jared, Alastair, Geoff, Steve and Philip.

Lots of plastic tubes and stakes were retrieved for re-use or disposal.

Steve was back!!

https://youtu.be/N2ICtCO8TCw

Eagle

 

Back at Scammonden, reclaiming and collecting waste. We were: myself, Geoff, Adrian, Jess, Tanya, Hap, Dave, and Ben. 

We saw a Buzzard, which is not an eagle, but a bit like one.

https://youtu.be/dDI7x1nwTUw

The 1

This Saturday we were at Scammonden again, removing old tree guards and stakes. Most of the tubes were off mature trees, or Ash, so were not re-useable. 80 long stakes were brought away for re-use.

We were: myself, Geoff, Dave, Jess, Lee and Hap.

It was a pretty damp and midgy morning, with one notable deluge. But still turned out to be fun!

Me and Jess were quite excited about the new Taylor Swift release, so this week's song is off it. Even if the title isn't relevant. So there.

https://youtu.be/KsZ6tROaVOQ

Meeting

This Saturday morning we held our AGM and Summer meetings, amongst trees we planted.  Due to Covid we didn't feel it was appropriate to cram ourselves into a room for the meeting, and this seemed a good idea. It was a bit damp, but I still managed to take the minutes.

We were: myself, Guy, Cath, Dianne, Peter, Stephen, Duncan and Harvey the dog, Sue, Hap, John, Ben, Lee, Jess, Geoff, Dave and Philip.

The outdoor setting seemed to work, in that we got both meetings done in an unusually short time.

https://youtu.be/Jv0NUZVdIVQ

Blue orchid

Geoff, Tanya and Ben collected 117 shrub guards from Scammonden SC14 on Saturday and probably about 100 stakes (some broke). Dave came along later to 'reconnoitre' and took 30 back to the nursery; the rest are left on site for now. There are a few more there though not many, but most of that site needs de-guarding so could well go back there next Saturday. The weather was fine really - constantly rainy but not at all unpleasant.

 

They speculated that the visit of Jason McCartney to this site must have blessed it since Geoff found this rather fine common spotted orchid specimen (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), maybe even on the very spot that he had stood, proudly posing for a photo of him pretending to plant a tree.

 

Not many songs about orchids...

https://youtu.be/jW8UlrtcEac

Myself and Philip were visiting two prospective sites, the final additions to the Winter's activities.

Do anything you wanna do

The view from Scout

This  morning I was up at Scout talking to a landowner about a planting plan for the coming Season.

Geoff, Tanya, Ben, Lisa, Alexander and Jared were at Scammonden de-guarding.

Dave, Stephen, Peter, Cath and Hap were over the other side of Scammonden, de-balsaming.

https://youtu.be/rK8pAfhC4Rk

There, there, my dear

Another Saturday morning up Wessenden, and another deer/dire situation. This time we were working and heard a godawful screeching racket the other side of the reservoir. Turned out to be a distressing altercation between some deer and a dog. We think a mother deer and a young un, with the young un running off and taking refuge down by the water (pictured) and the mother scrapping with the dog then running off with the dog in pursuit. They put down dogs that worry sheep, probably no such penalty in this case. The picture was taken with a combination of my telescope with Jess' phone, 20x optical magnification achieved, with arty circle effect too.

It seems to be an effect of the epidemic, more people out enjoying the countryside, including more dogs. The deer had probably got used to a quiet life over that side of the reservoir, but now theres a near constant stream of people and their dogs going over there. And, using our tree guards as dog chew toys when there are not deer to chew on.

We were: myself, Geoff, Jess, Peter, Tanya and Ben in one group. Dave Hap and Stephen in another group. And Philip, Cath, Jared, Alastair and John in  the third and furthestmost group.

Lots of bracken got bashed and guards straightened.

And one of my all time favourites for the music.

https://youtu.be/ZjwUX5MKJOo

Animals

The last few weeks we have been putting deer guards back on some young trees at Butterley, because we could see the bark was getting eaten or rubbed by deer. Lo and behold, this morning in the fog we ran into two of the culprits. The irony of tree planting is that the more successful we are the more deer there will be, which will make it more difficult to establish more new woodland. Hey ho.

We also saw a frog, owls (might have been same owl twice), curlew, and a buzzard.

We were: Philip, Jess, Lee, Cath, Guy and John in one group. Dave, Ben, Hap and Stephen in another, and finally myself, Adrian, Geoff, Jared and Alastair.

https://youtu.be/eBiIFhg0Jnc

Out in the fields

This Saturday we were up the Wessenden Valley, knocking down bracken before it shades out any of our growing young trees.

We were: myself, Philip, Dave, Geoff, Adrian, Hap, Alastair, Jared, Peter, Susan, Stephen, John and Cath.

We divided into two groups to try and adhere to the guidelines.

This week's tune, a heavy rock request from Dianne.

https://youtu.be/bbjrAQf8jBQ

Sastanàqqàm

Geoff looking exotic

Myself, Geoff and Steve were again working and being socially distant at Scammonden. Guard and stake removal. I made one trip back to the nursery with our spoils. Geoff had forgotten his sunhat so was going round looking like a member of Tinariwen.

https://youtu.be/vACZA9dGvV4

I got stung

Blog by Tanya this week, including arty fly photo and more representative one of nettles (the stung part).

Steve and Geoff were also on the hillside. Removing guards and tidying. I was busy landscaping Ann's garden.

https://youtu.be/FvmLT1UBOxM

Ant music

So in this slightly relaxed (?) lockdown myself, Geoff and Tanya travelled to Scammonden separately, worked separately (Tanya was 100m away) and then sat at 3m spacing for teabreak.

We did not share tools or snacks.

All deguarding and tidying. 

Tanya got fascinated by an ant's nest.

Ben and friend and dogs were also at Scammonden doing similar, but working on a completely different bit of the hillside. Didn't see them.

https://youtu.be/Rm9drIwmmU4

You've got time

Time consuming, but worth it.

So back at Scammonden for more regulation adherent scrabbling around in the undergrowth.

This time I was perfecting my method for removing almost all guards in a manner making them re-useable.

https://youtu.be/w9_isl1jjHc

Police on my back

There I was, lurking in shrubbery up by the reservoir, when I got collared by the filth! I dun nuffin!

I was up at Scammonden planting 30 of our remaining Hawthorn in the hedge line along Sledge Gate. I was next to the lane and this little silver hatchback pulled up, and a woman starts staring at me. I walked towards the car and then saw she had the vest and radio rig on. So I unzipped my fleece to reveal my anniversary design CVTS t-shirt. and pointed at the tree. She gave me the thumbs up and off she went.

I have taken a few trips up there recently. One of the things I have been doing is putting retaining bars on our piles of old deer tubes. Open topped affairs don't cut it, and there were wind scattered tubes all around the ones we'd done recently. They needed putting behind bars!

https://youtu.be/dMuL0uHJrv4

Lately I've let things slide

I can see my house from here!

So I have also been wandering up to Pasture Wood, Ellen Clough, to tidy things up a bit.  I have brought down several big green bags of guards. All by hand and on foot, and all on my own.

https://youtu.be/7ImrJijeveM