More thinning out at Royd House Wood

Once again we were t Royd House Wood thinning out some established trees. Phillip and Dave were at work with their chainsaws (photo of a spot of maintenance). The rest of us with pruning saws and loppers. This mornings cake was a universally acclaimed coconut crunchy top thing. And some of us went to the Sair afterwards for refreshment. Last photo is of our tree of kit.

The most significant even this morning was our receipt of a very significant donation of money from an old friend of the Society. "H" visited us on site, and presented Phillip with a cheque . We are all hugely impressed and grateful.

Bolster Moor and Scammonden

Another two-fer morning, led by Brian. The first site was at Bolster moor, and involved planting 200 hawthorn for a hedge for a local landowner. Most of our planting does involve creating more wild wood environments, but hedges and shelter belts also contribute to biodiversity. The work also fosters good relations with local landowners, who pay for the trees but get our (not inconsiderable) labours for nothing.


The second site was a farm below the Lower Royal George pub. We began planting a number of small plots within the farm's fields, creating small wooded areas. The weather was pretty poor, windy and occassionally rainy. But we did have a short Jameson's whiskey break, and cake, to fortify us. As you can see we needed fortifying, it was cold and windy up there, and wet underfoot too. The first picture is of John and Peter, the second features Rob, Geoff and Trevor leaning into the wind.

Return to High Wood

Back to High Wood again this morning. It is a large site that will occupy us for some time, including some of next season. This morning we were planting more Hawthorn and Oak on the Westerly side of the site, and preparing ground for a group from Lindley school to do some planting in a couple of weeks time. And I occupied myself rolling up some old barbed wire that might be a bit hazardous with small children around. We were delighted to see Bob this morning, who hasn't been out with us for a while.

Return to Royd House Wood

Back to Royd House Wood again this week, to do more thinning of previously planted trees. We had two chainsaws in action this week, and the rest of us with loppers and pruning saws. We got quite a lot done. I came a way with a car load of firewood, which, while not the main purpose of the morning, is still good. Often our planting schemes involve packing trees in tightly together, 2 metres apart or less. We monitor the progress of sites. If not all the trees have grown well then there is of course no need to thin them out. Occasionally we will find that a certain type of tree is not thriving on a site, and we will go back to that site to "beat-up" (plant more trees). If all the trees we planted have done well, then thinning out may be necessary.

Today's cake was lemon drizzle cake, and lovely it was too. Everyone greatly appreciates my mum's home made cakes each week.

The work was followed by our mid-season committee meeting in the Sair, Linthwaite, at 1pm.