Butterley once more

Vashti and Jess, and some Birch.

This morning we were back at Butterley. Planting another 205 Woodland Trust/Co-Op/ Cuckoo's nest trees.

We were: myself, Cath, Philip, Dave, Jess, Vashti, Ben, Dianne and Lizzie the dog, Duncan and Harvey the dog, Geoff, Steve, Stephen, Peter W., and Hap.

Cake was monumental slabs of home made millionaires shortbread. Wow, was said a lot. Even the greedy sorts could only manage single pieces.

Left on site are 40 Willow, 100 Hare stakes and guards, and, I think, 70 deer guards and 150 deer stakes.

Stephen and Peter, and misty Marsden.

Per ardua ad Butterley

Geoff strikes a blow for treedom

This week we returned once again to the fringes of Butterley Reservoir. Trees were provided by the Woodland Trust, stakes and guards by the Cuckoo's Nest and the Co-op. There are lots of plans for Butterley this year, with Yorkshire Water themselves getting involved in some planting. Above us, higher up on the moorland we could hear the National Trust up to something, motorised, probably planting heather.

We were; myself, Geoff, Dave, Philip, Jess, Lizzie the dog, Dianne, Steve, Ben, Trevor, Peter T., and Hap. We spent the first hour lugging materials onto site. Though we did get some welcome help from the groundsman at Marsden Golf Club, who ferried the heavy stuff some of the way in his Kawasaki Mule buggy. We want one.

So far we have taken up 360 deer stakes and guards, and 100 hare stakes and guards.

In the second hour we managed to plant 85 trees. 125 trees were left on site healed in.

Cake was ginger.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bramble on!

An enormously sweaty morning attempting to loosen the stranglehold of brambles on our young trees at Fieldhouse. We were: myself, Steve, Geoff, Philip, Dave, Hap, Duncan and Harvey the Dog. Guy and Mandy were working at the nursery. Cake was an improvised currant, cherry, choc-chip affair. There were a mysteriously large number of carrier bags in amongst the trees. Abandoned by blackberriers?

Parkwood Revisited

Philip amongst the White Willow

This morning we took a trip up to Parkwood in Golcar. Planted over 3 seasons from 2012 onwards there are trees at various stages of growth across the field. We were very pleased with progress. Willow and Alder are doing well in the wet parts of the field, and Downy Birch was growing well in the dryer centre. Deer guards have been well worth the money, as planting done with canes and spirals has suffered from deer browsing. We retrieved 36 stakes and a similar number of guards for re-use this Winter. We were, myself, Steve, Philip and Ben. Cake was apple flapjack.