Tuesday 24 February 2015

Ellington Banks - visit number three: 24-02-2015

On a fresh winter’s day that promised to be full of showers 12 NCVs, Paul, 3 heritage skills students and their supervisor met at Ellington Banks for the third instalment of conservation work and great crested newt habitat improvement. The MoD ecologist, John Black, gave us a quick safety briefing and then it was off to work in good sunshine. Not a cloud to be seen anywhere.

 NCVs working hard in all directions.



Graham eagerly took on solo fire duties with the assistance of a ‘large fire starter’ provided by Paul. The rest of us broke up into smaller groups sawing and lopping in the unexpectedly warm sunshine. In an impressively short space of time the ‘fire on the bog’ was established and was fed by the fruits of everyone’s labour.

No small task to get a fire going in the centre of a pool of water.

Brash production increased significantly when Paul “2 chainsaws” Mosley and John set to work on the larger trees. All the while a small number of brash piles were being created as habitats for wildlife.
A picture of elegance - who is the muddiest? This is the best of the brash piles so far.
During the morning break John provided an informative outline on the life-cycle of a great crested newt. Who would think they could travel so far and are proficient diggers in search of appropriate winter hibernation locations.
Major Paddy Ennis, the officer responsible for three army sites including Ellington Banks, came up to inspect the work and thank us for our efforts. He kindly offered to make the site available for an evening for those interested to see the newts later in the year. 

The NCVs meet Major Ennis.....

...and then pose for a whole group photo. 
Which of them look fit enough to join the army?

After a team photo it was back to work, except now with the company of the much promised rain / sleet / snow showers.

A quick lunch (under the shelter of what trees we hadn’t sawn down) was taken and a highly productive afternoon finished with a short walk around the perimeter of the conservation area led by John, who provided insights into some of the activities and armoured ‘furniture’ on other parts of the site.
This old tank could do with some conservation work!
As we left, with the bonfire burning itself out, you could see the large area that had been cleared around the two ponds to benefit the great crested newts.


Osian

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Hedge Laying Training and Ellington Banks re-visited: 17 and 18-02-2015

The NCVs were out on two days this week - some taking part in beginners' hedge laying training, others doing advanced hedge laying training and more continuing work at Ellington Banks......

Monday

Today Jasper Prachek, a professional hedge layer, ran the day's advanced hedge laying training at Low Lindrick Farm near Ripon. Six NCVs took part in this and the photos below give a flavour of the day. The weather stayed dry and we really managed to hone our skills, first learned two years ago. Jasper did an excellent job of making sure we achieved a level to be proud of without losing any fingers! 


Jasper shows the group the good and bad points of a hedge recently laid during a competition. The picture on the right shows what we were meant to be aiming for.

This was what we were starting from - so plenty of work lay ahead.

The first pleach of the day took place 
under close scrutiny.

Dave sawed off one of the stubbs.

Jasper showed Jan how to lay a tree around a post.

You need to keep looking at your hedge to make 
sure it has no gaps and is even on both sides.

Ros E.

Tuesday

Eleven eager beavers met John Black from the MOD at Ellington Banks to continue the clearing of saplings from around the ponds.   For those who had not been to the site before John gave us a brief introduction and pointed out the risks involved.  In glorious sunshine we quickly set to work with our trusty loppers and saws.   

 Everyone spread out - the saplings were easy to spot this week!!

 Chris set to work on a new brash pile....

...whilst Terry played with fire. 
No explosives were used in the making of this blaze.

Lunch time at last.

By 2pm a halt was called to cutting and all that remained to do was finish off the brash piles and watch the fire burn.  John explained that the best time to treat the stumps with herbicide is when they have produced some fresh growth, which he will do in May. 

By end of play there was a 'street' of Great Crested newt 
hibernation homes around the pond. 

The pond now looks good - but what has caused these ridges 
that have been revealed? John is going to find out for us.

Last job of the day - watching the fire die down. 
No shortage of volunteers for that task!

Anita

Meanwhile back at Low Lindrick farm another group undertook a day of beginners' hedge laying training with Jasper. This included the Heritage Skills students and a tutor, as well as some from other volunteer groups. The photos tell the tale.....

 The day started with the inevitable talk about 
health and safety regarding tools.

Everyone had to start by fronting up the hedge 
to remove most of the vegetation.

Once just a few stems remained Osian got busy 
with his saw in order to lay one flat.

Two of the students both worked with Jasper learning how to keep 
the saw blade flat. Two ended sawing is better than one.

Tom set his first rail in place.

By close of play the hedge was really looking good.

Tuesday 10 February 2015

Scrub clearance at Timble Ings: 10-02-2015

Yet another cold and bright day dawned this morning - perfect for the day's task. We met at Anchor Farm at Timble Ings and walked a mile into the Yorkshire Water woodland in order to reach the dragon fly ponds where we regularly visit to clear out any encroaching saplings. There was a good turn out - 19 NCVs joining Paul and the Heritage skills crew.

Paul started the day with a clear set of instructions. 
Or was it a game of Simon Says?

Underfoot was boggy, so wellies were the order of the day. Those without needed to circumnavigate here and there to avoid getting wet. The workers split into smaller gangs: one to clear around the three ponds; one to thin out the saplings along the stream-side and a third to cut down scrub growing on the nearby bog.

 The saplings around ponds a and b were hard to spot in the reeds.

This one was hoping it had disguised itself well 
enough to be overlooked. We can see you!!

The saplings around pond c were much more obvious.

This team of NCVs felt they'd done such a good job 
that they could celebrate by stopping for lunch.

Those on bog clearance were also working hard at it....

.....as were those along the stream-side.

Ros K decided to have a lie down on the job.

Plenty of material was generated for brash piles, some of which were easier to construct than others, depending on the size of the saplings.

This brash pile ended up quite tightly packed....

...and this excellent one looked like a hedgehog, 
complete with a snowball for an eye.

Two more new hat bobbles appeared today to join Anita's mouse bobble. Thanks to Anita for making them for us. Thanks also to Audrey for a welcome tin of flapjack.

Ros  K's bobble is a ladybird but her sewing skills 
led to it hanging down too much at the back.

 
Ros E's busy bee bobble is so heavy it regularly 
makes the hat slide down and obscure her vision.

All around were lovely examples 
of mosses and lichens.


Ros E.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Ellington Banks, Ripon: 03-02-2015

The sun was bright but the air was crispy cold as we met at the Army Training Area at Ellington Banks. We were 15 NCVs, 3 heritage skills students,  their 2 supervisors and Paul. Our task was to clear saplings and brush wood from the conservation area within the army land. Firstly we were addressed by John Black who is an ecologist engaged by the MoD to help manage their sites around the country. He gave us a formal briefing on our task, including  instructions  what to do if we found any used or unused ordnance. (Phil found a clip of more than a dozen rounds of blanks whilst attending to the needs of nature just off site.)

The alder saplings start to disappear and a pond emerges.

Terry and Graham took over fire duties whilst the rest of us sawed and lopped away happily in the lovely sunshine. Soon the fire burst into life and most of what we cut disappeared in a very large bonfire. 

There is no shortage of fuel for the fire.

 The rest was placed in a small number of brash piles to help provide a habitat for wildlife.

These lucky saplings are spared the fire.

A perfect place for a mid-morning picnic.

By the time we finished the bonfire was still doing its work and we had cleared a large area including the boggy ground next to two ponds said to hold great crested newts. We had let a lot more light into the area which the ponds especially will benefit from. 


"Right girls. We need to reach out to these 
partially submerged saplings.
Do NOT let go of my jacket!"

Phil