Bird Box event at the NCVs' barn and fencing at Sparrowhawk Farm: 29-10-2013

Today 10 NCVs turned out to do their best with two different jobs. During the morning there was a bird box making event for the public in the NCVs' barn, using the kits that Jan and his assistants prepared last week. Two of the volunteers, and Paul, remained there to supervise the activity while the rest of the group set off to make a start on the last leg of the Sparrowhawk fencing task.

The bird box event was well attended with four adults and six children calling in to learn the skill of bird box making. They were all very adept at using tools, even the two youngest - a pair of twins aged 5 (sorry - very nearly 6!!) I worked with these two and we got ourselves down near the wood burner so we were nice and cosy as we worked. Within two hours they had completed two boxes and were awarded certificates for their efforts.

  

After a hard morning's work the twins proudly show off their 

'Certificates of Achievement - Bird Box Construction Level 1'

Other bird box makers were also hard at work.

After lunch by the stove three of us went up to Sparrowhawk to help out with the fence. 

Now - followers of this blog will know that fencing at Sparrowhawk has featured a number of times over the last year. Indeed, the final stretch has been done twice! Last time we left it it looked like this, with a number of uprights still to dig in and three rails to attach:

Previously, on Sparrowhawk farm....

However, upon arrival at the field we were surprised and delighted to find that the others had really got a crack on and almost finished the job before they broke for lunch. (Phew - no hard digging of fence posts for me today!!) One thing we did notice when we arrived was the use of some 'bridging' timbers. We were assured that these were used to save having to waste wood. I have my doubts as photographic evidence seems to indicate that they were far from planned.

Oops. How did we manage that?

Over a lunchtime tangerine Ros K and 

Terry devise the 'saving wood' cover story.

Lunch over we all got busy and laid the job to rest once and for all.

Just how many men does it take to knock in a nail?

Graham has a cunning plan to make a perfect join - 

let's hope he stops before he reaches Ros K's body!

Close up of the cunning plan to deal with the change in angle in the lie of the land. 

Note how the plan is better executed as Graham works from the bottom rail upwards!

Dean chooses the difficult and demanding task of nail provider....

...... during the morning .......

...and later in the afternoon!

Terry took on the task of sawing off the tall bits of fence. Unfortunately the bow saw was not very sharp so he called for the new, yellow handled saw that was much coveted. A cry of 'The yellow saw of Texas is the only saw for me....' went up and the sharper tool was passed over.

Ros E demonstrates her angle cutting skills - 

not easy when you have to squeeze between 

the end of the fence and the nearby tree. 

Finally a piece of pig wire netting was used to bridge the gap between the end of the fence and the nearby gate post. Rails could not be used as the post was at a difficult angle in relation to the fence. 

Now - guess who is putting the last staple in?

At long last - the job's a wrap. 

Don't lean too hard on that fence, 

just in case, especially near those bridging timbers!

Ros E.

Photography Workshop and preparation for the AONB Bird Box Event: 22-10-2013

Editor's note - this week was a training session for many of the NCVs. Tony has written the entry for this. Those who didn't attend were otherwise engaged in the NCVs' workshop and Ruth has provided an account of what they got up to. 

The training session

Twelve people signed up for the course and arrived at the Council Chambers in Pateley Bridge on a morning of heavy rain and greyish misery. The first item on the agenda – should we abandon the course in view of the weather and reschedule for another day - was roundly condemned as a bad idea so the course began. Paul Harris, local resident, professional landscape and portrait photographer, started by outlining the pattern of the day and checking the wide variety of cameras brought to the session. The first section of the three part training programme (working very correctly to the rule of thirds) involved Paul chatting to us for two hours about cameras and photography while showing us photographs. Sleep inducing? Boring? Forget it. Paul talks clearly and enthusiastically about his subject, involved all us students and answered the questions thrown at him.  Then we had a break for lunch. (Many thanks to Sue for the cake - Happy Birthday!)

Practice shots taken during the lunch break by Tony (Ros E. responsible for the captions):

What on earth do you think you are 

doing with that camera boy?

I am simply not amused by your tendency to 

photograph people in the middle of their dinner.

Now - what was it Paul said about that histogram 

thing you have to check before you take a shot?

And so to the second third.  Get out there and take photographs of Pateley Bridge – its bridge and High Street, shops, people at work, and make sure you get wide angle shots, medium and close ups.  Talk to people and ask if you can take their pictures. All very daunting for a bunch of shy and retiring people like us. It was noticeable that there seemed to be more photographers on the High Street than other pedestrians. Camera shy, or did they dislike the weather?

Photography school out and about.

Judith - pay attention!

Pateley Bridge itself - not a soul in sight! 

It was the same in the High Street.

We were going to struggle to meet the brief Paul had set us!!

Anita tried to follow Paul's instructions with the material she had available 

(captions provided by Anita):

Four eyed Graham looks on in admiration 

as Tony takes a shot with his monster

Ros E. checks her teeth in the window

Ros K makes a dash for the cakes

We took quite a long time over this, then returned to the Council Chambers for the third part of the course. Everyone’s photos were downloaded onto the Lightroom software on Paul’s computer and the best five or six photos from each set were highlighted by Paul in consultation with the whole group, with an explanation about what made each photo special. Each five- or-six picture group told a story about Pateley, its people and shops. 

(These 'stories' are to be loaded onto a disk and sent by Paul to the AONB office for possible use in their publications.) 

During the selection procedure Paul also showed us some of the editing possibilities of the software. During this phase of the work we learned more about how professional photographers, magazine and newspaper editors make selections. All use different criteria.

It’s not often that you find us working through to 6 o’clock, but although some people had to leave before this, most of us stayed until the threat of being locked in persuaded us to leave.

Thanks in particular to Paul, and also to the AONB for one of the most enjoyable and instructive training courses they have arranged. 

(Editor's note - Paul is going to send a pdf file of the key information from the training session. A link to this will be created here as soon as it is available.)

Tony K

Meanwhile - down at the barn....

Six diligent NCVs immediately got cold feet at the prospect of getting wet feet fencing at Sparrowhawk Farm in the rain so adjourned to their barn. Here Jan and his apprentices set about making up 15 bird box kits in preparation for next week’s AONB bird box event. Sides, lids, bases, backs and fronts were carefully measured out and sawn from an assorted pile of old timber. Inner tubing was cut for the seals and holes drilled for drainage and fixings. In addition the outside of the barn and its surroundings were spruced up, weeded and cleared. The rain didn’t stop. A large supply of old laminated shelving was gradually sawn up for firewood until the operators could no longer lift a saw.

These jobs done we turned our attention to the presentation of the barn for the public. Shelves were tidied up and tools placed in their correct positions. Broken things were actually thrown out along with an ugly collection of perished, pongy and putrifying work gloves. We did remark on the excess number of left gloves and shortage of right ones - even in new packs. Brooms were wielded to clear the covering of dust and sawdust which had smothered  the floor. The local mouse scurried down a hole in the flagstones in fear of its life. Paul will not be able to find anything now that the barn is tidy, so we made good our escape.

Ruth

Hackfall Woods: 15-10-13

Today was another visit to Hackfall Woods where the task was “ Vista Clearance”. The line of sight to be cleared was between Mowbray Point and The Ruin, and Fisher’s Hall. 13 NCVs and Mike, a Hackfall volunteer, together with our leader Paul, set forth with a selection of loppers, bow saws, slashers, ropes (what on earth could they be for?) and hard hats. Thoughts of sitting comfortably on scenic benches at various viewpoints, with a flask of coffee to hand, looking at the beauty of the countryside flooded our minds - well, what else does vista mean but extensive views? These idyllic thoughts were quickly dispelled when we approached the first part of the task.

A 40 foot waterfall was to be unearthed from underneath the undergrowth on the hill. A group of intrepid “mountaineers” set off with loppers, saws, ropes, hard hats, ice axes, crampons (no - I’m only jesting re the latter 2 pieces of equipment); the excitement was mounting! What would the rest of us be faced with? 

At a path junction we looked down towards Fisher’s Hall and there was our task - to remove saplings and thick “overgrown undergrowth” between where we were standing and the ancient, but attractive ruin. We hurried down the path, dumped our bags, picked up our weapons and began clearing the plants, amongst which were enormous horsetails. 

 

Slowly the NCVs work their way up the hillside, lopping and slashing as they go.

Paul and Dean carefully prune a tree. Little do they 

realise that the whole thing will be later removed!

Soon after starting there were cries of “just look at this” as we uncovered masses and masses of beautiful fungi, much of which was covering tree trunks and stumps. The amount of fungus was amazing!

Editor's note - we now think that this fungus is honey fungus - not good news! Perhaps someone else could help us out here and give us better news?

Everything stops for lunch!

 

The river raged below us - the 

level seemed to rise during lunchtime!

By 2pm the swathe of “vista clearance” was completed. 

The final result - a clear line of sight from 

the top path down to Fisher's Hall.

The intrepid waterfall “mountaineers” had returned unharmed and successful; 3 cascades of water were now flowing freely down the hillside looking lovely. 

Up at the forty foot falls Tony (the new), 

Jan, Mike and Paul get busy scaling the cascade and 

clearing any debris or  encroaching scrub.

Mike inspects the falls from close quarters 

and Jan makes it to the top of the falls, thanks to his trusty stick.

Another final result - the falls can now be 

seen by all the woodland visitors.

Back at Fisher’s Hall, one final task was being completed. A VERY large tree (editor's note - the one so carefully pruned at the start of the day) was being felled, the use of ropes was employed in order to try to assist in pulling the tree down more quickly. The whole scene looked more as if a “Go Ape” adventure playground was being constructed. Helpful comments were shouted down from higher up the bank and finally, after a bit of a tussle, the tree was beaten into submission. “Timber” could be heard echoing round the clearing as the lumberjacks whooped with glee at their success.

The final task of the day really starts to warm up as the final tree 

shows some reluctance to part company with its sawn through stump. 

 Everyone else looks on from above.....

..... and some even lend a hand with the tug of war.

Vista Clearance was completed for the day. We all felt very pleased with the results that had been achieved in a relatively short space of time. Now, where were those benches?

Ros K

Timble Ings: 08-10-2013

Well - what a turn out! No fewer than 20 NCVs arrived at the parking area near Anchor Farm, all keen and ready to work in the pond area of Timble Ings. Avid readers of this blog will recognise this venue as our hunting ground for dragonflies (see blog entry for August 13th 2013 - "Here be dragons..."). Actually, there was an extra NCV who turned up for work today. His name was Jasper and, as can be seen from the photo below, he is a prime example of how interesting and diverse our group is.

Due to Jasper's bodily limitations he was given the task of 

guarding the flapjack tin and first aid kit throughout the day.

There were three tasks today and these were quickly outlined by Paul before he made good his escape and set off for an "important meeting he had to attend". Hmmm - why does this not ring true? 

Task 1 - scrub clearance around the main pond near the old pub (no chance of a lunchtime drink here as it is now in ruins).
Dragonflies like open areas of land around their ponds but, unfortunately, one of these ponds was fast disappearing in a thicket of silver birch saplings. There was no doubt about it - the saplings had to go. I was working in this team of 11. Loppers, bow saws and spades at the ready we set to work with gusto. It quickly became apparent that there was a sapling removal scale that we needed to be aware of (similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes), namely:

Magnitude	Description	Average effect on NCV
1.        Pullable	·         No implement required. ·         Sapling can range from tiny to waist high. ·         Good method to prevent re-growth	Variable – either: a)       a quick and easy tug (occasional) b)       a rather more difficult pulling episode requiring emulation of Serena Williams playing tennis and even falling backwards onto one’s rear end (most common) c)        three people all holding on to each other [as in “The Enormous Turnip”] (rare)
2.        Diggable	·         Spade required as the thing just cannot be pulled out. ·         Sapling can range from tiny to waist high. ·         Good method to prevent re-growth	Backache but a certain smugness knowing that you are doing the job properly.
3.        Loppable	·         Loppers (or saw) required as the offending sapling is simply too deep rooted. ·         Sapling can range from tiny to waist high. ·         Poor method – same effect as coppicing	A sense of achievement in that the job is done quickly and easily, swiftly followed by a sense of shame -  some poor NCVs will have to come back next year to lop them off again.
4.        Forgettable	·         No implement required. ·         Sapling too big to consider removing.	Sense of relief.

Once the scale was adopted it then led to the group deciding on other '-able' words that could be applied to the day, e.g.

• Passable (saplings fit for the brash pile and which could, therefore, be handed to Hannah over the fence) 
• Collectable (saplings that would earn us a bob or two on the Antiques Road Show)
• Comfortable (the sitting down position adopted when one fell down a hole - see photo below).

John demonstrates how to look as 

if you meant to fall down a hole.

The removed saplings had to be barrowed to the fence and then transferred to the far side. Howie demonstrated his prowess at tossing the caber in order to do this and then Hannah was promoted to receptionist on the far side. Once she was in place the quality of her brash pile was second to none.

Howie put in some training for the 

next caber tossing Olympics

Ruth covered Judith's back in case any of the saplings 

tried to prevent her removing one of their brethren

NCVs were getting to grips with saplings all around the pond. 

There was nowhere for them to hide. We had them surrounded!

Task 2 - digging out of the smaller pond

Six NCVs donned waders and braved a very boggy area that used to be a pond but had just about disappeared under vegetation. It was amazing what they achieved during the course of the day. By the time we left at about 2:15pm there was a large expanse of fairly deep water on view and some very large heaps of silt and vegetation piled up around the edge. 

 

First you can't see it - then it starts to appear......

.....then et voila - a pond is born. Ta Da!!

Hands across the water. Dave B. 

keeps Julia safe from a watery end.

One of the silt heaps left by the water's edge to allow any pond 

creatures to crawl out and back down to their habitat

Colin managed to do a Uri Geller on one of the long rakes (you just can't get decent tools nowadays) and they all got rather wet and muddy (Tony was seen wringing his socks out when he removed his waders). 

Colin starts to focus his mind on the rake - 

"Bend....bend ....bend...." Slowly the rake starts to droop.

Julia and Joanne model this year's latest 'must haves' for pond clearers

By the time we left at about 2:15pm there was a large expanse of fairly deep water on view and some very large heaps of silt and vegetation piled up around the edge. 

Task 3 - clearing the scrub growing along the nearby stream side and pathway

Three NCVs took it upon themselves to make an early start on the 'If you have time then perhaps you could....' job. This involved them in some sapling removal (see table above) but also in the removal of two trees that had fallen across the stream. Obviously this was a more specialised job and required a good deal of sawing and death defying stream crossing. However - they, too, achieved their goal. Now there is no risk of the stream becoming dammed up (and there was the added bonus of there being no additional work for all the other NCVs once we had finished. What a team we make!

Lunchtime was a veritable feast. Apart from our own packed lunches, we had two sponge cakes brought forward from last week's task, a tin of flapjack (thanks to Audrey) and a box of plums (thanks to Hannah and Dave B.) John was so full of goodies by the end of the meal that he considered just sitting down for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the sunshine.

John reclines, replete. 

Meanwhile Hannah received some help 

from fellow NCV with her new phone. 

Ros (E)