The task this Sunday was to rake up and remove the cut grass from a small section of the Ancaster valley. This site is a rare example of chalk grassland in Lincolnshire (7% of the total in the county!) and cutting and removing the hay ensures the chalkland flowers keep coming up.
The weather was a mixture of hot sun one minute, rapidly followed by the
threat of rain the next, so a typical English summers day. Sarah the reserves
manager, had already cut the grass so we set about raking it up and pitch
forking it onto the back of the trailer. Some of us then jumped into the
landrover to help unload it at the far end of the reserve onto a very slowly
smoldering bonfire that Nick had set going.
The task initially looked like
only a few hours work, but we struggled to clear the area before the end of the
day. For a change, some volunteers moved up into the woodland that runs
the length of the valley and set about cutting down the many sycamore suckers
that were sprouting everywhere.
All in all a good days work and made all the more enjoyable by a couple of
nice tea breaks with what seemed like an endless choice of cakes & biscuits to
consume.
Julian