Nick had arranged this task with Simon Cooter, of Natural England, and we
were able to stay free at Roads Farmhouse, which contains RSPB and Natural
England offices. Six brave volunteers went down on the Friday night,
setting up camp in the lounge and one of the offices and arranging furniture
to make the kitchen more homely. They then braved the cold to walk to
the pub in Frampton, and apparently enjoyed the walk home under starry
skies. Six more drove down on Saturday (some to stay until Sunday) -
safely navigating icy roads and avoiding joining the handful of cars sitting
in ditches. Simon and his assistant Mike also worked with us.
The work was to lay a hedge, mainly to reduce its height to remove perches
for crows. Natural England has recently created a pond near the sea
defence to encourage waders to nest. However, the hedge was several
layers deep, so first we needed to cut down some of the trees nearer the
defence, drag them to the fire and burn them. Simon helped with the
chain saw but this was a big job, and some of us continued with this while
others made a start at laying two sections of hedge.
The weather was sunny and spring-like on Saturday, but on Sunday we woke to
heavy snow, which while pretty, meant cold, wet, work to start with, and the
rekindled fire was welcome. By the end of the day we had completed the
two stretches, including binding. Most of us had learned something
about hedgelaying or gained extra experience. Mike will be continuing
with the work with the help of another warden, although some of the hedge
may be too gappy for laying. Unsurprisingly, we were tired out by the
end of the weekend, but a jolly time was had by all.
Nicola
(More photos on the LCG Picasa site)