The forecast on Saturday was awful. Would we get snowed in? Would it be too cold to work? Would anyone turn up?
So it was a surprise on Sunday to wake to bright sun and what promised to be a lovely day. Eleven of us turned out to enjoy it including two new people – welcome to Annaliese and Alice.
We had a variety of things to do so we worked in small groups spread out
round the lake. Richard’s team tackled some old and straggly gorse bushes,
pruning them back to encourage new growth. Gorse is lovely when in flower –
as it is now - and is a valuable food source for insects. John organised the
fire to burn the dead wood, having first arranged for one of the trustees to
warn the fire brigade as we didn’t want a repeat of the Hartsholme volunteer
day, when a fire engine was sent to investigate their fire!
Dave kept an eye on the people involved in woodland management, ie removing some of the smaller sapling trees which were growing too close. Thinning them out means the remaining trees have more room to grow and will become stronger as a result. We also ‘lifted the crowns’ of some trees, taking off the lower branches to open up the space beneath the trees to allow light through to the woodland plants growing there, and also opening up views of the lake through the trees.
Thanks are due to those who removed the remaining tree guards around the reserve (except along the hedge at the back), ensuring the tree trunks are not strangled by the guards as the trunks grow in size. This was not an easy job and some had had plenty of experience during previous visits to this reserve, which no doubt explained their reluctance to volunteer to do them this time!
The weather stayed fine for most of the day, apart from the occasional
flurry of snow driving horizontally across the lake, with the sky turning a
dramatic stormy colour behind the old factory next to the reserve.
Thanks to Richard for doing the brew kit – sorry to everyone that the timings went awry and we didn’t get a tea break until lunchtime!
Congratulations also to Charlie on completing his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award
And finally, it was nice for us that so many people walking round the reserve thanked us for our work. It is sad, however, that when many people so obviously appreciate having a lovely local place to walk, some dog owners cannot be bothered to clear up after their pets, even though bins are available.
Jude