Journal of a volunteer
June 2009
| Wed 3rd |
I had decided to sort out the charcoal shed. We still had one large sackful, which I divided between four small bags. There were also several bags of finer pieces that are not generally wanted because they fall through some barbecues. I sorted them into fewer stronger sacks and wondered what to do with this grade of charcoal. David Wilson of Bartington Forge had bought some two years ago, so I rang him. He said he would come and have a look. He appeared in the yard after lunch and agreed to take the lot with a generous donation to FoAM. We were left with just three bags of barbecue charcoal in the shed, six in the caravan and ten at other outlets. Dave, the Ranger, was handicapped by an injury to his hand this week, but was keen not to be the butt of witty banter. He did the ladder work, brushing and painting left-handed as Elna and I helped him to do more 'tarting up' of fingerposts and Wildflower Trail posts at Anderton. Down by the rifle range we took the opportunity to look at the wild flowers coming into bloom.
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| Thur 4th |
I parked at Anderton and collected umbellifers and buttercups before settling back at one of the picnic tables to wait for David and Sandra, who were coming from Wilmslow. They were unable to join our Wildflower Walk on the 13th, so we had arranged for them to come with me on a trial run. We sat down together for an introduction to Northwich Woodlands and some close observations of our samples. We walked up the hill, down to Marshall's Wood and across to the rifle range steps, calling in at the Dragonfly Pond before heading back to the car park, all the while noticing the buds and blooms along the way. They were very appreciative of my having taken them for a walk in the sunshine for an hour and a half.
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| Wed 10th |
We started off in the yard at Marbury in heavy rain. While Vernon and Jim emptied the trailer at the burning site, Alan G and I carried fence posts, rails and gate posts out to the gate ready to be loaded. We added tools to the load for Chris to take to the Ice Pond. We walked the short distance to meet him. The job for the day was to fence off the pond-dipping station. Jim and I dug through the humus around the yew tree roots, sand and then wet, sticky clay to provide a hole for a fence post. Alan and Vernon didn't have so much tree root to contend with, but there was water at the bottom of their first hole. The shoveholer came into its own for those skilled in its use. Maria, Elna and Ian and the lads added to our number in the afternoon. More holes were dug, mostly with smelly water oozing in. By the end of the day the area was secured with a wooden fence and another gate.
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| Sat 13th |
We were down at Marbury for 9.00am to get the caravan set up and prepare for a day at Anderton with gazebo and tables. Dave and I led more than 20 on our Wildflower Walk. Time constraints meant that we didn't visit the lime beds and we were still not back at the car park until after 12.00. Meanwhile Jim had been seeing a steady stream of visitors in the caravan, whilst at the same time setting up the plant sale. Friends had contributed well to the Bring and Buy Plant Sale, but the number of purchasers was disappointing. We packed up and returned things to Marbury to be home by 5pm.
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| Wed 17th |
Chris had lined up undercover jobs to give shelter from the threatened downpours. Maria and I felt inadequate and superfluous for the heavy lifting and moving of equipment. The rain was marginally more appealing, so we donned waterproofs and collected litter-pickers and sacks. We cleared the car parks, Hopyards Wood and back along Marbury Lane. The big wheelie bins on the car park had been emptied, so we trundled them back to the yard. We were, by then, fairly wet and decided to call it a day. |
| Thur 18th |
Jim and I walked to the first field to meet up with Chris, Ian and Alan R. We were checking that the fencing of that 22 acre field was secure. It is a long way around the perimeter with all the little ins and outs. The cattle followed us inquisitively for a while and used the pointed end of the posts to relieve the odd itch. We removed rotten posts, replacing them with new ones. Some just needed banging firmly into the ground with the donger, which I can barely lift. An attachment to the tractor makes installing new posts much easier. At least I could wiggle a post to test its condition. We timed it well for lunch. We finally got to see the kestrel chicks ringed, all four of them. I was just too tired to survey the fence of the further field with Chris, Joanne and Jim, preferring to watch Ian and Alan looking for drains around the scrape and blocking possible leakage points with bin sacks and moulded clay. We finished the day by loading the trailer with logs.
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| Sun 21st |
Jim and I joined Chris at 9.30am on a Sunday morning. With help from Paul and Liz, he had already got the caravan out. We added a couple of tables and set up most of the plants remaining from the Bring and Buy Sale. We manned the caravan and sold plants to a steady stream of visitors all day in spite of a couple of heavy showers.
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| Wed 24th |
I had agreed to help out with a school visit and arrived at Marbury a bit earlier than usual. Frances, Joanne, Liz and I helped Dave with a stream study in Hopyards Wood. 60 Year 6 pupils, in groups of 10, had completed the tasks by 2.30pm. We'd had the advantage of the shade from the sunshine, which made for a warm day. Before leaving Frances, Dave and I reviewed our part in the day's proceedings and drafted a request for evaluation from the school.
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| Thurs 25th |
Elna and I thought we should clear the litter from the out-of-hours car park before tackling any other jobs. Unfortunately we found even more rubbish around the car parks, play area and caravan field and abandoned the plan to clear the rifle range steps again. Instead we continued with our litter-picking between the rangers' cabin and the nursery until lunch.
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Mary - Volunteer
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Team work
Itchy, scratchy and nosey
Do you need any help?
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