Journal of a volunteer
September 2009
| 2nd |
Jim, Ian, John, Liz and I worked with loppers, slashers and sickles to support Dave, Steph and Maria, who had the machinery. They were tackling the overgrown area that was restricting the view from the bird hide on Haydn's Pool, whilst we cut back vegetation overhanging and encroaching the paths and steps. Jim and I reduced the Buddleia, which completely blocked one of the viewing slots in the bird hide. Thousands of the new Heritage Explorer booklets arrived after lunch and we formed a human chain to transfer them from the back of the delivery van to the shed. Jim, Ian, John and I went to the entrance in Marbury Lane, where Chris was waiting with the tractor and chipper. The weight of ivy clinging to the trunk had brought down a dead elm. Chris got to work with his chain saw and we fed the chipper. We worked our way down the lane as Chris identified more dead or dying elms in a dangerous position. It began to rain just before we moved into the car park. Chris was comfortably dry in the tractor cab as we discussed garden plants dumped on the roadside and the differences between bulbs, corms and rhizomes. There was just time to deal with cherry branches that had come down on the mound, and to get soaked, before we retired to the cabin for a cup of tea.
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| 3rd |
Joanne, Vernon and I met during the morning to draw up a draft programme of FoAM events for 2010.
Seven of us walked around to the orchard to pick damsons. The trees were heavily laden, not having been hit by late frosts, which caught the blossom last year. We filled our carriers in half an hour, leaving much of the ripest fruit out of reach at the top of the trees. We had plenty of fruit for Food For Free. Back in the yard we did some tidying up to make room for machinery to go under cover. There was time left for me to make a stack of logs after Chris had sawn and Dave and Ian had chopped the pile of timber. We covered the logs with tarpaulin to keep it dry, ready for loading into the charcoal burner another day.
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| 9th |
Jim and I walked across to the first cattle field at Marbury with Frances to meet up with Chris on tractor and Liz driving the van. Frances and I stayed with Chris, while Liz and Jim did a survey of the fencing. Frances and I had found two posts close to the gate that needed replacing. We are now reasonably confident with hammer and fencing pliers, but leave Chris to lift the mighty donger (heavy duty pounder or fencing farm thumper) above his head and drive the posts into the ground. Under the trees lack of moisture, according to Chris, meant that the posts wouldn't go as far into the ground. A chain saw would be needed to level off the posts. We looked for markers left by Jim and Liz showing where more posts needing replacing and wire required repair. By lunchtime the repairs around that field were only half done. Jim and Chris, aided by a couple of lads and the donger on the tractor finished the job. Meanwhile Liz, Frances and I went into the far field to do another fence survey, Frances and I on foot, Liz in the van. As we neared the first corner the mud began oozing over our boots and we realised a different approach was required. We turned around and noticed that the mud was also oozing under the van wheels. We made a token gesture of trying to push, but we didn't relish being sprayed with mud, so it was a half-hearted effort. Liz was stuck and needed the tractor to tow her out. After a quick call on the mobile to Chris we abandoned the van and continued our survey in the opposite direction, Frances and Liz in the field and me outside it, giving us a second option when conditions underfoot worsened. We completed our survey without further mishap and Chris arrived with the tractor to extricate the van. The rotten posts replaced, Chris wanted to use the greater force with the automated tractor mounted fence post driver on the posts left standing proud this morning. Unfortunately one of the posts resisted the increased pressure and snapped. When it was pulled out we found that it had only penetrated the soil a couple of inches, so had probably hit a root. A new post was installed a few inches to one side without a problem and the day's work was done.
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| 10th |
Elna, the two Jims and I began removing the epicormic growth from the lime avenues in the morning and didn't take long to complete the job in the afternoon. Chris hitched up the chipper to the tractor, so that we could dispose of a Horse chestnut branch that was found blown down into the field yesterday. Another dangerous branch on an oak on the corner of the meadow met the same fate. Chris declared that a Horse chestnut near the caravan field was almost dead and needed to come down. It was getting rather warm and we were becoming weary, but there was still time to remove some dead elms from the car park, just two, leaving several more for another day.
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| 15th |
I directed Dave via the scenic route to Castle Park Arts Centre in Frodsham. We met up with Frances to put up the Photograph Competition Exhibition. Dave got all the photos, now in their new matching matt black frames, level and firmly hung in place. Frances and I fetched and carried and stuck up the text around the photos.
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| 16th |
Chris and Steph had collected all 3500 wild flower plants from Landlife yesterday. They were all in the yard when we arrived so the day's work was obvious. Frances, Dave and I avoided getting down to it with the rest of the volunteers for a bit, whilst we sorted out pictures for a FoAM display to go with the Photographic Exhibition. Once that was done, there was nothing for it but to put on gloves and get planting between Marbury's lime avenues. Working in pairs, one dug the hole and the other planted. By lunchtime about 300 plants were now in the ground and our backs were glad of a rest.
Frances and I briefly returned to the planting before it was time to head off to Frodsham again and I introduced her to the scenic drive. It took us about an hour to cover the remaining two boards to illustrate FoAM's activities. We were back at Marbury just in time for a cup of tea, once we'd trundled the giant wheelie bin back into the yard.
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| 17th |
There was only one job on offer at Marbury and fewer volunteers today. Red campion, Cowslip, Field scabious, Yarrow, Ox-eye daisy, Self-heal, knapweed and Meadow cranes-bill are the species that we can look forward to seeing on the meadow next spring. Unfortunately there's no hint of rain over the next few days to water them in, but we gave them a good soaking whilst still in their plastic containers. Jim, Elna and I were only doing half a day, so even fewer were left to carry on with the planting in the afternoon.
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| 18th |
In the evening Jim and I went to Frodsham, where John made a welcoming speech to visitors for the opening of the Photographic Exhibition and two art exhibitions, which will remain on display for six weeks.
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Mary - Volunteer
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Developing skills
Automated tractor mounted fence post driver
Epicormic growth -before
- and after
Planting not praying
Part of photo exhibition
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