The Fall

Storm Ciaran came and went, and apart from some heavy rain, we managed to avoid the damaging winds further south. 

We carried on with the usual tasks, such as strimming, ivy removal & litter picking. Removed more of the Caper Spurge near the Wellingtonia at the Church Street end, and started to open out the Hoggin path at the back of the picnic area. 

 

The encroaching grass had reduced the path to a small track. With the help of the City College volunteers, this path has now been cut back quite a distance.  

The next task in hand was to replace the posts along the main drive just up from the car park. These had been removed in June to facilitate the route for the funfair HGV lorries and trailers. 

We needed 5ft logs for this (sunk 2ft into the ground to provide the required height). A couple of dead Elm trees were the source of the logs, which needed cutting up with a chainsaw. One of the Elm trees lay fallen in the woods, but the other required felling.

After cordoning-off the area, Amy used a ladder to attach a sling/rope high around the tree. I then tensioned the rope to enable to guide the Elm once it was cut.

After cutting, we removed the branches and then Amy chain-sawed the tree into logs ready for transporting.

Thankfully, we now had a tool for digging the 2ft deep holes - a battery powered auger.

A lot better than by hand, I can assure you! There were 6 posts in total, which we managed to install by the end of the day.

Three down and three to go!

It's possible they may need to come out again for the next funfair. However, this was a necessary measure, as the verges were becoming damaged by tyre tracks.

Further to my last post, a couple more discoveries in the woods....

Candle Snuff fungus...

...and Bracket fungus

It's now mid November 2023 and a full days' worth of mulching. We began using three barrow loads of chippings from the main woodchip bay, which was spread around some recently planted trees in the picnic area. The developing blackthorn hedge-line by Catton Hall was next. 

As the photo shows, the area was previously mulched using grass cuttings in May. This time it was woodchip (about seven jeep loads!), which took most of the day. We managed to add a few blackthorn 'whips' as well.

With the leaves now falling from the trees, there is a lot of leaf blowing required. 'A never ending job' you might say - it's the clumps of wet leaves which are a problem. They stick to the surface and can create a slip hazard, especially on pavements, walkways and the car park. The husks of the sweet chestnut are a similar problem.

The hoggin path in the picnic area is now almost restored. Once the grass has been cut back, we consolidate the hoggin by using a wacker plate - see below.

  

Another new toy!

That's all for now, but i'll be back in a few weeks time with more updates from my journal.