November Work Day

Saturday, November 3rd 2012

Over 40 volunteers turned up this morning for the second of our Winter Work Days.  Three teams worked hard throughout the day on a variety of tasks, the first clearing along the beck below the weir.

The aim of this task was to open up flyways along the watercourse, helping wildlife more easily move onto the lake.  This 'before' view is from the bridge before the day began.

The team worked hard during the morning clearing the larger trees growing along the beck side.

Volunteers were on hand to clear up the mess and got the bonfire going in no time!

This 'after' picture was taken from the same place and the improvement is clear.

The group working below the weir put a fantastic amount of effort into cutting and dragging through this area; the benefits of their work are clear.

The second of the tasks was starting the willow coppice.  The reserve has a large area of willow carr running through the middle, split into 5 different areas.  These areas are managed on a ten year rotation, with a section needing to be coppiced every second year.

One of the volunteers gave a free demonstration of his courtship ritual.  You can see his wife looking on, clearly impressed!

After lunch the boys found a good use for all of the cut willow; building a den on the nearby meadow.

They were very pleased with the results and even wanted to stay the night!

The stone wallers were in again, continuing to work on the feature wall across from the Field Centre.  Here you can see the seats being levelled and set into the stonework.

The design is entirely curved, much harder to build than straight field walls.  The expertise from the wallers is benefiting several of the Foxglove Volunteers who have and will help in the construction.

Dr. Whalley from the local CPRE group, who has kindly funded the purchase of the stone, came to inspect the work and share lunch with all the volunteers.

Thank you to everyone involved today for giving up your time to help improve the reserve.

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