The ExtremeTeam!

In spite of the stormy weather conditions, eleven volunteers came to help out with practical conservation work. A sheltered spot was found close to the beck and a start was made on coppicing some of the Hazel.

This is done selectively along the banks of Risedale Beck with only two thirds of the stool being removed. This will ensure that there is dappled light in this area throughout the spring and should benefit flowers such as Primroses and Bluebells.

The thick cut stems will be used to edge a footpath and the thinner ones will be made into hurdles. Other branches will be shredded to make woodchips to surface a pathway. Later on, attention was turned to thinning out Blackthorn.

After lunch, there was a walk down to the lake to look at the newly fallen trees. The recent high winds have sadly claimed more mature conifers.

In this case, Grand Firs. You can see from the photo below just how big and shallow the root plates are. All of this damage will be repaired over the coming weeks.

Down at the lake, the weir is spectacular!