Same-o same-o

Those Green-Gymmers who had been speculating that task and RV point would be “same as last time” we were at Natural England were right.

The site manager’s plan was ‘more of the same’, but at a different location on the site:

Cutting scrub across on Linkey Down.  If the weather is right I will do some stump treatment.  Hopefully we will have a fire to burn up all of the arisings.

At the right time of year (which this is not), Linkey Down is apparently a prime site for spotting ring ouzels.

If that sounds unlikely, other wildlife to keep an eye out for, when engaged on tree work at a site as species-rich as Aston Rowant NNR, are:

• the Axehandle Hound – steals unattended pieces of equipment
• the Teakettler – eats clothing left on trees
• the Goofus bird – flies backwards (“It doesn’t give a darn where it’s going, it only wants to know where it’s been”)
• the Pinnacle Grouse – flies in circles because it has only one wing; colour of plumage changes with the seasons and the condition of the observer

Okay, I’m having you on: the last four belong to the fantastical world of Paul Bunyan.  They are about as real as these:

One important difference this week: C was away.  So now the mice could play … and this was what happened:

From the session leader for the day
Did “the top of Hill lane” mean at the top of the hill or the top of the lane?  We drove to and fro till we all met in the right place.  The stand-in leader was chastised and teased, and is thoroughly apologetic.

The warden, however, was as cheerful as ever and set us to task, which today was clearing scrub (very thorny hawthorn), so that our woolly friends have more grazing.

It was important to cut as low to the ground as possible, to minimise the number of sproutlets that spring up in the spring, and also to keep the stumps small, so our woolly friends don't get their feet caught.  Loppers were effective for getting into the centre of the bush, keeping eyes well away from branches snapping back.

Sometimes a saw was good to finish off the job neatly.

The warden came round with his paint brush and red stump killer, to make sure that the hawthorn dies back as much as possible.  The technique works, as can be seen by looking across the hillside, and seeing the work from previous years.

Why was the cake bag so big and heavy?  It's surprising how heavy hot water bottles are, but they are just the job when you're on a cold hillside and you want warm apple and ginger muffins cakes, with that straight from the oven feel.  What a treat.  Thank you to our favourite chef!

Two of us cleared a patch of ground on the far side of the wire fence.  It was here that we piled up brash.  Heaving the brash up hill and up over the barbed wire fence and handing it over to the brash-pile builders was good exercise, but very spikey – thank goodness for long sleeves.

Everyone enjoyed this task so much that we want to keep going next time, and perhaps have a bonfire when this first load of brash will have dried out.