Task Reports, January – June 2002

JANUARY 2002

Sunday 6th

Whitewebbs Park (6)

Judy Mayo

Sunday 20th

Covert Way Local Nature Reserve (6)

A rather damp task today. At the nature reserve we were coppicing Ash trees, which is where we appear to be cutting down a tree but what we are really doing is more like pruning. The tree is cut back to the stump and then regrows from there, stronger, straighter and healthier than before. However, the 6 volunteers and ranger were forced to abandon our work early due to the rain making it too dangerous to handle wet swinging tools as they may slip out of our hands and potentially injure someone.

John Mayo

FEBRUARY 2002

Sunday 3rd

Trent Country Park (7)

Returning to Trent Country Park and the pond immediately inside the Cockfosters Road gate, we were sorry to find that so much of the over-hanging sycamore and willow which we had cut down a year or so previously and concealed in the surrounding undergrowth, had managed to find its way back into the pond. However, nothing daunted, we quickly got to work with drag rakes and grappling irons and pulled out sufficient logs, branches, drink cans, bottles and other rubbish to completely fill the Rangers’ vehicle and trailer. This time though, the debris was removed to a dump well away from the pond! The light rain which had persisted throughout the morning had, by early afternoon become a downpour and cold, wet and covered in mud, the 7 of us who had turned out for the task did not need too much persuading to knock it on the head and make our way home to a welcome hot bath. The best that can be said for it is that it was an interesting day!

Bob Phillips

Sunday 17th

Forty Hall (3)

In a change to the scheduled task the group was relocated to the so-called Crater Pond near the barn in Forty Hall. One large willow stump and several smaller ones around the pond had grown to a sufficient size to overshadow the water. It was therefore deemed necessary to re-coppice them. This would have the benefit of rejuvenating the trees, opening up the water and bankside habitats and providing willow stems of various sizes for use around the park. Only three volunteers were available for this task, but they wielded their bowsaws and billhooks to such effect that all the projected clearance was completed and some fifty willow poles of around fifteen feet in length were left with their bases in the pond to keep them supple pending their use.

Steve Mathieson

MARCH 2002

Sunday 3rd

Houndsden Spinney (5)

This Sunday we returned to a little known but very urban location. Houndsden Spinney is situated in the north side of Houndsden Road near Grange Park. From the road all that can be seen is an area of trees behind a low bank of earth, but should you venture over this bank (there’s a footpath at the western end and a set of steps at the eastern end - put in by ECV!) you will find a little oasis of wildlife between the houses. Around the edge runs Houndsden Gutter which provides this oasis with it’s wet and boggy feel. So wet that we have preciously put in a boardwalk to enable those that venture in to walk around without disturbing the vegetation and wildlife when they try to avoid the muddy areas. Today we came to plant wild garlic in the riverbank and in a slope on the southern side, as well as remove or make sage dead and fallen trees. Six volunteers ( as well as our ever-present countryside ranger) attended, enabling the essential work to be completed. Our work might also persuade the less socially minded to stop dumping rubbish of various types at this location.

Robin Herbert

Sunday 17th

Grovelands Park (5)

Five members turned out on a fine spring morning to build a boardwalk. However, a change of plan was needed as the materials for the boardwalk had not turned up. A section of woodland exists in the north east corner of the park by the Church Hill entrance. ECV has carried out various tasks here before, trying to create a woodland walk. It was decided to cut back some of the encroaching holly. The result is a much lighter area with space now to plant some flowers and trees. ECV will return to carry on with a never-ending project.

John Mayo

Sunday 31st

Trent Country Park (6)

Although the weather on Easter Sunday was something of a disappointment, the daffodils in the grounds of Middlesex University in Trent Country Park and in the nearby Nature Trail woodland more than made up for the lack of warm sunshine. Stretching almost as far as the eye could see, they were truly at their magnificent best. For Enfield Conservation Volunteers it was to be a very busy day; working at the far end of the Nature Trail woodland alongside the lake, our team of 6 volunteers managed to complete a further 50 metres of post and rail fencing, leaving us with a mere 30 metres or so to do to join up with the other side. With any lick, on our next visit we should be able to finish the post and rail fencing and the stock fencing and bring this mammoth (but enjoyable) project to a close.

Bob Phillips

APRIL 2002

Sunday 14th

Whitewebbs Park (5)

The official task for today was the improvement of a ‘particularly muddy footpath’. Prepared to get down and dirty, five of us arrived on site to discover the reason for this path’s deterioration was horse riding vandals who persist in knocking down our hard built fences to trample their way across short cuts and build jumps over which to risk their horses beneath low trees. The day’s task then was to rebuild said fence, installing a narrow slipway for pedestrians and pushchairs, which would thwart all but the most determined rider. Hopefully this will remove the muddy patches or at least reduce their terror to walkers. A simple post and ‘hitching rail’ style fence was considered sufficient and the task easily accomplished, despite a plague of early midges and a constant trail of horses passing by; all of them demanding we stop work and one demanding to be patted because the accompanying dog had been fussed over. This was not the same dog which stole one of the worker’s lunch, causing it’s owner to feel sufficient guilt to put a donation of 70p into our wellington boot. So the day was a double success. The newly enclosed area would, one member of the group suggested, make a perfect bluebell grove – a suggestion seized on with glee by the ranger who intends putting the suggestion to the boss. So we might find ourselves planting thousands of bluebells in the same glade come November. Sorry for the backache folks, but think of the beauty- and the added deterrent to riders!

Carmen Keller Lange

Sunday 28th

Trent Country Park (9)

For Enfield Conservation Volunteers today was to be the day when we finally completed our long term fencing project in the Nature Trail woodland in Trent Country Park. Since our last visit on Easter Sunday the daffodils had given way to masses of deep purple bluebells which were almost equally as colourful. Sadly though, we were not in a mood to appreciate them: arriving down at the lake we discovered that much of the work we had carried out on Easter Sunday and during a previous visit had been vandalised. A total of 46 twelve foot rails had been ripped off and taken away, along with 2 of the posts. We understand that fences (and trees) elsewhere in the park came in for similar treatment, finishing up on bonfires. Overcoming our anger and frustration, the group split up into 3 teams: one team set to work replacing the missing rails and posts, another followed up behind attaching the stock fencing, while the third put in a new section of post and rail, joining up with the other side. At the end of the day, our group of 9 volunteers had replaced the 46 rails and 2 posts, attached 75 metres of stock fencing and completed the final 30 metres of fence and rail. With just 150 metres of stock fencing left to do, we should definitely finish the project during our next visit in August – Vandals permitting of course!

Bob Phillips

MAY 2002

Sunday 12th

Grovelands Park (8)

ECV made a return to continue an on going project. A popular walking area through the woods suffers with bad drainage making it very muddy. A small section of boardwalk already constructed by ECV had proved popular with the park users. By providing a dry walking route the surrounding ground has a chance to recover. The vegetation re-grows improving the areas all round appearance. Eight ECV members continued with the boardwalk adding approximately another 10metres. We shall return again next year to continue the project.

John Mayo

Sunday 26th

Forty Hall (8)

Eight volunteers braved the wind and rain to build rustic benches to put in the park. Unfortunately, due to a lack of material, an alternative task was undertaken. Elsewhere in the borough some benches had been badly vandalised, so ECV were asked to make as many complete benches as we could from the broken remnants that had been salvaged. After sorting out the pieces we had, jigsaw fashion, old joints were cleaned out and the pieces screwed and glued together to form 2 complete benches. The work was carried out in the open, under a tarpaulin to keep the rain off, as some wrens had built a nest inside the workshop and they needed to feed their young. The local press also visited us as we worked to take photos to promote the work of volunteers.

Judy Mayo

JUNE 2002

Sunday 9th

Trent Country Park (6)

Some 4 years ago, in February and March 1998, Enfield Conservation Volunteers along with students from Capel Manor and members of Cockfosters Football Club, constructed a boardwalk along a particularly wet and muddy stretch of the Butterfly Trail in Trent Country Park. The boardwalk had been well used ever since, but it was felt a short extension at either end would be an improvement. Accordingly on 9th June, 6 members, led by Christina Lee, LBE’s Countryside Development Officer, took on the task and managed to add a further 15 feet of decking at each end. We also took the opportunity to cut back the encroaching undergrowth along the entire length of the boardwalk which in some places had been reduced to almost half of it’s original width. A small footbridge on the approach to the boardwalk was widened by the addition of an extra railway sleeper and following a request from two passing dog walkers, repairs were carried out on a second footbridge further along the Butterfly Trail. It was a useful and enjoyable days work and fortunately the rain held off until we had finished the task.

Bob Phillips

Sunday 23rd

Whitewebbs (6)

Today the volunteers continued with the post and rail fencing which they had begun earlier alongside the mile and a quarter footpath. The stretch undertaken today ran from Whitewebbs Lane for about sixty metres. After clearing undergrowth and removing the remnants of the old post and wire fence, which had become dilapidated and half buried, as well as falling into the ditch, the team drove in half-round posts with a mell, and nailed on a top rail, before completing the job with stock fencing. 6 volunteers attended this task, and their labours produced a sturdy and well-constructed boundary.

Steve Mathieson