Task Reports, July – December 2004

JULY

Sunday 4th

Grovelands Park

Continuing from May 9th, our task for this visit, was to construct a railway sleeper bridge across the ditch and lay down hoggin on it’s approaches. Because we had by now progressed some considerable distance from the spot where the material had originally been offloaded, coupled with the fact that our workforce had dwindled to 4 plus Chris, the Grovelands Park Ranger, getting the five railway sleepers to the site, along with the hoggin, gave rise to some quite heavy breathing!

However, everybody mucked in (no pun intended), and late in the afternoon we were able to make our way home, happy in the knowledge that the task had been successfully completed.

There are still more muddy stretches in need of attention and since there is quite a load of hoggin and 10 or so sleepers crying out to be used, further visits to Grovelands Park will come as no great surprise.

Watch this space!

Bob Phillips

Sunday 18th

Forty Hall

Like many of the local woodlands, the area above the lower lake in Forty Hall park is subject to sycamore invasion. ECV first cut down these unwelcome plants in this area more than a decade ago, but they are virtually impossible to eradicate, seeding freely and shooting vigorously from cut stumps. Still, five volunteers armed with bowsaws, loppers and billhooks made a sizeable dent in the sycamores’ progress, which will allow more ecologically valuable plants to prosper.

Steve Mathieson

AUGUST

Sunday 1st

Trent Country Park

On Sunday, 1st August, 5 of us returned to the Nature Trail woodland in Trent Country Park to continue our long-running battle against the ever- invasive sycamore.

The weather was uncomfortably hot and humid, not exactly ideal for heavy manual labour. We did get round to cutting down a fair number of trees but our efforts in the main were directed towards collecting and burning piles of logs and brashings left over from previous visits.

Joe, the Trent Park ranger who was leading the task, cheerfully took on the job of chief stoker and in consequence probably shed more than a few pounds in weight from the intense heat!

For the rest of us, though, it was a hard but enjoyable days work.

Bob Phillips

Sunday 15th

Whitewebbs Park

This task had originally been scheduled for elm removal in the secondary woodland near the King and Tinker. However, the area was now so overgrown with brambles that the whole day was dedicated to clearing just them. Once opened up, the woods could be seen still to host the interesting variety of flora which had been noticed before, and the recently planted whips were also making good progress. Seven volunteers, including one new member, attended.

Steve Mathieson

Sunday 29th

Grovelands Park

Lake overflow stream clearance

Report: What fun to be a kid again! At least, that what it felt like. Today we spent most of the time paddling in the river in wellies and (in a slight reversal of what I did as a child) removing dams from the river (well, the overflow stream from the lake at Grovelands). In addition to that, we were clearing back any overhanging branches that might cause debris to get caught up and cause the stream to get blocked. The task was attended by only 3 volunteers including myself, not a good turn out, but it was the summer holiday season. However, we none the less got a lot of work done and I feel, made a difference.

Robin Herbert

SEPTEMBER

Saturday 11th

Woodcroft

Woodcroft Recreation Ground is a football pitch and some overgrown tennis courts, which the residents are attempting to turn into a nature area for education purposes and community use. They have asked ECV to help with some of the planting and practical work, so ECV came out today to promote what we get up to! We had a display and demonstrated some of our skills by making a rustic bench. It seemed to draw attention and with any luck we will have some interested parties who will come out on some of our other tasks.

Christina Lee

Sunday 26th

Grovelands Park

A small but hardy group of four volunteers took to the water in Grovelands Park to try to improve the local environment. Sacks full of oxygenating plants were loaded in a boat and whilst rowing round (and round and round again) the lake were thrown into the water, hopefully to work their magic in the future. Back to dry land and the marginal edges of the lake were planted with yellow iris and marsh marigolds. Hopefully next year these will produce lots of colourful flowers to make a walk around the lake more interesting. In the afternoon we turned our attention to the island. By now rowing in a straight line had become easier and armed with saws, spades and more plants an attempt was made to improve the conditions there for the local bird population. Dead trees were removed and those that had fallen into the water and pulled out, After the discovery of a wasps nest where we were stacking the results of our work we decided to leave the disposal of it to our sister group, Groundforce! In addition, an area used by the geese for roosting was planted with purple loosestrife. This patch was well fertilised with guano so next summer people will either see an abundance of wild flowers on the island or, if the geese object strongly to our planting, nothing.

Judy Mayo

OCTOBER

Sunday 10th

Whitewebbs Park

A return visit to continue the renewal of the post and rail fencing along the pathway known as Mile and a Quarter alley. Three volunteers replaced around 25 yards of the old rotten fencing and barbed wire with new fenciing covered with stockproof wire to prevent animals from getting into the neighbouring fields. Although the number of volunteers was small, this type of task is actually easier if you don’t have a lot of people trying to position lots of posts in what they think is a straight line! There is still quite a lot more of the old fence to be replaced, so if you don’t believe me, come along next time to swell our numbers and see how many times a post has to be repositioned.

Judy Mayo

Sunday 24th

Grovelands Park

The Pound - In glorious autumn sunshine 5 members led by Christine undertook to clear path verges where bulbs were already planted.

Immense amounts of dead wood, elder, bramble and holly were removed and burnt enabling light and air to reach the bulbs and ensuring a good display for the public in Spring.

This part of the park is still called the Pound due to the enclosure outside, where in the 19th and early 20th century, stray cattle from the woods were kept until the owners were able to retrieve them.

Jill Kidger

NOVEMBER

Sunday 7th

Whitewebbs Park

Bridle path near King & Tinker PH.

Report: In a slight change to the advertised programme (we were supposed to be doing path work, but the materials for the path were unavailable) we reconstructed a broken stile that allowed walkers to leave the bridle path where it passed the rear of the King and Tinker Pub and get into the woods of Whitewebbs. Six volunteers constructed a very sturdy two step stile, set back from the bridle path so that horses would not catch their legs on the step, nor would walker be vulnerable to horses whilst climbing the stile. Hopefully this stile will be there in working order for many years to come.

Robin Herbert

Sunday 21st

Grovelands Park

A couple of years ago, an area of woodland in Grovelands Park had been selected for coppicing. The subsequent regrowth had been disappointing, probably because the coppiced area was too small, meaning that not enough light could penetrate to the woodland floor. With this in mind, a larger area has been chosen, with a view to having it fenced off to help the regeneration of ground flora. The plan is to coppice the hornbeam, root out invasive species such as ash and sycamore, and leave most of the oaks as standards.

Slow progress was made on this first day at the new site: firstly, only three volunteers were present; secondly, hornbeam is a hard wood and the trees were of some girth; and thirdly, there was the problem of bringing the trees down in a tightly-packed wood. The area had been coppiced previously, as shown by the multi-stemmed hornbeam, but not for many years and the trees had grown to about forty feet, with complete cover of the canopy. Consequently, when the trunk is cut through, the tree leans only a few feet before entangling in it’s neighbour.

Still, such challenges are all part of the fun for ECV. A reasonable sized hole had been made in the canopy by the end of the day, and a whole section of scrubby holly cleared from the site. With more space being created on future visits, the work should become progressively easier.

Steve Mathieson

DECEMBER

Sunday 5th

Trent Country Park

Shaws Wood. Today’s task was to continue work started already at previous tasks and clear encroaching Rhododendron, which threatens to engulf whole areas of the wood. Whilst Rhody can be quite pretty when in flower, nothing can grow under it, or for a while, in the ground from where it’s been removed, since the leaves ‘poison’ the soil. The clearance will allow other native species to regain space. A fire was swiftly lit (by yours truly) and the wood from the previous task that had failed to rot down was burnt. Soon we had a roaring blaze going, consuming all that we fed to it. Six volunteers attended today’s task, including a new recruit, Kim, who enjoyed himself enough to wish to return another time (hint: more new recruits please!). When we had finished, one could be left in doubt that we had been there, having opened up the woods greatly in our efforts. However, I’m sure that we’ll need to be back again in the future, since the Rhododendron will always try to return.

Robin Herbert

Sunday 19th

Xmas Social

The plan is to walk for a pub lunch.