Work party - December 3rd 2017

Bit of a grey, damp morning for our last work party of the year. Most of the leaves have now fallen from the trees and with the nettles and other undergrowth dying back, whole new vistas open out where you can see right through the wood.

 The hunt for brambles encroaching on the path edges continues. These scrubby bits are added to brash line on the woodland boundary.

Iris foetidissima  (stinking iris) plants were divided and potted up. This native iris has insignificant yellow flowers in spring but amazing bright orange berries in the autumn which the birds love.

It took a bit of effort with the dry soil but 6 native honeysuckles were successfully planted to grow up some mature trees. In the top picture you can also see the ash trees marked for thinning out.

In the glade area, one of the old seating logs was removed to make way for a new bench to match the other three. A good start was made on digging the holes for the posts in dry, heavy clay soil. One of the holes was filled with water to soften the earth and this task will be completed at a later date.

And to finish pig club sausage hot dogs and giant toasted marshmallows.

Many thanks to Neil and Mark for submitting our application to Skipton Building Society and to everyone that voted. The good news is that we have been awarded £500 towards the future development of the woodland. Watch this space for news on how it will be spent.

Halloween 2017

A fine night with a murky moon and lots of fun to be had in the woodland.

With pumpkins and tea light lanterns marking the paths, the children amused themselves chasing round the wood and the adults had time to chat around the fire pit.

The woodland group provided hot fruit punch and hot chocolate to drink and marshmallows and sausages to toast on the fire. 

Hanging lantern in the den.

Sunday 29th October 2017 - Work Party

This is really November's work party held a week early to get the wood ready for the Halloween event on Tuesday. Autumn means leaves and being a woodland there were are lots of them. Some of the work was done on Saturday but there was still plenty to do.

With wheelbarrows, rakes and big rubble sacks, the paths were cleared of leaves which were collected in a large pile in the corner of the woodland to rot down into leaf mould. This can be used to mulch round the fruit trees or added to the forest floor. Most of the leaves that fall are left to add to the leaf litter as it is such an important habitat for invertebrates and fungi but it is useful to define the paths and let as much light as possible get to the sparse grass underneath.

In the glade area, the height of some of the hazel was reduced to let more light get to the Baldwin apple tree. A few snagging brambles were also removed.

Off site some more of the small way marking discs were being prepared to be put up at a later date to make the wood more easy to find. There are seedheads, berries, ivy flowers for bird and insect food and more leaves to come down, still nice and dry for shuffling in.

Sunday 8th October 2017 - Work party

 A still, quiet morning and an early start. Having postponed the work party and group social from last weekend because of poor weather, we met at 8.30 this month and had breakfast before work to avoid a clash with the church harvest festival afterwards.

        

Once full up the jobs got done. 100 daffodil bulbs were planted in the plum bed cleared last month.

To encourage even more wildlife three more bird boxes, made by Richard, were put up and holes were drilled in the standing ( almost ) deadwood tree for invertebrates.

The seemingly endless job of digging out brambles, nettles and sycamore seedlings from the willow bed continues but we are keeping on top of it.

The session finished with plum cake made from woodland plums.

There were 3 quince on the tree this year!

The leaves are beginning to change colour now.

H

Sunday 3rd September 2017 - Work party

All too soon summer turns into autumn but at least in the woodland we have a lovely display of berries and leaves to look forward to and some fruit from the orchard trees.

The plums were picked and the surrounding area cleared of suckers and brambles before being sickled, reducing the height of the undergrowth using a sickle, ready for planting wild daffodil bulbs next month.

The log stack was tidied up ready for selling. The log store for the fire pit, in the glade area, was made waterproof and replenished.

Many thanks to Erin for the photos this month.

We need votes!

We have been shortlisted for a funding award from Skipton Building Society but to get the money we need votes. To find out more, and vote!,  Follow the link

https://www.skiptongrg.co.uk/apply-for-funding/2017-shortlisted-groups/east-of-england/framsden-woodland-group-eades-orchard/

Sunday 6th August 2017 - Work Party

A new sign was put up today so that the woodland can be more easily found from the road. It is just on the edge of the village hall car park. Here they are digging the hole:

A new owl box was installed on a suitable tree with a good flight line from the main path.

Brambles were removed from around the table in the glade area and I'm sad to say some litter was also picked up. 

A spectacular giant fairy toadstool ring was discovered in the top corner and although a ladder was supplied, the aerial shot didn't really do it justice. So here it is from ground level anyway, the ring does go all the way round.

Looking for fairies!

Close up 

Much effort was put into clearing an area of sycamore seedlings and the final foxglove plants were put in together with the continued weeding around the established plants. 

August woodland

Sunday 9th July - Expedition to Coddenham

A select few woodland group members took a trip to another local churchyard with adjacent woodland, a bit like the set up at Framsden but also a lot different.

We started off in the churchyard, admiring the blue scabious, both field and small, in flower at the moment and the pyramidal orchids just going over but what a lot of them!

Most of the site is long grass with mown paths for access. It takes careful management to create such an abundance of wild flowers and grasses helped in part by the thin chalky soil. It was notable how many bees, butterflies and other insects there were too.

Small copper

Taking a path at the rear, we followed the footpath to Broomhill Wood, managed by the community. The wood is on a steep bank, which we climbed, with a bit of scrub and some mature trees.

Walking along the top.

 Big trees have to be measured!

Eventually the vegetation thinned and opened out to steeply sloping grassy meadow full of more wild flowers and a perfect spot for a group photo. 

Photo credit Glenn

Also a good spot for a coffee break and admiring the view.

We continued along the top, stopping for a bit of plant id, and then followed the path on a steep scramble to the bottom again with the scent of Lady's bedstraw wafting on the breeze

The centaury flower, Centaurium erythraea, which, according to Bach flower remedies, is for people who find it difficult to say no to others. 

Lady's bedstraw Gallium verum

The bottom path follows the lower site boundary and took us back to where we started, then back through the churchyard to find the car. Many thanks to Ian for organising.

Gargoyle on St Marys Church, Coddenham