Sunday 8th September 2024 - work party

 There was a heavy shower in the early hours of the morning and we were all in wellies but generally it has been dry and the grass hasn't grown at all. I did get the mower out to cut the right hand side of the main path as the red campion has all seeded now and there are a few spring flowers in there which needs some light.

Mere de menage cooking apple. Widely grown in the 19th century especially in East Anglia.

Members of the group catching up with the latest on the sycamore sooty bark situation.

Lots of snails making use of the damper mornings to climb trees!

Millipede

The apple trees that were planted when we took on the woodland are producing more fruit now. This is a Suffolk Pink.

We completely missed picking the plums this year, they were ready in between work parties and there weren't very many anyway. The path up to the Baldwin apple tree was mown and trimmed back but it is still a bit nettly.

Aside from the regular maintenance tasks there is also the social aspect to the group and some of us stayed to have coffee and homemade muffins and a chat. Thank-you Flossie for the banana muffins!

Sunday 4th August 2024 - Work party

 First, an update on the sooty bark disease situation. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes with some very thorough research by Alex contacting the relevant industry experts for advice though still nothing official from the government. In brief, it seems that the main danger is to those processing the wood and in a quick WhatsApp meeting we took the decision to remove 2 more affected trees close to the entrance and all the cut wood. A local tree surgeon chose a damp morning to carry out the work wearing appropriate protective equipment. The hazard tape has now been removed and although there are more trees with the disease in the woodland, they are not in public areas or in danger of fallen on the road.

There were not many of us but we were able to complete the tasks that needed doing. The vegetation along the road was cleared back to rescue what hedge plants remain and improve the access. This was achieved manually with what I call slashers, not sure of the proper name, and hand pulling.

Painted Lady in the neighbouring churchyard

The footpath between Church Row and The Street, along the churchyard boundary was given a trim to keep it open as it's very popular for walkers in the village.

The main paths and glades in the woodland were mowed as the grass had got quite long.

Main path showing that the grass is drying up now.

Cutting back the path to the Baldwin apple tree

Despite all the bramble cutting we still leave areas untamed and there are plenty of blackberries in the wood.

7th July 2024 - Work party

 

This is going to sound a bit repetitive for this year but we have had a lot of rain recently! To be fair we have had a couple of weeks of summery weather but it has also subsequently been unseasonably cold. Growth has slowed down in the woodland now and this gives us a chance to catch up. Today, I was hoping to tidy up the cut wood but we have been alerted to the dangers of the sycamore sooty bark disease. The spores are hyper-allergenic and so a couple of people wearing masks moved as much as possible out of the stream bed and off the verge but we had to leave some. 

There is now a big gap where the sycamores have been felled.

Obligatory picture of main pathway. 

The main pathway and glade had been mown previously so I just went over the edges to widen the area of short vegetation a bit and mowed all the smaller paths where necessary.

The plum bed was cut using a scythe and raked and the vegetation piled at the top of the wood. Pushing the wheelbarrow uphill is a very good workout!

The fruit bushes were cleared and the fruit, redcurrants and gooseberries, picked in anticipation of making some jam to sell at the next plant sale. 

Fruit bushes cleared and scything taking place.

 

The Sturmer apple tree had got completely overshadowed by the elder and dogwood surrounding it. It is on a tall rootstock and designed to be left alone but, because it is the shade, it has got too leggy and will need some winter pruning to reshape it.

It has got a lot more light now.

June- Plant Sale

 

We didn't have a work party in June because we had the annual plant sale, I would like to have the excuse that it took a lot of time to organise but we are such a good team that I just have a last minute panic and then it all comes together just fine on the day. 

New posters were printed, thank-you, and put up. We had a meeting after the last work party to dish out the jobs and agree the cakes and luckily several people had been producing plants both perennials and bedding. With donations from other village members we had a good selection and the hall was set up the night before.

The first buyers.

The rush started early and we sold nearly everything this year despite charging a little bit more than previously. Still great value!  What was left went to Otley shop to be sold for charity.

 

Set up the night before, more plants arrived the next day.

Together with the refreshments and raffle we made nearly £700 which was an amazing total. 

The following weekend we spent some of that money having some tree work done in the woodland, removing some dead sycamores with sooty bark disease. 

A couple of us also went round the woodland with scythes to cut back the overhanging cow parsley and keep the paths open. There were some fallen branches to move as well. 

May work party - Sunday 12th May 2024

Big change from last month, we are suddenly into the main growth season and the woodland is predominantly green. 

The paths and glades had their first mow, although I was a bit reluctant to cut all the clover as I like the shaggy look but it will soon bounce back. 

A large stand of snowberry, Symphoricarpus spp, was cut. This was originally planted by the estate for game cover but we have removed it now as it is quite invasive and non-native which generally means that it supports less wildlife species. It will probably come back, but for now the native hawthorn and vegetation has a better chance of growing.

Mown path

Cow parsley at the top of the wood.

We also removed a large evergreen lonicera nitida, usually used for hedging for the same reasons as the snowberry. Never previously touched we unfortunately found a mass of glass underneath which also had to be picked up and taken away.

Richard filled the bird feeders for the last time this summer as we think there is plenty of food to be found in the woodland at this time of year.

 While were in the glade having a chat about the plant sale we used the Merlin app to find out what birds are in the woodland and we watched the great tits going in and out of the nest box obviously feeding their young.

April 2024 work party

The woodland has dried up a lot although it was still a little sticky underfoot on the main path. The guys carried on with the laurel removal at the top of the woodland. There was some general tidying to define the paths but from the photos you can there was a bit of wildlife enjoying the sunshine and the woodland was mostly looking after itself. 

 

Work Party - March 2024

 

The woodland was still very wet underfoot but just about manageable for a work party and the wild daffodils were in flower

We have largely ignored the stream flowing over the path but to encourage the water to go through, rather than over the pipe, the inflow was dug out again and some large stones put in to create a barrier.

And the outflow was dug out a bit too.

The dead wood structure, also known as Hotel Beetlejuice,  had become a bit wobbly as the  wood has got more rotten over the years.  It's been there a while now, definitely over 5 years.

The long branches were dug about 50cm into the ground. Some came up easily others were more firmly set. The wood was moved into two piles, one further up the path and and one filling in the resulting hole and covering the hedgehog house. 

We accidentally disturbed a slow worm so we made sure he had somewhere to go in the new pile and carefully buried him again.

Three donated bird boxes were put up around the glade.

Primroses

Bird box on a tree in the glade.

At the top of the main path, bordering the field, was a stand of laurel, a non-native species planted when the estate managed the wood, probably for game cover. It had got really big so we have started the process of removing it to let in more light and give the native species a chance. As the laurel wood is toxic volunteers were reminded to wash hands after handling it.