Task Reports

We arrived to find a great deal of mud. Wet mud. Unworkable mud. But luckily for us the main gate has now been installed so we could choose to avoid the muddy pool and enter the site from the front. 

It did mean that our work was concentrated in a narrow space and it limited the area we could work in.  However, after a faltering start, we made good progress and installed the path edging, laid some weed-suppressant fabric and spread the stone that was already onsite. More has been ordered for us to barrow into place next week. 

There is still plenty to do on site; there is a lot of stone and rubble to sort out, and some further edging needed at the back, but we hope to make a big impact on this next week. 

End of the dayThe last of our pond and meadow sessions for this year. We do not undertake regular maintenance at Boar’s Well anymore, and it was a lovely autumn day to return. 

The pond was much clearer than in most years. Perhaps this was because we did a thorough job last year, or perhaps the shade from the overhanging branches is limiting the reed growth.  We cleared the reeds to form a passage through the water and also cut back some of the overhanging branches. 

The meadow is also suffering from tree growth. The two willows on the edge of the meadow are now of substantial size, casting shade on the meadow. We cut back some of the lower branches but this will only have limited effect. Regardless, we cut back the entire meadow area with scythes and raked off the arisings. Terry made a good job of reclaiming the edges from encroaching bramble. 

The mower was used to cut some of the main path, and some monster brambles, that were on the way to forming a thicket across the path, were cut.

It was nice to talk to a couple of regular walkers who told us that Sparrowhawks have nested at Boar’s Well this year and they also see Tawny owls and Woodpeckers as well as Long-tailed Tits and other small birds. And just for the record – not a midge in sight!

Today’s tasks were to clear some of the vegetation from the ponds and the pathways and verges. 

We want to make sure some open water is maintained in the pond to suit some of the dragonfly species and other aquatic life. Waders and long gloves kept us (mostly) dry. We concentrate on the Bogbean as this is dominating both ponds and forms a dense mat of roots, hard to remove. We replaced as much of the Marsh Cinquefoil as we spotted. This lovely plant has colonised well which we are pleased about. 

The land based team did a great job in cutting back comfrey, thistle, bindweed and grasses from the entrance section, around the ponds and into the woodland. 

There is a theme emerging this autumn. The hungry midges. This time we had the Skin so Soft to hand, but couldn’t get it out of the bottle! The midges are definitely not the worst thing. There is continued drug use on the site. We avoided the area beyond the medlar tree, where a significant number of needles were identified. The clearance is going to take a more focused approach. Luckily we are receiving help form the police and the cleansing department so we hope that the problem will be resolved by next spring. 

It had pleasant weather for our meadow and pond tasks. We weren’t even plagued by midges this week.  The meadow areas were cut, using the auto-scythe (until it had a mechanical – obviously not impressed by its shiny new cover) and hand scythes. We raked away the arisings in order that the fertility doesn’t build up and benefit the grasses rather the flower species. We leave some of the edges long as a refuge for the invertebrates, and we were glad not to cut some areas too short as the young frogs were hiding in it. 

Areas of the pond were cleared to maintain some open water for the aquatic invertebrates and to make it possible for the pupils to pond-dip once a new bridge is in place. 

Event 12-4pm.

Preparation starts 8.30am, clear up ends about 5.30pm.

Please let us know if you plan to volunteer so we can discuss times and transport.

We got wet today, but we preserved to make sure the Orchard was ready for Apple Day on Sunday. We continued with the autumn task of cutting the long grass and weeding under the trees. We did a little bit of harvesting, but left some to do with visitors on Sunday. The path had a bit more weeding and bark spread on it. Paulina did a great job of marking the two young trees with a decorative willow structure.

Not quite the weather you would hope for for hay making! Drizzle and rain all day, and warm – the second week running the midges have been irritating (very irritating), so hooray for Sue has bought us some Skin So Soft which is a great repellent. 

We really just wanted to concentrate on cutting and raking the wildflower grassland today. But inevitably we had to clear some litter first – including mattresses, baskets and the inevitable shopping trolley. We had to leave another trolley in the pond as we had not gone equipped, and there was a burnt out scooter that was just too heavy for us to get it up the hill to where the Clean Team collected our hoard. 

We used the auto-scythe and hand scythes to cut the grass and then raked the cuttings to mulch the trees. There is plenty of knapweed, meadow sweet and meadow cranesbill and meadow vetchling in the grassland, and this management work will help preserve suitable conditions for these wildflowers to continue to thrive. 

Today lived up to its billing - a muddy day! But glorious autumn sunshine in the morning even if it was followed by some heavy showers in the afternoon.

The job today was to dig out as much shale and leaf litter as possible to increase the chance of retaining some open water in the summer months. We have undertaken this task for Friends of Northcliffe for the last few years. In order to limit ecological disturbance, and work within our resources, we have limited this to a channel from the silt traps through to a pool near the dam wall.

Ideally we would like to remove more than can be done in one day, but with the stupendous effort of the group we made good progress, despite the constant irritation of a million and one hungry midges. 

At lunchtime we were visited by a dragonfly, a Migrant Hawker I think, that seemed to be laying eggs at the edge of the pond. 

We arrived at the orchard today having been told our tenancy had been ended. It wasn't just the belief that this was the result of a clerical error (we had returned letters on time to accept a notice of bad cultivation and signed to say our intention was to improve), but because we know the orchard is a highly productive allotment, growing loads of organic apples, many varieties that you cannot buy in the shops. Whilst we know that we hadn't done enough work this summer, and we need to address that next year if we wish to keep the orchard going, we will continue to cultivate following guidelines from Garden Organic, the national research organisation that provides advice to professional and amateur gardeners. 

Today we were busy with the scythes and sickles to start the late summer grass cut. A new bench was installed, using reclaimed timber, and others were fixed with timberlocks. The collection of the gravel for the path was thwarted by padlock technicalities, however this was resolved on Tuesday 27th when Forest of Bradford volunteers dropped it off and helped with further tasks. 

Although the ripening of apples is relatively late (blossom was late this year) we are now in full flow. Make sure you are contacting us for all your apple shopping. 

We made good progress today. We extended the path through the trees; constructing a step and levelling the ground before securing weed suppressant membrane and covering it with bark chippings. 

We cleared vegetation from the path edges and around the bench and cut up and staked the branches that had been removed to create a clearing for the path. There is another apple tree to be planted, and as the allocated spot was on a slope, a terrace wall was constructed to reduce the gradient. It will double up as a bench.