Hedgerow Working Party
This Sunday 15th October was our first Working Party Day for 2023.
The hedge is a fairly new one which had been coppiced and planted with saplings a few years ago, and is in the centre of The Howe, near the stile between 2 of our paddocks known as ‘Tombs’ and ‘Sheldon’ fields.
We had a very productive and enjoyable time. It was a beautiful sunny day and though it started out cold we were all quickly removing the layers once we got to work with our secateurs, loppers, rakes and forks!
The young saplings that had been covered over by brambles were successfully uncovered and the good news is that most of them were alive. Hooray! Be sure to look out for them the next time you are out walking.
Our thanks go to our volunteers on the day – George, Anton, Kathy, Helen, Kate, Julia, Maggie, Ernie and Vic for your sterling work. All helped along with plenty of homemade biscuits and hot drinks!
While you are out walking you may notice some large wooden frames on The Howe. These strange, oversized structures are the shelters for the Coronation Oaks that will be planted in November.
They are built to protect the trees from the many animals we have on our land – sheep, muntjac, roe deer, rabbits to name just a few – who would otherwise eat them or push them over! They’re being built by our volunteers to be very robust and so should allow the oaks to grow and flourish for many years.
Other Jobs
Up here at The Howe we have 26 acres of land so naturally, in the process of doing one job it’s not that surprising that we found another one to do.
Our work is never done!
In this case the job we discovered is to replace the rotting posts on either side of the stile between the memorial garden and Sheldon field. There will be a request for assistance to do this from our volunteer base for very soon…….
Copse maintenance
On Monday 16th 4 volunteers met up in the copse just south of the Howe Close entrance.
Work was done to clear brambles around the young trees in order to remove tree guards and stakes from the trees that no longer needed them. I went home with numerous hawthorn berries inadvertently down the back of my shirt. It was quite a surprise later in the day to feel them rolling down my back inside my clothing!
Until next time..
Wendy – Trustee and Volunteer Coordinator
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