Hello Conservation Volunteers
There were plenty of yellow hi-vis vests out for our latest work morning dotted around Forge Dam and Whiteley Woods for a clearing up session after the heavy snow fall last month which had brought down trees and branches throughout the valley.
Contractors had cleared fallen trees blocking paths but left the brash in untidy piles by the side of paths. The majority of these have now been cut up, moved, and stacked further back from the paths to create areas of habitat for wildlife.
The goit to Wire Mill Dam which was full of debris and was backing up at the grill has been cleared, plus two concrete posts which were originally on Ivy Cottage Lane and had somehow found their way into the goit near the bridge were removed.
Over at Wire Mill Dam it was discovered that within the debris toads had laid their toad spawn. The debris has been removed with the toad spawn left in the dam so hopefully we can look forward to a mass of small toads in the coming weeks!
On the bottom path another team as well as cutting up and moving the left-over tree limbs were rodding and clearing drainage channels which were blocked and causing flooding onto the path, not helped by the odd beer bottle which had mysteriously buried itself inside a drainpipe and wasn't there when we rodded them out last time! There is a section of path needing new drainage installing which we intend tackle in the forthcoming months.
At the top end of Forge Dam another group tackled more fallen trees and branches, including pulling a couple out of the dam itself.
A big thank you to all the volunteers who turned out to help as well as Ranger Matt's stand-in for the morning, Tom, who went back in the afternoon to fix a coping stone on the goit wall which was loose. Sadly, our FoPV catering supplier, Mandy, was away and there were no cakes for the hungry workers!
The next work morning is on Tuesday 25th April 2023. An email will be sent out nearer the time with details.
Lyndon
A Selection of photos from the work morning
Peter, Alex, Chris and John removing branches from Forge Dam
Glyn and Tom cutting up brash near the goit
Glyn and Phil rmoving more brash
Fallen tree ready to poke an eye out - now removed!
Tom rodding a drain and clearing channels and ditches to direct the flow of water
Not quite working this newish drain/channel! Temporary ditch dug at the top to redirect the flow for now, but maybe needs a re-think
Fallen branch removed on the green near the playground
Workers clearing debris from the goit
