Hello Conservation Volunteers
Thank you to everyone who turned out for our latest work morning where we had one group at Forge Dam and another at Ann's for a special task!
Up near Carr Bridge somebody had recently dumped garden waste, so Simon and Chris went up to move it and see if any was maybe usable for dead hedging. Although we do not condone dumping of any rubbish of any kind whether it is in our valley or elsewhere it turned out there were some usable thin branches of what was probably willow which has been repurposed in the second dead hedge. The rest has been tidied away.
Path edging and tidying was the order of the day for the rest of the volunteers around Forge Dam. The path to Fulwood Old Chapel which had been started at our previous work morning has now been fully edged and swept and has created a neat and tidy entrance for visitors to the park.
Elsewhere, the entrance to Festival Woodland was looking a little forlorn with grass spreading out onto the tarmac path. Again, this has been cleared, tidied, and swept, so all in all a good morning's path clearance work by the team.
Down at Ann's, the special task was for Duck Race preparations, more specifically awning erection practice! After the storm at last year's Duck Race had damaged some of the awnings they had been checked and cannibalised in the summer to create five complete working awnings, however, with some new faces volunteering to help erect on the day and fuzzy memories for the rest of us on which pole goes where a practice session had been arranged.
Rob arrived with a brand-new toolbox on wheels to contain hopefully every tool required for the day including hammers, gaffer tape and a selection of special tent pegs to screw into hard ground.
Fortunately, the weather was kind and the rain held off until we had finished, and we are all ready for the big day!
To finish the morning off Peter, our fixer-upper, had purchased a replacement wheel for one of the FoPV wheelbarrows but it would not fit onto the axle. Dave, (who never throws anything away!) came to the rescue with an old axle and sleeve to fit the new bushes. Success, one working wheelbarrow!
The next work morning is on Tuesday 26th March where we will be at Endcliffe Park doing various tasks in readiness for the Duck Race. An email will be sent out nearer the time with details.
Lyndon
A Selection of photos from the work morning
Garden waste dumped near Carr Bridge
Chris moving the branches and assembling into the dead hedge
Gill and Stephen working on the path to Fulwood Old Chapel
The team in action!
Stuart, Rebecca and Phil showing off their handy work
The finished path
Peter, Dave and Paul working on the path to the Festival Woodland entrance
Paul and Dave after clearing the entrance to Festival Woodland
Erecting awnings
One fully up.....
Rob's toolbox on wheels!
The wheelbarrow with the old wheel.....
.....and with the new wheel
