Author Archives: Martin WW

As our Saturday with volunteers had to be cancelled due to the weather forecast (which was correct if perhaps a tad understated) we had a few jobs to do this week. We continued on with the planting of our new scrub with some willow and alder in the wet and damp bits. Some of thisContinue reading “Awls and owls.”

Firstly apologies to the rampant hoards who had signed up for volunteering tomorrow. God* has decreed that Saturday will be the wettest day of the winter so far (*other deities are available). Whether this will turn out to be correct, remains to be seen. But it was with a heavy heart that we decided earlierContinue reading “Weather…”

Shelters and canes have now been procured courtesy of The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and Tees Swale Naturally Connected. Many thanks. As we have bare-rooted hawthorn to plant asap (125) we have decided to make Monday a ‘flash planting’ (this is possibly the first use ever of this term..it is according to Google’s Ngram viewer?)Continue reading “Scrubbing up pt 2.”

Yesterday saw our first public volunteer day of the new year. We were working in the lee of some woodland which kept the cold north-westerly wind away and we also had a bit of sun for company. We are currently short of ’scrub’ on the Cluster. It is a very valuable habitat and our aimContinue reading “Scrubbing up.”

Earlier today we had a very interesting and illuminating online meeting with various partners to talk about our plans for NFM work on the cluster. We are working with Durham University to model the outcomes of proposed works and we saw a presentation of how any measures would affect peak flows in the area. TheContinue reading “Natural Flood Management (NFM)”

Here is a list of our volunteer days for the next few months. We start at 10 am and will be providing hot drinks and soup (always vegan but we can hopefully deal with other likes/dislikes/allergies/intolerances etc, let us know) and cake. 27/1. Hedge planting 5/2. Tree shelter removal 17/2. Exclosure moving/building 28/2. Exclosure moving/buildingContinue reading “Volunteer Days 2022”

Yesterday saw volunteers from Sustainable Swaledale and Operation Raleigh Alumni tree planting and creating a new hedge line. An enjoyable day was had by all apparently. The new hedge was planted close to a dry stone wall line that was completely washed away in the flood in July 2019. Rather than re-wall, it was decidedContinue reading “First Work Party of 2022”

Wednesday June 16th dawned bright and clear. A good day for playing in rivers. We hosted the Wild Trout Trust with Prof Johnny Grey and a happy band of volunteers. We were split into three groups, electro-fishing, water chemical analysis and invertebrate sampling, and then spent the next few hours enjoying the attention of midgesContinue reading “FISHY…FISHY…FISHY”

Prince’s Youth Trust Visit 14th June Today we hosted a visit with some young folk from Darlington. The day didn’t start well with the bus driver being told by his ‘masters’ to drop them off at the wrong place. But through good luck and gravity (they were dropped off upstream of the cluster) we allContinue reading “‘Yoof….’”