The task for the day was to clear as much of the invasive scrub as possible from a West-facing scarp in the Crickley Hill Country Park. Nine volunteers, led by Stuart, joined Martin the National Trust Warden, at 9.30 on Sunday 18 February 2001.
The stable high pressure
covering much of the country suggested that we should have clear
skies and sunny weather. Certainly we were much better off up
at about 200 metres than people down in Gloucester or Cheltenham.
From our vantage point we should have been able to see for miles
over the Severn Estuary to the Malverns and the Black Mountains
in Wales. Unfortunately the thick mist hung in the valley all
day and frequently rose to engulf us too.
The steep slope was previously grazed by animals, usually sheep, which had kept down the scrub but since the site became a public open space the sheep had to be removed for their own safety. In their place Welsh ponies have been brought in during the winter months. The limestone grassland provides habitat for two comparatively rare butterflies and a particular type of wild orchid. The plan was to clear the scrub from a patch of loose shale and then to use this as the site for a fire on which to burn the small trees and bushes cut down and hauled in from all around.
In many respects it
was an excellent task as there was a variety of jobs suitable
for all abilities and skills. There were some quite large ash
trees which were felled and dismembered by those good with the
larger bow saws and billhooks and there were many bushy shrubs
best tackled with loppers and small saws. Because the fire took
a while to reach operational size, by lunchtime the fellers had
far exceeded the capacity of the fire to reduce it to ashes and
so the post-lunch session was devoted to snedding and bundling
the branches to add to the blaze.
The afternoon's work finished in sunshine
and by 4.00 p.m. we had cleared up and packed the tools away.
There's still much to do on this site and we hope we'll soon
be back to continue the work.
