Leaders Stuart and Ros
The
Crickley Hill Country Park has areas that are owned and managed
by the National Trust or by Gloucestershire County Council. Our
task was to make a start on coppicing a patch belonging to the
National Trust that hadn't been touched for many years.
Although the number of visitors to the park is in excess of a quarter of a million per year and we were only about two hundred metres from the car parks, relatively few people passed our work site. Using mainly bow saws and loppers our team of 9 volunteers, guided by Tim the National Trust warden, made a worthwhile impression on the coppice wood.
Any pieces that could be used for stakes or bindings were set aside and the remainder was burned on a bonfire. The weather was reasonably kind to us and we only experienced one heavy shower just as we were finishing our lunch break.
Although a great deal of good work was done it was evident that it would need quite a number of return visits before the whole block was cleared.
Altogether this was a very successful task and there's no doubt that we would be welcomed back at some future date to continue with the work.
Hopefully, we will be returning to the site in the early autumn, watch this space.
