We were almost ready to leave home,
the door bell rang. Meyrick and Jeff were there wondering if we
could take our car today as Meyrick's Polo had decided to 'take
a rest'. No problem, the tools and catering kit were soon loaded,
the rest of the party were on board and we set off for Hempsted
on the outskirts of Gloucester.
Today we were fortunate - the sun was shining
but as this site was close to the River Severn all around there
was evidence of the recent flooding. Our task for the day was
to plant numerous bare root trees but it was decided that the
first priority was to start a bonfire to dispose of a huge heap
of old conifers that had been felled earlier in the week. In the
event, as there was a shortage of volunteers, this occupied most
of the time available as three enormous fires were needed. The
new trees were collected from the village and as a token gesture
we did manage to plant one each. The remainder had to be heeled
in to prevent drying out whilst waiting for another group to finish
the task. We finished the day by walking over the adjoining waterlogged
field to view a large boat that had, several years ago, been washed
onto the land where it had remained ever since - quite a strange
sight in the middle of a field with horses grazing around it.
