You
really had to be there! The weekend away in the Peak District
was excellent. We eight GVCV volunteers took over the Dalehead
Basecamp which turned out to be a refurbished farmhouse in a remote
spot a little way from Barber Booth. Some of us had pretty tedious
journeys to get there, travelling on a Friday afternoon/evening
is never easy. However, we spent a pleasant evening and slept
soundly.Saturday morning dawned bright, sunny and warm. After breakfast we drove to a National Trust farm overlooking Ladybower Resevoir and met the two wardens who were to work with us on the task of eliminating all the hawthorn that was invading the grazing on a particular pasture. Working in pairs, one with a sharp spade to sever the roots the other hauling out the saplings, we worked systematically across the field. All the spiky shrubs were cut up and stuffed into giant fabric bags used to deliver sand or aggregate. At break times we relaxed admiring the spectacular scenery and although it was sunny for most of the time there was a breeze so we didn't get too hot.
By the end of the afternoon the wardens were delighted with progress and the dozen or so giant white bags bursting with hawthorn bushes stood testament to all the work achieved.
Back at basecamp we freshened up and then everyone helped to get the evening meal. There were even some ambitious attempts to create water lily shapes from paper napkins! We all had big appetites and the food was excellent, accompanied by white wine. After a team effort on clearing away and washing up we sat round the roaring log fire and played games. One which had us creased up with laughter was 'Balderdash', I won't attempt to explain - you really had to be there! Another was a brilliantly childish elimination game, somewhat like musical chairs, that entailed snatching spoons from the table to stay in.
There was no work for us on Sunday so after we had cleaned up our quarters we took a circular walk from the basecamp. Again the weather was superb and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We returned to basecamp by mid-afternoon and all went our various ways
