Work in the Bluebell Wood

Another year begins and this is my first time back since early December, though I have called in and chatted with the team in the meantime. I came in at the weekend to confirm my day for this week. There was an interesting discussion going on about two empty canisters of nitrous oxide which one of the team had found in one of the town parks. I wonder what the residents get up to! The dentist has identified one of the canisters as being his property and is coming to collect both the canisters.

I was introduced to another volunteer today. He is like me, retired and needing to do something useful with his time.  Apparently he only comes for a few months in the winter, because in the summer he has a job with the Caravan Club, wardening at a Caravan site in Scotland. The background of the other volunteers is also interesting. One of the regulars is a youngish unemployed man with a family, who has to leave at 3.00 to pick up his children. Then there was another young man who came for a few weeks whilst he was going through a selection process to join the fire service. I am the only female.

It was more tree work on the agenda today.  We spent the morning along the trail, where a couple of trees were felled and we sawed and cleared away the brush.  This was near a heather patch, which apparently is one of only two along the trail. Felling the trees allows more light in and encourages the heather, and at the same time allowing an open vista briefly over the hills. "Some people can't get up the hills any more, so it is nice if they can see heather at low level", I was told. I wonder how many people walking along the trail even think about this?

In the afternoon we were in the Bluebell wood. This is a special site which is a real picture in the spring. The intention has been to create different kinds of habitat in a smallish area, so there is an area of wetland and a wild bit where everything is just left au naturel, as well as the area where the bluebells grow. Our task was to cut down numerous ash seedlings and clear away brambles. The ground was beautifully soft underfoot, being covered with numerous layers of leaf litter. I had a wicked thought that I could creep in in the middle of the night and lift some of it for my garden, but immediately scrubbed it from my thoughts, the team would be horrified with such disrespect!  Some of the bluebells are already beginning to poke through the leaf litter.

Some of the seedlings were quite big, about 5 cm diameter, requiring a hand saw to get them down. The process is to make the cut about 20cm above the ground, then to level the stump to the ground with a second cut, in order to prevent obstacles that people might trip over. I found it immensely difficult to wield the saw in a horizontal motion, and spent about 20 minutes getting increasingly frustrated with one stump. In the end I had to ask for help. The chaps make it look so easy and cut through a stump like this in 30 ses. I wonder whether saw technique is something that can be learnt. The saw always seems to get stuck when I reach a certain point. My father always used to show me things like this when I was young. Clearly saw technique is not something he got round to! I will persevere.