Nine members worked today as follows: Six went to Park Bank Wood and finished the revetment and steps replacement we began last week. Three more progressed the Hutcliffe Wood Bench to about halfway stage. Sorry but the ‘guests’ residing in Shene Field are Llamas, not Alpacas as reported last week. There are still 16 of them and they look fantastic. Long may they remain.
Fourteen members of the Working Group arrived today with the following achieved: A trip to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet for two, to assess the work they have asked us to do. Provisionally we will be working there Mondays 10th & 17th November . Tony’s Steps were given some TLC, but more is needed; so we plan to return next week. When we got there, we saw that a tree had recently fallen across the bottom. It appears this was during Storm Amy, but a BEG supporter was quick to cut off the offending bits so free access to the Steps was restored.
We were pleased to entertain Jon Dallow from the Council this morning, and the seven Monday Group members [surprisingly only one Committee member] had a conversation with him on various matters , including our future use of Power Tools. He was given a tour of the Nature Park and he left us with a battery operated hedge trimmer and strimmer for us to evaluate, before making a decision on what to purchase. In our discussion, it was agreed we would meet again with an Ecologist to have a closer look at the Gorse Patch and maybe other areas also. We
Six members turned up at the Store on a very windy morning. Three headed off to the path surrounding the Hall field to finish off the work on the benches started in previous weeks. These are now duly completed! The other three went into Gulley’s Meadow where invasive blackthorn had been attacked but not completely removed. The morning was spent cutting and removing the debris though there are a few areas where it is still growing. We hope that when the field is mown that some of the small specimens will be dealt with.
Seven of us turned up today and it was a morning for Benches. Two went up to the one at De la Salle Playing Fields and repaired it, before rejoining the others, who finished the installation of the three posts which will form a long Bench in front of the Store. It had been reported there had been some Flagstones removed from the Pathway on Beauchief Abbey Lane, whether stolen or removed by the Council, we will never know. But this morning the space was tarmacked over We also received a report from the Council Ranger working in our area
Only six of the Monday Group arrived for work today. Initially two of us met with, an extremely affable, Abbeydale Golf Club General Manager and we walked to the area at back of car park where there is debris threatening the footpath. He will discuss this with the Head Groundsman to look at interim and later permanent solutions. This 2-part process is needed as AGC only lease that piece of land behind but are in the process of purchasing it, after which further work will be done on the car park. All in all, a productive session. We then joined
Twelve of us met today, and a variety of tasks was undertaken: The debris by the Abbeydale Golf Club boundary was photographed and sent to the Committee. The BEG Secretary will contact the Club Secretary about this problem. Two sleepers were transported from the Barn to the Store and the holes to take them were started. We are constructing a large bench at the side of the Store. The Orchard grass was given a tidy. The wood to repair a bench was delivered early and the measurements taken, as it will require cutting to size. Holly clearance on Little Wood
A very warm morning saw ten of the Group arrive today and four jobs were undertaken Work inside the Store was carried on using the pallets to enable safe storage. A bench on the Hall path needs repair. On inspection we found that we do not have the correct materials, which have been ordered for next week. High Wood had a few dead trees that were encroaching on to the Round Walk, these were removed. The damson tree in the Meadow had its Suckers chopped down. The Abbeydale Golf Course Manager has been contacted, and he thanked us for drawing the
In defiance of the miserable weather, five turned up at the Store this morning and continued planning the layout of the Store and fitting out storage for the tools. As the weather was wet and windy it proved to be a good use of our time. Combining convenience with safety, we are making steady progress and the Store is now much more organised and safer to access. There are still some finishing details needed but we hope to complete the work in the next couple of weeks. Our expert did a bit of scything in the orchard – which is looking good at
Before this Monday, some work had already been carried out on the storage racks by two volunteers. Twelve members met today, and work, on making the Store a safe and easy place to work in, was continued. A group went to the Orchard and completed the cataloguing of the fruit trees; once completed and printed, this will be available in the Store. It was pleased to see a crop of walnuts on one of the trees. The nut trees were first planted at the far end of the Orchard around 10 years ago, and these are the first nuts seen on
Twelve of us met at the new store for the first time today, and began a new era in Monday Group history. Most of the morning was spent looking at various options to use the space, then using ‘donated’ palettes, we went part way to constructing a safe way to store the wood inside. Some of us did go off to do various small jobs as well: 1. The Jubilee Tree had lost its anchoring so, using some old luggage straps, this was replaced 2. The stile into the Abbey grounds had become covered, we trimmed this back. 3. The
Twelve of us met our local Ranger today at the Barn. He had brought a Trailer, which in two loads, took all our worldly goods to the new store. We then began the process of putting it all in. This is obviously going to be a work-in-progress and ideas on how best to utilise the space would be welcome. The Bird Ringing Group had got there before us and stored some of their equipment under the container. We have no idea how they got there so fast! The Ranger has also done more strimming around the Driving Range and Little Wood