It's Snow Joke!

Well the snow has come and it’s all hands on deck!

 We have had quite a few trees down and the staff have worked tirelessly over the last 2 days to clear the car parks, courtyards and paths so the park can stay open. It’s still a bit slippery in places and there is a small army of Snowmen starting to take over the lawn but as with most things there is a plus side, it’s produced some fantastic scenery for budding photographers. 

Going Wild in the Wild

Wild Sherwood in the Wildwood Theatre. Wednesday 10th December was the day Wild Sherwood were set the task of clearing part of the Wildwood Theatre. Currently an area not utilised to it's full potential and in need of some TLC.

Above is a before photo showing the scale of the task with nettles, weeds and Elder being physically pulled out so there was no chance of regrowth. They tackled the task brilliantly and by the end of the day they had cleared the centre and started taking out some of the small trees and overhanging branches.

The images speak for themselves!! Tomorrow will see them carrying on with some small tree work to thin out the path leading up to the centre.

Building bridges with North Notts College

Creating a good working relationship with a group willing to undertake some pretty immense tasks is imperative. At Rufford we have a few groups who come in and one of particular note is North Notts College. We have tailored certain practical tasks to match their syllabus. Previously they have ticked off clearing a waterway by digging silt out so there is better waterflow into the Wetland Conservation Area. So when their syllabus stated they needed to fix something that was broken a 20+ year old bridge seemed a perfect match. After running through what needed doing and pushing an 'artists' impression of the new bridge in their faces (see below) we began work.

First job was to remove vegetation and hazards around the bridge to create a good work area, this including going in the water pulling vegetation out, coppicing willow and slashing nettles.

Before

After vegetation clearance

After bridge removal

After the work area was made safe two older sleepers were put in as a temporary bridge to cross over to the island with tools. Then the hard work began, bank re-profiling, post hole digging, sawing all wood to length and much more. The pictures don't do the final bridge justice, it looks great and we are very thankful to groups such as North Notts College for their very hard work. Final bridge below.

Halfway

Finished!!

WELL DONE NORTH NOTTS COLLEGE!!!

  

Winter Wonderland

An early morning stroll gave me the chance to photograph the harsh frost, above are a few examples.

Alongside all the frost photos were some other interesting sightings with a Swan doing some morning stretches and an elusive Water Rail, not being elusive, feeding by the brook.

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An update to the fantastic work North Notts College are doing on the bridge is shown below. After a short session in which they observed some bird ringing in action (getting up close to Lesser Redpolls and Marsh Tits) they carried on with the bridge. They put in a monumental shift digging out holes for the posts and laying the sleepers. Next week they just need to dig a few more holes and then put the railings on and all their hard work will be finished on that task. (See below)

Fun...gi walk around Rufford

This warm damp weather is perfect for fungi, but what most people do not realise is that they are here all year round. Just like plants they bloom at different times of the year.

We use fungi that grow on or around trees to identify the health of that particular tree. As some mushrooms actually work in harmony with the tree, some are indicators that the tree is rotting; or other types of fungi are aggressive essentially attacking the tree and making them weak.

These indicators allow us to identify trees that are dangerous to the public, desiring complete removal of the tree. Others need close monitoring and maybe a little bit of work to keep them healthy.

Colourful Rufford

Winter is soon approaching so all the vivid autumn leaves will be disappearing from our view. So it was an ideal opportunity for some of the team to head out and capture them before this happened. Below is a red to green colour palette of tree's leaves and their bark. From deep Dogwood red to vibrant Maple yellow.

A bridge too far.......

North Notts College once again proved how well they work as a team and how good their work ethic is. Confronted with the tasked of safely dismantling a bridge did not phase them in the slightest.In fact they had completed the task before lunchtime!! Here is the evidence.

Not only did they complete dismantling the bridge but after lunch they started coppicing an area of Hazel so that the Hazel stools can regrow and form new Hazel Coppice. Most of the Hazel taken down will be used for staking and binding a dead hedge nearby. The gaps in the photo show where Hazel was before coppicing.

They are now tasked with replacing the bridge and making it a real feature of that area. Watch this space!!