4-March-25

A party of 8 volunteers turned up at the metal gate on the Hartley West farm road on a mild morning ready to return to last week’s project of protecting the path from erosion caused by dog slides on the south side opposite where the gabions are.

After a quick safety briefing, with wheelbarrows loaded up, off we went. We paddled across the burn near the stepping stones, as the burn was low and it was OK with wellington boots on. We soon split into teams, one filling the wheelbarrows with soil from the holes we dug last week, the other team collecting willow. We elongated last week’s willow-weaving project and repaired a nearby dog slide.

Photograph A. Extended river-bank repair

Photograph B. Repaired dog slide

We made good progress and by late morning we had finished the job. We had a bit of time left so it was decided to take clumps of snowdrops which were growing in abundance nearby and replant some of them in the area where we had removed the soil to help it blend in with the surrounding area, and we also planted a few along the path beside the dog slides to make that more attractive.

On the wildlife front, we could hear a couple of woodpeckers in the distance and a robin landed next to us as we were leaving, probably looking for a bit of dinner. Also spotted was a scarlet elf cup fungus.

It was a nice morning to be working, with quite a few walkers about and many saying “thank you” as they passed by

18-March-25

The working party this morning numbered an excellent eleven, a sufficiently large team indeed for refurbishing the willow barrier upstream of the estuary and clearing a blockage in the river nearby – on a fine, sunny day (albeit chilly at the start).

About 120 metres upstream of the wooden footbridge at the head of the estuary at Seaton Sluice is a willow barrier which is designed to combat erosion of the river bank. The willows, which we have woven together in past sessions, are rooted into the river bank, which protects against erosion by river action and dog activity. Every year we give this structure some maintenance. This year, it was mainly a matter of reducing the height of the willows, which grow prodigiously, in the fertile silt and damp conditions by the river. We also did some willow-laying.

So having marched, with our wheelbarrows full of tools, down the trail from the Hartley Lane carpark to the site, we took up our loppers and bowsaws, and the long-handled saw, and went to work reducing the height of the willows and weaving them together.

Photograph A. Willow maintenance work

Meanwhile one of us did some more skilled work – laying willow branches horizontally. The technique here is to use an axe to partially sever the stem of a willow plant close to the base, then bend it over and weave it in with the other willows. The branch is then tied in using cable ties to make a robust barrier.

Meanwhile in the river …

Photograph B. Clearing river blockage

As you can see, two of our volunteers donned waders and braved the cold water of the burn and set about unravelling a tangle of branches that was partly blocking the flow. It looks as if a willow had fallen into the stream at some point, and various other branches and twigs had subsequently floated down and added to the logjam. The two volunteers in the water were assisted by another couple of volunteers on the bank, receiving the disentangled branches and stacking them nearby.

It was a gloriously sunny day, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The birds were singing, despite low temperatures. Here are some of the birds seen and heard: great tits, greenfinches, goldfinches, wrens, curlews, mallard ducks. I’m sure there were more, but we were too busy to investigate.

Oh, and since this year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Friends of Holywell Dene, we are going to plant 25 silver birches (a reference to silver anniversary) in the dene in the autumn. The birch seedlings have already been procured, and today we were planting out the seedlings into pots to keep them alive between now and planting time.

Photograph C. Silver birch seedlings

25-March-25

A pleasant day in the “office” today for the ten volunteers who assembled at Hartley Lane carpark at nine this morning – a day with some springtime warmth and not too muddy under foot; and with the birds singing away happily and spring flowers blooming.

Two items were on the agenda today, both involving willows: first, trimming the willow barrier on the river bank up from the estuary, and second, planting willow stems along the mid-dene dog slides that we recently repaired. Meanwhile we cleared a couple of gullies as part of the war on muddy puddles.

After getting the right tools out of the van and loading them onto wheelbarrows (and having a bit natter) we marched off to the willow barrier. This is located opposite the seat which is upstream of the footbridge at the head of the estuary. We were working there last week (see last report) and all that was needed was to finish refurbishing the barrier and, in doing so, to harvest a quantity of willow sticks.

The tricky bit in this procedure was accessing the willow branches that were too far from the path to reach. For this, we used a long-handled pruner and a hooked stick to pull the willows towards us to be cut.

While all this was going on, two volunteers ventured down to the estuary where an under-path gully below the old allotments was blocked up. They succeeded in unblocking it, with the assistance of our telescopic drain rods. Two tennis balls were found to be blocking it.

The willow-trimming work resulted in a couple of substantial piles of cut willow. The next step was to convey these right up past the stone bridge to the places where we recently repaired doggie slides in mid-dene. Here, we poked the willow wands into the moist earth of the river bank, hoping that they will take root and bind the soil together with their roots.

Photograph A. Planting willow wands

Meanwhile our two-person gully squad was busy unblocking the outlet pipe from the dipping pond. (By the way, the dipping pond does not have a dipping platform. A couple of years ago, Northumberland County Council said they would dredge the pond and install a new platform, but unfortunately we’re still waiting.)

Photograph B. Dipping pond outlet cleared

With the weather brightish and warmish, there was quite a lot of bird-song and plants are beginning to sprout from the ground. The following were seen and/or heard:

 Lesser celandines (yellow flowers) and wood anemones (white flowers) – the first seen this year.

 Songsters: greenfinch, chiffchaff, song thrush, wren, etc.

 Also seen/heard: pheasant, blue tit, blackbird, crows.

 The rooks are congregating in the tall beeches near the stone bridge and making their usual breeding season noises.

Watch this space for future working party activities

8-April-25

A working party of eight volunteers met up at our parking space down the lane from Holywell this morning to repair a vandalised fence, plus other activities. This was a nice sunny, warmish day with dry ground under foot.

We have a bit of a problem with motorbike people in the Dene, and in trying to gain access they have damaged the fence by the stile near the humpback bridge (over the old railway line east of Holywell). This is not the first time this has happened.

Anyway, one group of volunteers started work repairing the damaged fence using timber from our store. Having done that they stapled wire mesh to it, to hopefully make it more resistant to damage. This took the whole session. The photos below give an idea of the work.

Photograph A. Repairing fence

Photograph B. Attaching wire mesh

Photograph C. Completed job

Meanwhile other the second group of volunteers checked out a den that had been constructed nearby. The idea was to dismantle it, but it turned out that it had been torched, so there was nothing very much to dismantle. However, there was a lot of litter lying around, and clearing that up gave rise to two black sacks full of litter.

That done, the second group commenced removing ivy from trees in the area around the tunnel. We do this from time to time to keep ivy under control. We would not want it to cover all the trees, but on the other hand it is a native species and provides food for pollinators and birds, so it is just as well that we never have enough time to get rid of it completely.

Our usual leader was away in the Lake District today, so his lady deputy was in charge. Oh, and we enjoyed the cheese scones provided another one of our lady volunteers.

We’ll be back next week for another adventure in the life of Holywell Dene

1-April-25

There was a strong turnout of ten volunteers this morning to enhance the culvert that carries the Holywell side burn under the footpath.

Our venue today was the dip in the south-side path downstream of the Holywell road bridge where a side burn has to be crossed. The old corrugated plastic culvert pipe that carries the side burn under the path has been overwhelmed on several occasions in the past when there has been heavy rain. It has also been blocked up, probably deliberately. The result has been Dene users getting their feet wet when crossing at that point.

We have been contemplating installing a footbridge there for some time, and indeed that may yet come about, but today we decided we would just put a second pipe in alongside the existing one. We happened to have a suitable pipe amongst our reserve of materials, so acquisition wasn’t a problem (although transporting it to the site was a bit of an effort).

So, the morning’s work consisted of:

 Digging a trench alongside the existing pipe. This included using the hand winch to remove a large slab of stone.

 Laying the new pipe in the trench.

 Filling the trench with earth to make a convenient footpath crossing.

 Winching the slab of stone into place at the upstream end of the culvert to protect against flooding.

 Adding gravel from the bed of the burn to give a good footpath surface.

 Dressing the surface with forest litter, sourced on the spot, for a natural look.

Photograph A. Digging out trench

Photograph B. New pipe in place

Photograph C. Completed job

Meanwhile, two volunteers (see photo A) were replacing one of the steps in the flight running down to the side burn. The old one was rotting. We had to hack it out with a mattock, dig the securing stakes out, hammer new stakes in, screw a new cross-timber to the stakes and infill with stones, earth and gravel.

As usual, we picked up the litter we came across. Fortunately a stout plastic bag had been left by some litterer, which we used to put the other litter in for removal and disposal.

The weather was very pleasant for task work today: bright and warmish, with less of a breeze down in the Dene than above. We managed to finish the planned work in good time, so we departed for home only a couple of hours after the start of the session.

15-April-25

Eight volunteers turned up on Tuesday on a cool and potentially damp morning, however the rain held off. The task today was to complete the work started two weeks ago when we installed a second large pipe under the path on the Holywell bridge path in the side burn which drains water from the fields to the south (see report from April 1).

The work involved digging out both sides of the pipe, driving in stakes and then installing prepared boards at both ends to support the infilling soil, gravel and rocks.

Photograph A. Work in progress

The intention is to hopefully prevent the constant erosion of the path when there is heavy rainfall and debris blocks the pipe causing water levels in the side burn to rise and overflow over the path.

Photograph B. Completed crossing (view from downstream)

Photograph C. Completed crossing (view from upstream)