13-Jan-26

It was path maintenance again for the working party of twelve volunteers who turned out this morning at Hartley Lane carpark, plus some other repair jobs.

After our usual group discussion and instructions, we divided into two groups. The first went off upstream of the stone bridge to sort out a dog-slide. This was blocked off in the usual way.

Next they went to the side waterfall where the boardwalk needed repair. One of the wooden treads had broken, so this was replaced with a new one, and the anti-slip chicken-wire was repaired also.

Next the riverside fence near the dipping pond was mended in a couple of places – easily fixed with a couple of screws. This party then joined the others who had already done a lot of path restoration work.

We today restored the path from the carpark to the wicket gate, the one down to the dipping pond area and also the pond access path.

Photograph A. Restoring path

Photograph B. Result

Our lady chairperson came along at break time with some choccy biccies, which were enjoyed, along with the mince pies left over from Xmas.

We felt that we were getting lot of work done, aided by the fact that we had a good turnout today, but the drizzle slowly turned to rain, and it was becoming difficult to work in the muddy conditions. So, we trudged back to the carpark, cleaned our tools and stowed them in the van, and off home we went, having enjoyed some good exercise out of doors despite the infelicitous weather.

By the way, we spotted some snowdrops today – always a good sign.

Photograph C. Snowdrops in bud

By the way also, there was still a thick layer of ice on the pond – more than an inch depth – despite the thaw.

Note that the previous week’s session had to be cancelled again because of foul weather. Rain and snow have disrupted a record number of sessions this winter!

20-Jan-26

The working party was doing fence work and path work near the old railway embankment this morning – nine volunteers assembling at the parking bay near the Holywell water pumping station.

The fence work was another attempt to block off access to the mountain biking area from the path along the old railway line. Part of the fence beside the gate at the south end of the embankment had been kicked away, so an extra fence post was put in and cross-pieces put in place.

Photograph A. Mending fence

Photograph B. Mountain bike area

If this doesn’t stop all access by mountain bikers, perhaps it will discourage them by signalling that the damage they do is not welcome.

While three volunteers were doing this, the rest of the squad were installing some low steps in the path that slopes up from the riverbank path on the north side to the north end of the embankment. This slope is slippery on wet days and also when there is snow or ice on the surface. We hope that by placing some timbers across the path – which are not high enough to cause a trip hazard – we can improve the situation.

This job involved digging a shallow trench across the path, putting a length of timber in place, hammering in a couple of stakes alongside and the screwing the timber to them, filling around about with earth and dressing the path surface with gravel (aggregate, strictly speaking).

Photograph C. Installing steps

It was getting the gravel that was the difficult bit in that procedure, because the nearest reserve pile was a long way away: near the downstream wooden footbridge. Have you ever tried wheelbarrowing a heavy load of gravel along a muddy, undulating path? – tiring! Anyway, we reckon we improved the usability of the ramp path today.

Photograph A. Outcome

The weather was damp, cold and mostly cloudy, but the birdlife scene was a bit more lively than usual. A hint of spring? Anyway there were blue tits, great tits, robins and goldfinches flitting about in the trees and jackdaws were calling near our assembly place.

We’ll be back next week to make more improvements to the Dene, never fear!

10-Feb-26

Eight eager volunteers turned out this morning at the water pumping station along Holwell Lane for another path-improvement session, on an overcast but generally dry day.

As last week, the main task was to install steps in the sloping path up from the riverside path to the northern end of the old railway embankment. We started off however by clearing out last week’s drainage trench and unbunging the associated plastic culvert pipe under the path.

That having been done, we started installing more steps. A number of these were installed in the path downhill from where we were working last week. Spades and mattocks were used to cut a slot in the earth for each step. A board was the placed in the slot and a couple of stakes hammered into the ground alongside. The board was secured to the stakes with screws, and the space around the board refilled with soil.

Photograph A. Installing steps

Next, the surface near the step was dressed with gravel for a better walking surface. As last week, getting the gravel to site was a time-consuming task but not, however, as bad as last time because we have had some gravel delivered to a place close to the pumping station which is much closer to the work site.

Photograph B. Laying gravel

The expected rain didn’t materialise but there was a bit of drizzle towards the end of the session. We didn’t quite get the job finished, but we’ll be back next week.

On the wildlife front, although there aren’t many signs of spring yet in the Dene, the bird life is looking up. We saw or heard a nuthatch, some robins, a goldcrest (last week actually), some greylag geese flying around, a song thrush, a dipper and various common small birds.

Watch this space for more news on improvements to the Dene.  

3-Feb-26

Eight volunteers met at the Northumbrian Water pumping station on a cold and very windy morning to continue the path work from two weeks ago on the slope down from the wagonways to the burn (last week’s work being cancelled due to wind and heavy rain). Fortunately once at the work site we were out of the cold wind.

The first task was to dig a trench on the uphill side of the path and then install a pipe under and across the path to hopefully divert rainwater off the path and prevent the muddy and at times icy conditions.

Photograph A. Installing steps

Next, more steps were installed and topped up with gravel. This was a very onerous task as the nearest gravel pile is a long way from the work site and required multiple trips with heavy wheelbarrows. Hopefully next week when we continue we will have some gravel a bit nearer, watch this space.

Photograph B. Applying gravel

Wildlife was scarce this week but there were many walkers enjoying the dry but cold conditions.

24-Feb-26

Milder weather and a refreshingly different activity greeted the eight working-party volunteers who turned out this morning at Wallridge Drive, Holywell. It was back an old favourite: river blockage clearance.

Here’s the problem:

Photograph A. Logjam

As you can see, once you get a branch falling into the river, it isn’t long before a big backlog of twigs, branches, litter and scum build up.

So two of us put on waders, got into the river and got stuck into the job of dismantling the blockage. The others stood on the river bank, accepting the branches and other debris as it came out of the water and conveying it to the other side of the riverside path, away from future flood waters.

Photograph B. Dismantling logjam

Photograph C. Removing a branch

There were some big timbers in the logjam, and it soon became apparent that bowsaws were not enough to clear them – so the hand winch would have to be deployed.

Photograph D. Operating winch

We attached one winch to a nearby tree and ran the winch cable out to the logjam. The biggest log was massive which dug into the riverbank and refused to budge. It had to be hauled out using two winches.

By the end of the session we had cleared all of the debris apart from one rather large old willow which will just have to stay there for now

Photograph E. End result

Wildlife. One of us started the Merlin birdsong identification app on their mobile phone and forgot to turn it off until the end. The result was an incredible list of birds identified, including robin, blue tit, great tit, buzzard, great spotted woodpecker, mallard, etc. The bird world is starting to gear up for the nesting season!

17-Feb-26

The improvements to the tunnel ramp path are now complete, thanks to the efforts of the nine hardy volunteers who turned out for some exercise on this frosty but sunny morning at Holywell.

The meeting place was at the Northumbrian Water pumping station gate. After unloading the necessary tools and materials we set off for the path in question: the one that slopes up to the north end of the tunnel embankment from the riverside.

We had already spent three sessions installing steps on that path and improving the surface with gravel. Today was the fourth and last session on that project.

The main part of the work was putting in place edging boards on the downhill side of the path. This involved digging a shallow slot along the path edge with mattock or spade, then fitting a plank (of recycled timber) into the slot, then fastening in place with stakes and screws, then filling either side with soil.

Photograph A. Edging the path

Photograph B. Ditto

In addition to that activity, we continued the arduous job of wheelbarrowing gravel from the deposit near the pumping station to the ramp path and spreading it on the surface.

It was nice sunny day once it had warmed up after an early frosty start. The main wildlife interest was a robin, who came to pick up worms from the ground we had disturbed, and who did a bit of singing as well.

Our lady chairperson came along for a bit of a chat mid-session, as she often does. At the end of the session, we tidied things up, took our tools back to the van, cleaned them, loaded them up, and off we went.

The ramp path ought to be a lot less slippy in wet or frosty weather from now on. Enjoy!