7-January-25

It was perishing cold and windy when the six volunteers of the working party assembled at the metal gate on the Hartley Farm approach road for a morning’s hard labour on the steps down from the layby to the lower wooden footbridge.

Before starting work on that however, we noticed that there was sheet ice on the farm road caused by water running off the uphill side of the road. So, we set to work with spades to extend the roadside gully uphill somewhat to (hopefully) prevent this happening again. That was a useful warm-up on a chilly day!

Photograph A. Clearing gully

Next we departed with our wheelbarrows full of materials and tools to the layby steps. The problem here was rotten timbers and a layer of mud and dead leaves on the steps. We started at the top and replaced each rotten step timber as we descended the steps. Each old timber piece was hacked out, then a new one put in place, then stakes hammered in to hold the step in place, then these were screwed down and, finally, the surface was levelled and dressed with a layer of aggregate.

Photograph B. Steps before work

Meanwhile the other steps were being cleared of debris with spades and a mattock.

Photograph C. Repairing and cleaning steps

At the bottom of the flight, a couple of trip hazards were identified: an old post stump and a tree root, and these were both removed.

Then it was the trudge back all the way to the tools van, where the tools were cleaned and loaded into the van. And away we went.

So, enjoy the new improved steps. And Happy New Year to all!

14-January-25

A work party of only 6 volunteers met at the metal gate on the Hartley West Farm road – due to a combination of holidays, dental and hospital appointments – to clear a couple of rivers blockages and seal off a couple of dog-runs.

After loading our wheelbarrows with tools and our safety briefing, off we went upstream to a safe place to cut across the burn to the south side to save a long detour via the wooden bridge. The water level wasn’t too high, surprisingly, after the recent rain a few days back. We soon reached the first blockage and set up our hand-winch while two brave volunteers donned waders to tackle the blockage from the river.

Photograph A. River blockage

They soon trimmed away any branches they could cut with the bowsaw, keeping any of the bigger branches to use on the dog-runs later. The hand-winch was then deployed to remove the main trunk to a safe position on the river bank. After a quick cuppa to warm ourselves up we then went further upstream to tackle the next blockage. The procedure was as before: the smaller branches were removed then the main trunk was winched out of the water to a safe place – as far away from the river as possible.

The next thing on the agenda was the two dog-runs. Luckily, they were close to where the blockage was so we didn’t have to push all our gear too far. The first thing we had to do is make holes in the river bank with our iron bar then put a couple of the willow branches, which we had just trimmed, into the holes then hammer them down to make a firm stake. We next the trimmed some wooden decking (which had been kindly donated by members) to the right size to make a “wall” across the gap in the river bank. Finally, some soil was dug well away from the path and transported in the wheelbarrow to back-fill the river bank with.

Photograph B. Mending dog-run

With both dog-runs completed we loaded the tools up and headed back to the tools van at the end of another shift.

21-January-25

It was hazel coppicing this morning for the working party. The turnout was eight volunteers, and the weather was dull and cold but fine.

We met up at the familiar metal gate on the Hartley Farm road and trundled the short distance down to the meadow area below with our wheelbarrows loaded with tools. We then spent the entire session pruning (“coppicing”) the hazel bushes we planted there many years ago.

Hazel is a small tree. It grows, naturally, under the canopy of larger trees in the forest. It produces hazel nuts and so was cultivated by our ancestors for many centuries. They used to cut the hazel bushes down to the ground. The stumps would produce new stems which could be cut again after a couple of years. This led to a coppicing cycle in which the bushes were kept small so that the nuts could be harvested conveniently. The cut stems were used for firewood and other purposes.

Our objective is just to keep the hazel bushes at a reasonable height and not let them get out of control. To that end we only do a partial coppice: cutting down the older and longer stems and leaving the newer ones. This is done every two years, generally.

Photograph A. Hazel stand before coppicing

The work is done with a pruning saw, and involves bending or kneeling down so as to able to cut out the hazel stems at the base. This produces lots of hazel wood which we simply pile up at the back of the coppiced area to rot down, although some of it is taken away for use as pea sticks, etc.

Photograph B. Coppicing in progress

We managed to get all the hazels pruned in the morning time-slot, so off we went home after loading the tools back into our van.

Photograph C. End result

Wildlife noted:

 A flock of geese flew over, presumably pink-footed.

 Bullfinches and long-tailed tits were heard singing.

 Not much else because it was a rather subdued day.

Oh, by the way, one of our volunteers is taking a holiday in Iceland. He says if it works out OK he’ll be off to Morrisons next time. (A typical example of our tea-break crack!)

28-January-25

A magnificent seven volunteers met up this morning in the drizzle at Seaton Sluice to do some work on the east side of the estuary: installing new steps and fixing a doggie slide.

The steps in question are the ones that run down from the street named Millfield to the estuary. Several of these steps – four in fact – were rotting and possibly damaged by horses. So, we did our usual thing:

 dig out old step

 screw three pieces of wood together to make a U-shaped step

 dig out a depression in the ground of the same shape

 put the step in place

 hammer in a couple of stakes and screw the step to them

 fill the step with soil and gravel

Photograph A. Installing steps

Photograph B. Completed work

Meanwhile, we started work on the dog slide. As you will know, our canine friends have a tendency to rush towards any water they see. In doing so they tend to form chutes in various places leading down to the water’s edge. They are a bit of a force of erosion in this regard, and these dog-slides get bigger and bigger. There was one just downstream of the bridge at the head of the estuary, and it was this that we fixed today.

The procedure here was the familiar one:

 hammer stakes into the river bank along the waterside edge of the slide

 place planks crosswise to hold back the soil

 fill the space with soil

In this case the space was so large that we had to dig quite a big hole in nearby land to get enough soil. Spades and wheelbarrows were used. This work took longer than expected and meant that we didn’t have time to do the third job that had been pencilled in: removing a river blockage near the willow-weaving feature further upstream.

Photograph C. Dog slide filled in

Wildlife:

 buzzard “mewing” overhead

 geese overhead – presumably pink-footed

 bullfinches and goldfinches singing

4-February-25

A party of 8 volunteers met at the metal gate on the Hartley West Farm road today for a session of path repairs. After a chat about where we were working and a safety briefing, four wheelbarrows were loaded up with tools and wood, plus some lengths which were carried, and off we went to the incline behind the Hartley West farmhouse to repair some of the steps.

When we got there we split into two teams: one to tackle the steps and the other to clear the grass off the path at the top of the incline. We use spades and mattocks to do this, trying to skim the top surface off the path removing only the grass and leaving the hardcore on the path.

This took most of the session up but as soon as we finished we headed down the path back to where the other volunteers had removed the old wooden steps and replaced them with six new ones, back-filling with hardcore from our stock in that area. Luckily they were just finishing off so we had time for a small job on the way back to the works van.

Photograph A. Incline before work

Photograph B. Replacing steps

Photograph C. Incline after work

Just down from the metal gate you may have noticed a run of three sumps next to the path. These are there because that part of the path is a collection point for any rain to congregate and the idea is that any surplus water will fill these sumps first and hopefully keep the path clear from flooding. Mission accomplished, we headed back to the van to clean down the tools and wheelbarrows before we loaded up the van and head off home.

18-February-25

The working party was mending doggy slides near Hartley West Farm this morning, with the turnout being nine volunteers – on a cold, dull morning.

As you will probably know, we have a problem of erosion of the river banks by dogs rushing down to the river to splash about in the water. These dog slides get bigger and bigger and end up eating back into the footpaths. We repaired four of them this morning.

Just so you know where the location is: start at the stone bridge, cross the stile into the meadow area, walk along the path to the far end of the meadow, and the place where the path comes close to the river before ascending the steps is where we were working.

We used cylindrical fence posts this morning to form the basis for the repair. One of these was hammered well down into the mud by the riverside at the foot of the dog slide. Then hazel poles (from the coppicing session we had on 21st January) were hammered in alongside the fence post to form a barrier. Then sections of recycled planking were positioned horizontally behind this barrier. Then the enclosed space was filled in with soil. This process was repeated four times, for four dog slides – and job done!

Photograph A. Repaired dog slide

Filling with soil of course meant digging up soil from somewhere else to use for the purpose. This, in fact, took up a lot of the time today. Essentially, we scraped soil from the ground beside (but at a short distance from) the path, trying to avoid making any deep holes which could be trip hazards. The soil was wheelbarrowed to the dog-slide repairs. All very time-consuming.

Whenever we disturb the soil while doing our work, we invariably get a little red-breasted visitor (see photo).

Photograph B. Robin

He was watching our every move and, from time to time, darting down to the ground to pick up a grub or a worm. He also got some crumbs when we had our tea/coffee break. And then he would sit on a branch and sing for us – although really it is a warning to other robins to “keep out of my territory”.

Other birds seen and heard included:

 a flock of wild geese flying across and calling to each other

 blue tit, coal tit and nuthatch

11-February-25

Eight volunteers assembled at the Holywell water pumping station this (cold, windy and wet) morning for some exercise repairing a stile and a fence, and removing an old fence.

The stile in question is the one on the bridleway east of the humpback bridge, which gives access to a trail through the trees. It was in a rotten state, so something had to be done, and in fact it was almost completely dismantlement and reconstruction with recycled timber. The hard part was detaching the vertical timber hand-hold, which we wanted to reuse. After reassembly, the fence-wires were reattached to the structure.

Photograph A. Restored stile

The second job was to repair the damaged fence alongside the stile on the path that leads up from the burn-side to the northern end of the embankment that used to carry an old railway over the burn. This had been vandalised, presumably by people wanting to get their motorbikes to where they shouldn’t be. This time we used fresh timber to replace broken rails. Wire was stapled along the line of the timber to discourage the use of electric chainsaws.

Photograph B. Repairing fence by stile

The third task was dismantlement of the old, dilapidated fence along the short section of path that runs from the old railway line at the northern end of the embankment to the lane leading to Holywell. This was falling down and an ivy-infested eyesore. So, we disconnected the wire netting from the posts and rolled it up for transportation off site, and pulled out the fenceposts – which was no challenge as most of them were rotting at the base.

That’s about it.

Wildlife?

 nuthatch, great tit, robin, etc singing

 jackdaws and crows foraging as usual

 very few signs of spring yet, apart from snowdrops in places

25-February-25

It was dog-slide repair work again for the working party of nine people this morning, on a dull but mild day.

There was a large example of erosion of the riverbank by dogs on the south bank near the gabions in mid-dene (see photo).

Photograph A. Dog slide

We tackled it in roughly the same way as last week:

 make a barrier of posts and willow staves

 weave willow wands around them horizontally

 seal with sacking material

 fill with soil

Photograph B. Repairing dog slide

The soil had to be dug out of the ground at a suitable place and wheelbarrowed to the site. This was half the job! Also the willow material had to be harvested from both sides of the river. Don’t worry: willows grow very rapidly and will soon recover.

In doing this work we have recovered the riverside edge of the path at that point.

Photograph C. End result

Wildlife:

 a flight of wild geese came over again

 we heard a nuthatch, a great tit, a chaffinch and other small birds

 there was a report of an injured deer upstream of where we were working; the RSPCA had been called out; we hope it’s OK

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