Tuesday
Today we were at sunny Blackford Hill… to yet again work under a canopy of trees… The tasks involved putting in two small information signs and attempting to clear a large section of path that had been engulfed by mud.
The signs had to be painstakingly put into place using bog standard cement as we had to use it up for the rangers, so no easy postcrete today!!! But the team battled on and put in two super signs for all to see for years to come.
Now the mud…it is quite amazing how much mud can accumulate in one place. The mounds that we piled high, or I should say Neil piled high were quite impressive! We had to try and slow Neil down as we couldn’t keep up with him!
Lunch was spent lying in the sun…were someone may have dozed off…while others chilled and some people, Rob and Derek, tried to play football over everyone’s heads…not a good idea!
After lunch the team joined together to attack the muddy path. Barrel after barrel of dedicated hardcore work the path began to resemble its original state, at least it was usable again!
Wednesday we spent down at Meadow’s Yard by the coast. Started out cloudy – but by lunchtime we were all sweltering under the heat (yes! it was possibly too hot for once!).
Task for the day was to remove an old information board, install a new humongous one and to re-fill and surface the paths from an enormous pile of woodchip. Fairly straightforward one might think. But oh no. The woodchip had to be barrowed down the steps (a two person job) before it could be raked onto the path and then returned up the hill to refill. There was a incredible amount of chip to spread so we resolved to spread a nice thick, spongy layer, to try and get through it all. Tommy, Willie and Sarah made a cracking job of this, well done guys!
First part of the information board task, was waiting for it to arrive! It was sufficiently big that it would not have fitted in our trailer – so the rangers had to bring it along in theirs. The area was cleared of vegetation, William and Dave started to remove the old board (by any means possible as it turned out!) and Alan and Chris started digging the ‘holes’ for the new board. By lunchtime it was coming apparent that someone was either a) going to fall into one of the new holes – and ending up in the southern hemisphere or finding white rabbits- (bets were on Alan); or b) fall down the steep slope behind the main workings which was filled with nettles and thistles and brambles and all manner of other prickly things (bets were on Dave for this one).
Lunch came with butterfly hunts – involving sitting in the sun for 15 minutes (which proved popular for some reason) and spotting butterflies. At first there were only two , which were constantly getting counted, and then gradually more came out with the sun. Cakes were provided by Neasa – partially to make up for last week’s mishap, but also because its her last day with us for a while (sniff!) as she going off to be a postie (you are welcome to borrow a barrow anytime!). By half past two, the old board was out (hurrah!), the new board was in (hurrah!), the path was cleared of weeds and sporting a thick carpet of woodchips (hurrah!), and thus the nature walk began…………..Many new trees were discovered. And some new plants.Some were revisited. Including the small, pink, five petalled flower that sometimes has reddish leaves and is named after someone……any guesses???? Come on Willie!!!
So we finished up there as we had run out of water. All back in the bus with many a new suntan and (for me) a nice burnt neck…. ah well……
Thursday
Ok Phil and I were not out, however, I will try my best to portray the day to you. The tasks for today were to install two huge signs at Colinton Dells. The day began going to Hermitage of Braid to pick up the signs then onto Colinton Dells to split the team into two to install the signs at the different sights. I maybe should mention that it was a tiny bit torrential rain on Thursday…which may have made making cement a wee bit difficult…but that did not deter the groups and they battled on through the weather…The signs were a wee bit on the larger side than we are normally used to, so holes had to be dug to great depths…which a dog may or may not have fallen in to…and then the signs slid in effortlessly. All in all a great days work especially because of the weather.
To view photos of past and present projects and our volunteers in action please click here