Easter camping trip

We bought a new tent last weekend! The old one sleeps 8, so takes so long to put up that it's not really worth it for one night, so we thought we should have a smaller one as well. As there was a bank holiday, it seemed like a good time to test it out in the woods:
We were blessed with beautiful weather, and it was nice to be up there to prepare some fuel and cook dinner:
There was a great sunset to photograph as we walked along the wayleave to see the work that's been going on in other parts of the wood over the winter.
Then it was back to the camp and time to build the fire up a bit:
As it was a clear night I tried taking a photo of the stars with my camera on a tripod, which worked OK:
but what turned out to be more interesting was the faintly lit clouds, which you couldn't see with the naked eye:
Or, seeing as it was a long exposure, the same view but using a torch to light up the trees:
With a clear sky, the night was cold, and we've decided we need better sleeping bags for this time of year! Still, it was great to wake up in the wood, and when I crawled out of the tent at 6:30am I saw a pair of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers in the oak above me. The light was pretty poor, but I just about managed to get a photo of one of them:
then it was time for a cooked breakfast, which always tastes better when cooked over wood, of course!
and also time to hang out the bedding to air. We were really glad we'd had our bivvy bags over the sleeping bags, it would have been much too cold to sleep otherwise.
We saw plenty of wildlife while we were up there, such as this Sparrow and Chaffinch at the top of Sweep Wood (they're not found deeper inside the wood):
and there are lots of insects out as well; we were pleased to see bees enjoying the wood anemones:
The buds on the trees were developing really well now, here's the Chestnut:
Hornbeam:
Hazel:
Ash (at the top of the tree):
At the top of a large hornbeam, the leaves were much further on:
as are Sycamore saplings:
and Hawthorn:
There's also some nice blossom on the "mystery" plum tree in Sweep Wood:
Down at ground level, things are beginning to grow again:
and the wood anemone blossom is spreading:
Brambles are pushing out new leaves:
and a gorse bush in the wayleave is in flower:
There are of course some unwanted plants, such as the dreaded rhododendron, which can take over entire woodlands if left unchecked:
So we dealt with a few of them with a chainsaw!
After that we dug the roots up too, and placed them where they could not re-root. There's still some more to do, which we hope to get to in the next few weeks.

Thanks all for now,
Mike

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Signs of Spring

Here's some assorted photos taken over the past couple of weeks, showing the Spring is finally arriving - a few weeks later than last year!

Two weeks ago the wood anemones were just raising their heads:
They're out now, and if we go up to the wood this weekend I'll get some photos.

Other flowers are coming out too. Over in Sweep Wood Tracy saw Daffodils and Lesser Celandine:
the snowdrops, however, have finished now, and are heavily laden with seed pods:
Buds are coming out on the trees now. Last week the chestnut buds were starting to split and show a hint of green:
and the same is happening to our fruit trees:
and also the mystery plum tree in Sweep Wood:
We were pleased to see that at least some of the sheltered oak seedlings have got through the winter as well - you can just about see the buds at the bottom of this shelter:
The bramble and nettles are getting going
and the whole wood is looking generally green:
There's a lot of wildlife activity too, especially male pheasants making themselves heard (and seen):
and some active digging at a badger sett in Sweep Wood:
Hopefully we'll have some more springtime pictures for you in the next couple of days...

Mike

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Engineers Without Borders build us a bridge!

Last weekend a group of students and graduates from Engineers Without Borders (who I know through my work at the Ashden Awards) came and camped in our wood, the aim being to have a bit of fun, do some team-building and build a bridge. Being engineers, they didn't just bring a normal tent - they had a geodesic dome they'd built themselves!
Here it is with the cover off:
They did have a couple of more conventional tents as well:
Anyway, like any camping trip a lot of time was just doing stuff like cooking:
and trying out new tools:
So, the bridge.... Well, here's the original bridge (over in Sweep Wood), which could only take one person at a time, and you had to be pretty steady on your feet!
We built this bridge about 18 months ago, but never really did enough to make it very good.

The engineers got to work testing scale models for a new one, some of which did not exactly inspire confidence!
But not to worry, designs were adapted for the types of wood and tools available, and we all set off back to the stream. A couple of chestnut stems were selected to provide 5m straight logs, and I felled them with the chainsaw. The nice bit was I didn't have to carry them anywhere, as I had a whole team of willing engineers! :-) They were soon installed across the stream:
Then posts were driven into the ground to secure them:
Someone came up with the idea of using split pieces of chestnut to make rungs:
and by the end of the first day the bridge was in a state to walk on, although not finished. Also, unlike the old bridge, it could take more than one person at a time:
The next day saw a lot of drilling and nailing of the rungs:
and by that afternoon the bridge was done, with the added feature of hand rails at two different heights!
I ran over some of the rungs with the chainsaw to roughen the surface so it doesn't get slippery in the rain:
and then everything was done.

I'm told everyone had a great weekend, and I'd like to thank everyone who came, and EWB-UK, for all their hard work! Some people worked so hard they fell asleep at lunchtime. Or perhaps that was to do with beer round the campfire the night before?
Mike

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