A Tale of Two Teams

 

Last week I mentioned the unusually late but excellent number of Glow-worms still active on The Common. To my shame, although I have long been aware of their presence, I have never made it down there at night to see them for myself. So I have now put that right; on two consecutive nights running I went across the boardwalk after dark, at about 8.30 p.m. The conditions were presumably ideal; the moon had already set, the sky was cloudless, and the temperature reasonably warm, with only a slight breeze. When I first saw a little glow that lasted for a few seconds before fading to black again, I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks, as I had only just switched off my torch – not really wanting to fall off the boardwalk. But as my eyes/brain became attuned to the darkness I realised that there were little earth-bound stars everywhere, mirroring the spectacle above. I wasn’t inclined to count them, but at a guess I must have seen around 40-50 of these lovelorn lady beetles – wonderful!

 

Not being available for the working party today, once again Team Leader Julie has done the blogging honours. At this rate, she will get the title of “Your usual correspondent.”

 

During the week we had been given the go ahead by NWT to continue with working parties of up to ten people in one area - exempt from the ‘rule of six’ due to the fact that we are working in a voluntary capacity for a charitable organisation. So on Saturday, the proposed winching site on Area G/E was cleared and prepared and the reed was cut. The Michaelmas daisies on Area A were also cut. The only fly in the ointment was the punctures to wheelbarrow wheels.  One trusty volunteer was wielding a spanner on one of the barrows when he became aware of a presence behind him...he turned to see three alpacas scrutinising his efforts! A missed photo opportunity I fear!! They have obviously swapped their Sunday stroll for a Saturday one.... perhaps they are camera shy.

On Sunday morning we all arrived on site in glorious sunshine. As is the norm the team leaders took the required equipment to the ‘sites’....plural as the team leaders had received enough requests to volunteer to have twelve people in total, so had decided to split into two teams. Eight were to clear reed and scrub on the central area near the ‘Chadwick bench’ utilising the winch, and four were to clear the cut Michaelmas daisies near Warren Road hand pulling the old yellow sheets.

The old yellow sheets have not seen any action for some time and are pictured here ready for action.

Soon we were underway on both sites.

...raking the reed on to sheets on the central area

....clearing scrub on the central area.

 ...and clearing cut daisies and reed on the Warren Road site.

By the time we broke for a drinks break halfway through the session it was very warm - it felt more like July than September. We were all ready for a drink. I am beginning to suspect there is a refreshment competition now underway....some of us had our trusty water bottles...others had flasks of coffee and some stood munching cake! 

Replenished, we set to work again. There still seemed to be an awful lot of reed yet to be cleared....I think we learnt a lesson today that the magic number of ten people is the ideal for clearing the areas we tackle in a day. With four people on the daisy area and eight on the central area we all had a tough session.

But we put our backs into it and got the job done...

We had to chuckle as calls of “it’s out” were heard...apparently it was just that the reed was out of the sheet!

A little over our normal time slot, we got the sheets folded and packed up for the day.

An excellent job done on both areas ... 

...and a reminder that when we keep the reed controlled, beauties like these can flourish...

Here is Julie's message of thanks, on behalf of the Team Leaders:

Dear Volunteers

We had confirmation from NWT on Thursday that we could carry on working with our groups of 10 volunteers. We are exempt from the "rule of six" as it is 'for work, and voluntary or charitable services'. This was great news for us.

So, we were able to run our work party today in the glorious sunshine. It felt like a mid summer's day.  We had 12 keen volunteers today, so we made the decision to go ahead with this number and split into two totally separate groups with the main group of eight shifting reed and clearing scrub on the area by the Chadwick Bench and four people clearing Michaelmas Daisies on the area near Warren Road. With hindsight this was probably a mistake as it was very hard work for both groups!  

So this is a massive thank you for the amazing effort put in by both teams - as  we managed to clear both areas...a stunning success. We have decided though that we need to learn from today and keep to the magic number of ten volunteers on one site going forward to keep it manageable and enjoyable for all. (We can still manage 12, if people are keen to join in, by taking two people off to brush cutter and tidy the edges of the boardwalk).  

We will be running our final September work party next Sunday. The pressure to cut the fen and clear the Michaelmas daisies before the end of the month will then be lifted as NWT will have to clear any remaining areas before the last day of September. We can then get back to a more relaxed approach clearing scrub and tidying boardwalk edges throughout October and November.

One further thing to say is that someone left some very good gloves on the bench - they are large gloves with a camouflage finish to the top.  If you recognise these as yours - they are safe in the container. You can either collect them when you next volunteer, or if you need them sooner than this then please make contact with Margaret Dowland or reply to this email and we can arrange for someone to get them for you. 

Many thanks again to today's volunteers.  We hope you all stay safe and well.

Regards, Julie (for the Team leaders)