Area E done

 Mother’s Day or not, on a gloriously bright and mild morning 16 of us convened at the part of the Common so prosaically known as Area E to complete the removal of previously cut reeds. It really did feel to be an honour to be there in such perfect conditions, and the mood was very light-hearted (as it usually is anyway).

In no time at all (or so it seemed to your usual correspondent, who arrived fashionably on time, and thus some 15 minutes later than the extra-keen ones) sheets had been laid out and pitchforks were put to use tossing the fallen reeds onto them.

It’s all very well piling stuff onto sheets, but someone has to winch those sheets to the chosen dump site. This is something that entails thought, planning and indeed consideration. Or, to put it another way, holding what looks much like a mother’s meeting – which is appropriate considering what day it was.

Having chosen the spot, the winch crew set to work with pitchforks of their own to create a nice level playing field by flattening out the previous session’s pile.

Here we see two crack winchers poised to guide the sheet over the boardwalk. Note multi-talented Noel practising his ballet pose at the same time!

Pulling a drag sheet, hauling on it to steer it when necessary and turning it over at the dump site is excellent exercise for almost all, but this attendee was perhaps too small to pull.

Although the reeds had been lying around for a couple of weeks, they were reasonably dry and mercifully light. Therefore, fairly large heaps could be loaded onto the drag sheets without too many howls of protest from the other end of the rope.

Happily, the Common is relatively free from litter, but not everyone takes their empties home.

After a clear night it was cold first thing, meaning warm jackets were the order of the day, but following Team Leader Margaret’s early lead, plenty of others soon felt the need to strip off – availing themselves of the natural coat-hooks so helpfully arranged. 

Being always the optimist, I had thought that we might even be finished after an hour’s work, but in the event I was wrong – yes, that can happen! And so it was that my whistle was called for to summon our forces to the half-time break. Today’s nourishment came from scrumptious chocolate chip cookies.

At this point it is traditional to show Noel taking his ease: here he is in his seat of choice. To be fair, a wheelbarrow is the only seat available at that location.

Last time the winch team apparently complained that in the absence of your correspondent it was unusually quiet there. Coincidence or not, today the aforementioned Noel was back on song, giving us renditions of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day, Nina Simone’s Feeling good, The Temptations Ball of Confusion (brought on by the amount of end-of-season confusion some were experiencing in handling the drag sheets), and Edwin Starr’s War – as a nod to the ongoing geopolitical shambles.

By the end of the session it was satisfying to survey the scene and realise that, as they say round here, “The job’s a good ‘un.”

We’ve mentioned before the specialised task that is sheet folding at the end of each session, and here we see the two prime exponents of the art. It’s why they’re Team Leaders.

Here’s how the area looked when we finished.

The winch is our friend, but sometimes it’s hard to think the same way about the rope. As we’ve illustrated often before, it likes nothing better than to twist itself into knots, encouraged no doubt by the fact that it is tightly wound round the capstan wheel on the beloved winch. Today, fortunately at the end of the session, it contrived to seize the machine up, requiring the collected brawn, brains and Allen keys of the winch team to un-seize it. For all I know, they’re still there, but lunch was calling…

At this point I spotted Andrew away off on his own at the edge of Bradfield Road, using a spade to vigorous effect in clearing a ditch, gully or channel – call it what you will.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s back from work we go, surprisingly neatly spaced out.

Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks:

A huge thank you to you all particularly the 16 wonderful folk who came today. Despite it being Mother’s Day.  It amazes us how even when the usual suspects are playing hooky we still manage to get 16 volunteers. Thank you all.

We have now completed the cutting and raking on the SSSI and very good it looks too. Keep a watch for the orchids, cotton grass and fritillaria to mention just a few which will be flowering in the months ahead thanks to your dedication. Duncan would have me list the birds as well...Do check his blog, it has new features. Thank you Duncan for your hard work on this, keeping us entertained.

In two weeks’ time we are going to cut and rake the grass in School Meadow. We are going to try something new this year. The Bracken is becoming rather dominant and from somewhere we have learnt that if you bruise bracken it self-destructs, so this year we will cut it down and then over the growing months we will ask for volunteers to help trample the area. This will have to be repeated over many years. Thanks in advance if you can help. We will not be cutting scrub as the birds are beginning to nest.

Thank you for your time and good humour that you have shared over the winter and hopefully see you soon.

Margaret for the team leaders

 

The snowdrops are now finished, but the lessercelandines are out everywhere you go. I see from the book I mentioned in the previous post that our old friend Gilbert White mentioned them in his journal for 1781, using their old country name of ‘pile-wort’. It seems that back then “bathed with the juice (from the roots of the plant) mixed with wine, or the sick man’s urine…” bingo! the offending piles were sorted out. (I think I would take the wine option.)

As well as fully wild celandines, cultivated daffodils are flowering everywhere too, including here beside the Bradfield Road spur of the boardwalk, where they are filling in after the snowdrops have called it a day.

In bird news, it’s great to report that a Cetti’s warbler has turned up close to School Common, and its explosive song can sometimes be heard near the junction of Bramble Lane and Chapel Road. The sightings whiteboard also reveals that it has been heard along Fox’s Beck, so let’s hope it stays to breed. The far more common chiffchaff has now arrived back here in good numbers, and its tell-tale song is very evident, along with great tits, robins and wrens. A raptor graced our efforts today with its presence in a nearby tree, and after some debate about the perhaps more exciting options it was decided that it was probably a female kestrel.

Some say that envy is a deadly sin, but surely it is understandable when you learn that your friends have been honoured by having long-tailed tits nest-building in their “garden adjacent common”? As the photo (carefully taken when the birds weren’t there) shows, their nest is a thing of beauty and wonder, constructed with moss, lichen and cobwebs.

A few days ago NWT staff replaced the roof on the Information Point on Lower Street. This very welcome repair will mean that visitors and our notices can be protected from the rain again. Along with some recent chain-saw work, it’s great to see that our little reserve gets frequent attention from the Trust.