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Wildlife Diary and News Blog 2009 - notes from a small wood Observations from Groves Bank, Groves Dyke and Groves Coppice, Whitby, England.
(Always click 'Refresh' for the most recent version, then scroll down): 03 Jul 2009 SA removed more anti-Roe Deer binder twine fence and carried out some high pruning with the pole saw on the Scots Pine overhanging the East Hazel Coppice. After lunch BC and I helped to pollard a few more singled Hazels, make a few more pegs and peg out a few more 'octopuses' of layered Hazel rods. By 3 o'clocks we were able to carry down some more cordwood to add to the West Cord, for burning in the winter of 2010/11. Hey ho, another season has arrived. 02 Jul 2009 Afternoon tea at Falling Foss Tea Gardens, if only to cool the poor panting dog in the beck. As I left the car park, my car was showing a temperature of 28°C, even on the open road. Phew, wot a scorcher! 01 Jul 2009 The heat wave continues but SA not only moved all the redundant posts and wire, collected just west of the top bridge, to the path - but then carried them all down to the temporary 'depot' by Bruno's Banisters. After lunch and joined by BC (freshly returned from Tuscany which wasn't as hot as Whitby) we removed the binder twine from part of the East Hazel Coppice and pollarded a couple of the Hazels which we singled earlier this year. Now that we are into July and a new woodcutting season, we started a brand new ancient tradition which we had just invented of adding the first piece of cordwood to the empty (west) cord frame in the woodyard. The lop and top provided enough natural pegs to layer the Hazel rods from around the polled Hazels, creating another couple of 'octopuses' which will hopefully grow into yet more Hazel stools and extend the coppice. Next time we will also examine the Hazel octopuses created this spring in the West Coppice, to see if each tentacle is ready to be severed to create new Hazel plants. The short lengths of salvaged Pignet fencing from the redundant fence will be used to create little independent ring fences for each new Hazel. Gallons of cool squash and Magnums to help us all recover, and then I was off to Homebase to buy some more subsidised rolls of loft insulation to ensure even warmer and cheaper winters to come. 29 Jun 2009 The grey overcast mizzly weather suddenly cleared this morning and the sun shone and the temperature rose and rose. Just right for SA to carry a few more redundant fence posts towards the path, and for me to cut the other half of the grass. SA measured it all out and we have just completed 125 yards of fencing in the past couple of months. After lunch BC, just returned from cool Italy, joined in and we carried everything either down to Bruno's Depot, or down to the East Coppice. Including even more bits of nasty, rusty old barbed wire. Hot! Strawberries and cream, followed by Magnums. 27 Jun 2009 Decided to pull the wasps' nest down from the ceiling of the pole barn, once they were all safely asleep. This took several attempts with a torch in one hand and a hook on the end of a very long pole, and a lot of high speed sprinting in the pitch dark. After every attempt the wasps seemed to get very annoyed (can't imagine why, I only wanted to kill them) so I would retreat to watch a bit more of Bruce Springsteen live at Glastonbury until they calmed down again. Excellent. Eventually, well after midnight, I got the nest down on the ground, out from under the barn and set alight. That really annoyed them! But Bruce Springsteen was excellent. 26 Jun 2009 The wet drizzle began in earnest as SA finished digging out the lower strands of the last bit of redundant fence. By the time he had removed the staples and lifted the final final final posts and strainer to the side of the path, it was raining had enough to stop play. Still, it is Glastonbury this weekend, so what can we expect? After lunch we walked the dogs and then packed up. I took a car load of very old and very rusty and very nasty barbed wire to the recycling centre in Whitby, and then called it a day. Popped into Homebase next to the recycling centre and discovered their special offer on big rolls of loft insulation made from old plastic bottles, at a subsidised price of £5 per rolls (8 sq m each). Only until 06 July and they may restrict the number of rolls per customer. I think I might invest in enough to double the 6 inches already in both lofts. The current recommendation is loft insulation 10 inches deep, but then it was only 4 inches when I put down the 6 inches 'way back in 1990ish. Energy prices are only going to rise, so you can be sure that in another few years the government will be recommending far more than the current 10 inches. NB: Before you spend your own money, track down your nearest government funded Energy Efficiency Centre in your Phone Book and check if you can get a grant to have it fitted for you, hopefully for free. Also check your gas / leccy supplier, as they may have a free scheme. I don't qualify for anything, so I'm prepared to DIY it. Again. 24 Jun 2009 SA carried on removing staples from the redundant fence just NW of the top bridge. His big tub of thrice re-used staples was quite depleted by all the new fencing we put up over the last couple of months, but now that that is all complete, and the redundant fence is coming down, the big tub of staples is almost full again! Still hot and sunny, but at least we were were working under the mature hedgerow trees so we were in the shade. Several more creosoted posts were removed and stacked nearer the path, as well as a big creosoted strainer post and its long prop. We reckon we now have enough ex-fence posts to extend both the east and the west cords, by another cord each. That should cope with my woodburner, BC's woodburner and SA's new woodburning stove which he plans to install this autumn. 23 Jun 2009 A perfect hot and sunny morning to enjoy a cool walk in the woods and then read the Whitby Gazette over a very leisurely coffee and scone at Falling Foss Tea Garden - followed by lunch there, too. An appeal: Some strange person has made an official complaint against Falling Foss Tea Garden to the Planning Department of the North York Moors National Park, who are now obliged to take the whole thing through all the official channels and decide if the wood and canvas yurt and the small wooden roof over 2 picnic tables 'should be given planning permission'. If, like me, you think they should be, then please email me your Letters of Support for Falling Foss Tea Gardens. Just use the Contact button above and I will print them all off and give them to the nice couple with the young family who live there, who run the Tea Gardens so well and who have brought that delightful beauty spot back to life so lovingly. Thank-you. After lunch and in the full burning sun, I decided to catch up with half of the lawns. Daft idea, but I dunnit! 22 Jun 2009 Office morning and 2 meetings in the afternoon. SA got on with something useful, removing more staples from the redundant fence ready to take it all away and re-use the strainers and posts to extend both the east and west cord frames by yet another cord. 19 Jun 2009 SA dismantled still more of the redundant fence and added more staples to the new one. After lunch I joined in and we added a strand of plain (bull) wire along the top of the entire length of our new fence (some 120 yards in all). Showery. 18 Jun 2009 Spent the morning with T&C and Flag at Runswick Bay. We all had a great time on the beach (especially Flag) but we cut short his mad galloping and went for a coffee before he overdid himself. Or us. T dedicated himself to sorting out the electronic magic of my new weather station and had a far more successful time than I did. We now know the indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity, the atmospheric pressure and its trending, the wind speed and the rainfall. Wow! Is that why my brain hurts? But it is very hypnotic! 17 Jun 2009 SA worked on the old fence, while T&C and I sloped off to discover the RSPB's new nature reserve at Saltholme on the North Tees marshes. Just an hour away, through Middlesbrough, across the famous Transporter Bridge, turn right at the main road and there it is: superb new eco building, with a rammed earth heatsink as its core, glass walls overlooking the scrape and a very nice cafe upstairs. The paths encircle the main lake, with 2 superb hides and a schools' Wildlife Watch Point (ie a hide). Lots of Swift, Gadwall, Greylag and Canada Geese (hope they add Goose to the menu soon), etc - not to mention 3 Little Egrets, 1 Greenshank and 1 very still Hare just beside the path. Well done to the RSPB! 16 Jun 2009 Off to Runswick Bay for Flag's first walk on a beach for well over a year. We kept it short to make sure he didn't wear out his newly recovered joints. After a coffee in the sun, we explored the lovely old village - which left the camera-less T&C very frustrated. I think we will be coming again soon... 15 Jun 2009 This morning SA and I dug the tannalised (reused) strainer post into the beck, ready to complete the new fence today. After lunch we were joined by BC and we all worked long and hard. By late afternoon the new fence along the original boundary was complete (just a few more staples needed here and there. and a top strand of bull wire). Phew! T&C went to the RSPB reserve at Bempton (c40 miles south) and came back with some superb photos of Puffin and Gannet. 14 Jun 2009 T&C staying this week, so we had a lovely stroll to Falling Foss Tea Gardens for a coffee and scone. I think they have been convinced! 12 Jun 2009 Today the summer weather has returned again, for the 4th attempt so far this year. Lovely warm, dry and sunny day. SA prepared a small and perfectly square hole some 2 feet deep, ready for the new tannalised post for the new electronic met station on my dog lawn. Before we plant it, he suggested that it might be wise to check the range for the wireless read-out station, just in case... After lunch BC and I joined in and we spent all afternoon sealing off the Eastern end of the Gaza Strip with a 48 foot length of spare pignet, leaving a 6 foot gap to infill with another remnant. We also started to un-nail and roll up the redundant pignet fence, giving us the opportunity to lift and reuse the 8 foot tannalised strainer post as well, all some 25 years old. How to life a 8 inch diameter, 8 foot long strainer post straight out of the ground, when over 2 feet of it have been buried for over 2 decades? Simple: swing a pick to fix one end into the strainer just above ground level, then lever it up and out of the ground (several bites required). And it works - brilliant! We carried the strainer and its 2 props across to the boundary fence line, as we will need to set it into the bed of the beck which runs down through the wood and across my garden. With the orange tree marker aerosol (for marking orange trees?) we circled all the bits of ancient and rusty barbed wire which have since grown deep into the tree trunks along the boundary line, just to highlight their existence should a boundary dispute ever arise, and also to warn any future chainsaw user that danger lies within. 10 Jun 2009 The forecast was to be 'dry this morning and showery this afternoon'. Unfortunately, it was correct. In the morning SA drilled the new post for the met station and removed staples from several more posts in the soon to be redundant Northern fence line. After lunch BC and I joined in by securing the Eastern end of the Gaza Strip with a few more fence posts, ready to swing the old pignet across to the boundary line. Also a few more posts at the Western end, ready for the next stretch of boundary fence. 08 Jun 2009 We all spent the afternoon in the conservatory helping to create a new voluntary organisation to maintain all the local footpaths. 05 Jun 2009 SA patrolled the wood this morning. Wet afternoon, so not much else today. 03 Jun 2009 Cooler today, so after lunch BC and I moved the string along to set the line for the next section of North boundary fence, and then used the big iron bar to put in half a dozen or more post holes ready for next time. 02 Jun 2009 Morning coffee in the coolth of Falling Foss woods. Whitby in the afternoon. Penny Hedge still standing. Church Street still very hot and busy. Discovered 'Marie Antoinette - let them eat cake' teashop and I obediently followed her instructions. Lovely! 01 Jun 2009 Still TDH, so I cut half the grass while BC was on another Strenuous Walk. We spent the afternoon at a nearby Open Garden, enjoying strawberry tarts and coffee. 29 May 2009 TDH, for the first time this year. After a late swim (that silly school holiday timetable is still operating) and a late lunch and a late dog walk, BC and I agreed it was TDH for any fencing, so we gave the Twigwam a bit of a trim instead. For those who may have forgotten what summer weather is like, TDH means Too Damn Hot! 28 May 09 A lovely summery walk with Flag at Falling Foss Woods, complete with elevenses at the tea gardens. Yes, morning coffee and freshly home baked scone and real butter and jam. Then back to Groves Bank for lunch and a full afternoon of office work. Interrupted only by Flag's barking from the back yard, where a fine young Roe buck strolled out of the wood, down the path, paused dramatically under the Willow archway and then strolled casually across the woodyard and away. The poor frustrated staghound just stood and watched and barked, but it was a very welcome break for the computer operative. 27 May 2009 BC and I worked after lunch to clear the sides of a couple of Hazel trees growing on the boundary line, made 3 more post holes and hammered in 3 more 25-year old tannalised posts to continue the boundary fence. Showery this morning, but dry again by afternoon. 25 May 2009 Today we three Bank Voles (SA, BC and I) had a full day's fencing, completed 50 metres of brand new pignet (now called Rylock) fence on 10 brand new tannalised posts as well as 2 of the original boundary line posts (8 x 4 inch), all using already twice-reused Quantock staples and my ancient monkey tightner. On the hottest, sunniest day of the year we hammered 10 big stobs into previously barred holes along the line of a very tumbled-down dry stone wall and trimmed-up the lower branches of occasional hedge-line Hawthorns and Elders, all done by lunch time. After lunch we rolled out the pignet, trampled flat the original and long useless pignet (as evidence of the original top boundary line, if ever required), put our new pignet on top, nailed one end to the top neighbour's new bottom strainer and wrapped the far end around the North side of the big Ash tree and strained it to the next Hawthorn. It's been 25 years since I used the ancient monkey strainer and it seems to have forgotten what it's supposed to do and how to do it. After a bit of messing about, we all got the hang of it again, tightened the new fence very respectably and nailed it home. Not a loose monkey in sight! Then for the last half hour we unrolled a goodly length of redundant pignet taken from the NW corner job last week, and used it to make a temporary cross fence from the big Ash tree to the strainer on the soon-to-be-redundant shortcut fence which Anthea and I had put in about 1984/5. A couple of 25-year old fence stobs were borrowed from this fence to hold up the new temp one, thus keeping the wood stockproof on our next fencing day when we finally remove the 25-year old fence and reuse it to extend today's new 50 metre fence further along the Northern boundary to the beck and across it to join up with the fence on the other side. Follow? Back to the conservatory for very well earned 4 o'clocks of ice cream and lots and lots of cold drinks. It had to be ice cream because the mini-Battenbergs had melted in the heat. 22 May 2009 I think I've missed a day... I wonder what we did and where it went? 20 May 2009 Warm & sunny again. SA prepared more fencing. After lunch BC & I joined in and made lots of post holes for the next length of fencing. Heavens opened after we got back for half past three o'clocks, but only briefly. 18 May 2009 While BC was having a day out at the Breezy Knees garden (what a wonderful name!), SA prepared more fencing while I mowed half the grass. After lunch we nailed the re-used pignet to the line of re-used posts, using re-used staples, and completed the top of the western boundary fence. Once back in the conservatory for well-earned half past 3 o'clocks, the heavens opened for a downpour that not even the big old Holly tree would have protected us from! Now that we have sorted out the Western boundary fence, all we have to do is put the Northern fence back onto it's proper boundary line, as well... 15 May 2009 Wet, wet, wet this morning so nothing happened. This is the first proper rain for many weeks and the cracked ground is drinking it up. After lunch we walked the dogs and then BC suggested it was ideal for low fire risk bonfires. Brilliant! We all burned away the one in the woodyard, and then the same again with the newest one in Dyke orchard. The other, older, bigger one will need even more rain than this. 14 May 2009 First House Martin back at the usual nest site on Groves Dyke. Looks like just one pair again this year. 13 May 2009 After a late lunch SA and I showed BC our recent bit of mountaineering and the resulting steep, diagonal fencing, then we all went to look at the next section of fencing after this one is completed. After making a plan of attack ('This is my plan of attack.' 'It looks like a nail.' 'No, it's a tack!' Goons, 1950s), we set off to Victoria Farm Garden Centre for 3 o'clocks, followed by buying a nice, new 8 foot long, 4 x 4 inch tannalised fence post for my new met station on my back lawn. It will be delivered later today, together with the dismantled 'goal posts' from the feeding station which they kindly allowed us to put up a couple of years ago. Bird numbers have always been low as their new hedge becomes established, so we took down the hanging feeders but left the feeding shelves on the top fence rail and also a mesh feeding tray on top of a fence post. First Swallow this morning, sitting on the phone wire above the woodyard. Others have been in the area for several weeks, but this is the first one in my garden and airspace. 11 May 2009 SR called and helped SA and me sort out Parliament and its greedy inhabitants. So that's the bankers, the regulators and the MPs who are all involved in reckless greed and getting themselves even richer at our expense. So where will youngsters find a decent role model these days? Football, perhaps? No, I don't think so. As we sat in the conservatory and put the world to rights, a male Sparrowhawk dashed into the bush below the feeding station, grabbed a small bird and flew off with it, all over and done with in less than 2 seconds. Is that what the fat cats in The City call a 'dawn raid'? After lunch SA and I got stuck into the most tricky bit of the new fence, the steep slope down from the Northern boundary fence to the first half-strainer which we dug in downslope. It took a couple of long fencing rails set horizontally between them (from the bottom of the upper post to near the top of the lower post), as well as a 6 foot length of pignet nailed almost diagonally between them, and an awful lot of bad language on my part, to get the job done. 09 May 2009 More dusting, hoovering and touching up the paintwork ready for this afternoon's arrivals. 08 May 2009 SA used the untangled binder twine to set up a line from the uppermost end strainer post on the 1983/4 Western fence, up along the newly cleared Blackthorn spiney, to an existing post on the recently erected Northern boundary fence. After lunch BC and I helped him carry the recovered tannalised posts (now c25 years old) across from the redundant fence line. Then we hammered them into the soft ground (a ditch?) leaving room to lay the Western boundary 'hedge' at the back end of this year. By 3 o'clocks we had got nearly 20 posts all ready in a straight line, while SA freed the c25 year old galvanised pig netting ready to be reused as the Western boundary fence next time. Windy but warm, dry and sunny. The nice new shower door has been fitted and tidying up has begin in the hall as well. Furniture has been reassembled, paintings re-hung in their proper places and yet more hoovering and dusting, with just a little more painting here and there. 07 May 2009 The new dining room carpet went down today, now that the extra under floor pipework for the new radiator is in and the now redundant hearth slab is out. Lots more hoovering, dusting, painting and replacing furniture in the right rooms. The old fawlty door of the shower has gone and the inside panels properly cleaned down. 06 May 2009 While SA has a day off (!), BC and I spent the afternoon dismantling the fallen Apple tree. We used the 2-wo/man cross-cut saw and it was all done, dusted and carried to the pole barn by 3 o'clocks. 05 May 2009 Hoovering with Tyson the Dyson this morning, followed by dusting and painting. The gas inspector came and approved all the new central heating arrangements. The gas back boiler (c60% efficient) and open gas fire (c50% efficient) in the dining room have been removed (making the room seem much larger) and replaced with a brand new gas condensing boiler (97% efficient) in the loft. This now runs the full gas central heating and also the hot water, but all still preheated by the solar panels. The two medium sized hot tanks in the loft have been removed and replaced with a single, much bigger and more energy efficient hot tank with solar coil, new gas boiler coil and immersion heater all built in. An extra radiator has been fitted in the dining room, on the other side of the brick kitchen divider so that several cubic feet of solid brick is warmed on either side by the 2 radiators and will act as a long term storage heater, continuing to radiate heat for many hours after the central heating has stopped. 04 May 2009 SA continued working his way up along the missing hedge / fence line to the very top, where the top neighbour's new fence runs across the top of my wood (Western half only, so far). There is even a bundle of ancient split chestnut paling lying in the ditch where the hedge ought to be. I cut just over half the grass, the first time in 2 weeks. After lunch and joined by BC we all carried on working our way along the missing fence line, getting a clear and straight run from the last straining post (from 1983/4) right the way up to the new top fence. Just a bit more rusty barbed wire to remove for safety, leaving about 3 inches sticking out either side of any tree trunk that has grown around it. That way, anyone using a chainsaw in years to come will know to be careful of barbed wire within the tree. Cool, cloudy, NW wind and rain forecast for later. 02 May 2009 Spent this morning cleaning Groves Dyke Holiday Cottage and got two loads of laundry on the lines. Lovely lunch at Falling Foss followed by a short walk, and poor Flag is flaked-out. More pottering about and treating the exposed floorboards in the dining room. A Goldfinch paused briefly at the feeding station, the first I've seen here for many a month. So how come some lucky people have them all the time, huh? No, it's not feeding Niger seed, 'cos I did and nobody ate it! 01 May 2009 SA continued removing rusty barbed wire, etc from the old fence line, once a way through had been achieved. After lunch BC and I joined in, creating a couple of future bonfire heaps as we cleared a line through the Blackthorn spiney. Any trees growing along the proper hedge line have been left, so that this winter we can do some proper hedge laying within the new fence. Solarec Ltd all finished and cleared away this afternoon. Just the gas safety check planned for early next week, the new shower door, etc - not to mention lots more dusting, some painting and the new dining room carpet laying. Then more dusting before preparing for the next guests in a week's time. 30 April 2009 Warm, dry and very pleasant day with some rain forecast for late afternoon. SA measured up the missing length of fence in the NW corner, and found that the redundant fence we have just removed is more than adequate. By carefully removing the staples from the tannalised posts, and the posts from the ground, we have no need to buy any more fencing.. After lunch BC and I joined in, removing very rusty barbed wire and netting from the Blackthorn spinney which is now the missing link fence line, as well as much of the Blackthorn itself. This is certainly not the best time of year for jungle bashing, but with the top neighbour having completed the western end of the Northern boundary fence, it's an opportunity not to be delayed until winter. We are leaving a fringe of Blackthorn along the inside of the new western fence line, ready for proper seasonal hedge laying at the back end of this year. By late afternoon the Solarec team had completed their work in upgrading Groves Dyke, with the solar panels recovered in new clear plastic sheets, the new condensing gas boiler running in the loft, the new radiator in the dining room, thermostatic radiator valves all round and the central heating in full working order again. Only the gas checks to complete next week, the new shower door and the new dining room carpet to fit and then it'll be all ready for the next family at the weekend. 29 April 2009 Saw my first Swallow at Grosmont, flying low across a grass field. This afternoon an elderly Apple tree suddenly fell in the Groves Dyke orchard. It was just coming into leaf and keeled over for no apparent reason, on a calm, dry day. The base looks rotten but we'll have a proper look when we cut it up for woodturning: J&GW (from Sleights) are holding an Exhibition and Sale of Woodturning and Beaded Jewellery this Bank Holiday weekend at Sandsend Institute, 10 -4 Sat, Sun and Mon. Admission is free and a percentage of the proceeds is donated to CAFOD. 28 April 2009 Yesterday Tony's chimney sweep arrived, closely followed by SA and then by Solarec Ltd. They installed the solar hot water system some 20 years ago and now it is finally ready for some maintenance. SA got busy on the top fence, while Solarec removed the carpet and the very inefficient gas fire and gas back boiler from the dinning room and started to seal the chimney, ready for the nice new 95% efficient gas condensing boiler (which will still be pre-heated by the solar panels, as before). By this afternoon the new dinning room radiator was plumbed in, the pipe work altered, the two hot tanks removed from the loft, the chimney sealed and the scaffolding tower erected. Wow! NB: It rained nearly all day, the first decent rain in almost 2 months. 25 Apr 2009 Flag and I had a lovely walk along the newly improved Forest Enterprise paths to Falling Foss Tea Gardens, with a very artistic ham salad for lunch. A hot, dry, sunny and almost perfect day! 24 Apr 2009 SA finished clearing the Blackthorn and after lunch BC and I helped to drag out the last of the cut invaders. Then a quick chat with my top neighbour before arranging a proper site meeting for 6.30 this evening. By 3 o'clocks SA and BC had completely cleared the redundant fence line, SA ceremoniously snipped the end of the pig netting and we all rolled the fence back to the midway point. Woopee! 22 Apr 2009 SA got on with making a way through the invading Blackthorn again, to clear the redundant fence line and was later joined by BC, while I sloped off for another little dental trip. My top neighbour, by sheer coincidence, has started fencing in the fields above the wood again, so he may fence the other half of my Northern boundary as well. He is currently using at least 5 persons, 2 tractors, 2 JCBs and a quad bike, so his fencing may be a mite quicker than ours... 21 Apr 2009 I let the hot sun work its magic and then strimmed half the lawns and all of the path around the wood. Hot! 20 Apr 2009 Rotary morning and dental afternoon, while SA got on with clearing the now redundant fence line through the Blackthorn. 19 Apr 2009 The sun finally reappeared (after a week of cool, grey sea roke) at 11.45am, just in time to brighten up the Spirit of the 40s Event in Whitby. Ah! Summer has returned and it's wonderful! 17 Apr 2009 SA started removing the staples from the now-redundant top fence on Bankside while BC and I tackled the encroaching Blackthorn spiney which had invaded through the fence. After lunch SA and BC continued (I had more meetings) 15 Apr 2009 SA kept busy planning the next stage and after lunch BC and I joined in to examine the details. Whitby had a very busy Easter weekend, with over 2 miles of standing traffic backed-up out of the town centre by midday on Sunday, out past Four Lane Ends roundabout (1 mile out), all the way up the main road to Sleights roundabout (2 miles out), and past the first Aislaby turnoff (c2¼ miles), which at c350 nose to tail cars per mile = c800 cars all hoping there will be one vacant parking place by the time they finally arrive in the town centre! But if you think that is bad... At Scarborough the cars were backed up from the town centre all the way down the coast to the Filey bypass - some 10 miles of standing traffic, or c3500 cars! So just how big will the park and ride car parks have to be, exactly?? And that was on a cool, dull Easter weekend - just as well the weather wasn't any better, or there would have been several times as many cars!! Answer: come to Whitby by Network Rail train... 13 Apr 2009 SA checked the redundant fence line while I cut half the grass of both gardens, plus the lowest stretch of the path around the wood. After lunch we walked the top boundary line again and decided how best to approach the job. But first, some diplomatic consultation with my top neighbour... First Red Campion is now in flower in Bank orchard, and it looks like the Major Oak will be out before the big leaning Ash... 12 Apr 2009 There may be 2 mile queues of traffic trying to get into Whitby this weekend, but I had Glaisdale High Moor almost to myself. Male Red Grouse stood proudly by the roadside, refusing to surrender their territory to anyone. Down Caper Hill, I paused to check the 18th Century carving on a stone gatepost 'Francis Hartus to repair this yat and yat stead', a clear indication of an ancient argument about exactly whose responsibility it was to keep that particular gate and gateway in good repair! 10 Apr 2008 SA exercised Bruno around the wood this morning, counting up how many fence posts we can remove from the now-redundant top fence on Bank side, and reuse on the actual boundary line on Dyke side. After lunch we all walked up the drive, noting the first Peacock butterflies 'dancing' in the sunlight, not to mention the first Early Purple Orchid in Bank orchard. Also the first Cowslips in the wildflower bank by the steps - all 4 of them. Then we showed BC the fence to be removed, before tidying-up the young Sycamore which is too close to the woodshed, adding a little bit more to the East Cord. Followed by cold drinks in the conservatory and the first Magnum ice creams of the year. A Yaffle yaffled from the wood and a steam train steamed from the railway line below, as road traffic streamed into Whitby. 08 Apr 2009 RD called in for a chat in the conservatory, while SA and I were still on our 10 o'clocks. All is not well with the National Trust for Scotland (nor indeed any other conservation charity) now that the credit crunch is beginning to hurt. While BC, SA and RD prepared lunch, I collected IJ from 'the Royal on the hill' [Lewis Carroll] and we all had lunch together. A doggy stroll up the drive before RD set off for Inverness, DJ and Flag and I set off for a Falling Foss stroll and cream scone (each!), while SA showed BC our latest discoveries about the fencing at the top of the wood and how we might spend this summer removing the duplicate length and using it to fence the missing length along the real boundary line - before the original fence posts rot away. Then a lovely meal with IJ at The Stables Restaurant at Cross Butts, Whitby. I can thoroughly recommend the lamb shank (locally produced) on garlic mash (locally produced) with 3 veg (all locally produced, of course). The cream for the Stable's Swan Lake Profiterole may have been local, but the beautifully shaped pastry 'swans' gliding across a lake of chocolate sauce was probably more exotic - and absolutely delicious! 06 Apr 2009 SA continued to work on the West cord, replacing one of the lower uprights with a more reliable one. Then he and BC turned the bottom runners from the cord into yet more firelogs, before replacing them with nice tannalised ones. While this was going on, JM and assistant S and I located 3 suitable sites for nest boxes: one on the lowest weir on the beck (Grey Wagtails, perhaps?), one on the back of the pole barn and one just behind the Y2K statue. Then cold drinks and warm hot cross buns with runny butter for 3 o'clocks. Then, with so many hands available, I decided to move a large Irish Oak from one end of the house to the other. Two people to one side, another two on the other side and a fifth in Reserve, we manoeuvred it two-legs-first out of the old dining room with the woodburner in (which now becomes the snug) around the front of the house and in the other door two-legs-first into what used to be the lounge and has just become the new dining room. Excellent job, all I have to do now is lay it, bring the chairs in and rearrange the rest of the furniture accordingly... 04 Apr 2009 First Marsh Marigold out in my pond. SA did a lot of useful things this morning. I, on the other hand, was in another meeting. After lunch with BC and JM, we all went up the hill to split a stack of Cherry drums and logs. BC showed JM how to do properly. 31 Mar 2009 My car says it is 16°C (61°F) today, so as far as I'm concerned, anything above 15 (60) is the first day of summer. Flag and I had a lovely walk around Grosmont woods, after dropping off several boxes of the 2009 Whitby Guidebook (see www.VisitWhitby.com ) with the steam trains. Then SA and NH arrived for lunch and a quick tour of the wood. It was NH's hedge which we laid above Danby a few months ago and he reports that it is alive and well, and ready for a few dozen Hawthorn quicks to beef it up a bit. He is editor of www.eskvalley.com , a community website created to help the local community after it was devastated by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2000. 30 Mar 2009 I cut half the grass while SA completed the sawing-up and stacking of the West Cord, which is now empty. After lunch, with BC, we noticed the first Violets flowering in Bank orchard, not to mention the first Broomrape further up the drive. We snipped lots of young Hawthorn shoots from a coppiced stump, ready for NH to add as quicks to the hedge we laid near Danby. Then back up the wood to the Ash logs to split each of the two halves into thirds, before doing something similar to the Cherry logs. A Chiffchaff 'sang' throughout and Flag set about digging another hole. Calm and warm enough for cold drinks all round afterwards, so it must be nearly summer. 28 Mar 2009 Still a bit wild and windy but Flag and I had a very nice walk at Falling Foss, including a great bacon butty lunch. 27 Mar 2009 Still overcast and very windy, with a very 'bracing' blast from the North making it noticeably cooler but still dry. SA carried the sawn Oak logs (from the split fork) out of the brambles just below the Deserted Orchid patch, out onto the path. Also while the good weather lasts, he sawed still more Cherry to add to the (almost complete) double East Cord and started putting up a token deer fence around part of the East Hazel Coppice. Roe Deer have already started to flay the young Hazel rods, which we hope to layer in another few weeks, so they need some protection. After lunch BC and I joined in and added yet more token deer fences around the rest of this coppice, using the bright orange binder twine given to us as a tangled mass after a sheep had got stuck under the parked baler on the hill farm near Danby. Having used this Charlie Band (the local name for binder twine) we admired our Andy Goldsworthy-esk creation (I'm not sure he would be proud of this one) which now sub-divides the East Hazel Coppice into 3 small blocks, each too small to let a Roe Deer browse comfortably knowing that it has very little room to get up enough speed to jump out again in a hurry. Its a good theory, we'll see if it works... Then we split two more of the big Ash logs into quarters and stacked them nearby to dry out a bit before trying to carry them down to add to the East Cord. If the fencing was a bit cool, the splitting soon warmed us up again! 26 Mar 2009 First Chiffchaff singing (?) in the wood this morning. Cooler, windy and had rained overnight but now dry again. 25 Mar 2009 SA carried on with sawing the West Cord. After lunch BC and I joined in and we all sawed the split Oak limb, which we had worked on weeks ago, into manageable chunks. There is now a goodly sized bucketful of Frog Spawn in my pond. 23 Mar 2009 SA cut cordwood while I cut grass. BC arrived and we all set off for the next village of Grosmont to have a guided tour of somebody else's super little wood. 22 Mar 2009 Flag and I had a lovely walk around Falling Foss, including a nice lunch in the Tea Gardens, where much work has gone on in recent weeks to improve the paths and tables in the gardens. Of the 9 or 10 tables now available, every single table was occupied by happy, smiling people enjoying the lovely homemade food, the friendly service and the unique surroundings - certainly this is one of Whitby's hidden gems! Yet more Frogspawn and yet more lustful Frogs, with about a bucketful of spawn by late afternoon. 21 Mar 2009 The first Frogspawn in my pond appeared this morning, under a heaving mass of 20 or more Frogs. 20 Mar 2009 Cold overnight, misty this morning but then the sun burned it all away by late morning. Still only a trace of rain in the rain gauge this month. SA sawed and stacked lots of cordwood into the woodshed this morning, so only half of half a cord remains. This afternoon we all took the club hammer, wedges and safety goggles up to the felled Ash logs and set about splitting them into respectable cordwood. BC started with the thinnest log, which was supposed to be the easiest, but was also the knottiest, so turned out to be the most difficult after all. Then we all split a log each and restacked them up off the ground to dry out and lose weight for a month or two before we try to carry them down to the woodyard. Lots of cold drinks and mini Battenburgs were required to restore out equilibriums. OffDafT (the Office of Daffodil Targets) will be pleased that 90% of the small 'wild' Daffs are now flowering in Bank Orchard, while over 50% of the big tame Daffs are also flowering in the big yellow triangle by the gate (NB: I must complete and return their Reporting Form before I get fined again). A couple of Smooth Newts were seen in the pond, the Green Woodpecker Yaffled, the first Wood Anemone are flowering in Bank orchard and all's well with the world. 18 Mar 2009 The mild, dry sunny weather continues. A Grey Wagtail danced across the roof of the conservatory while I breakfasted within, then explored my pond - and it was joined by a mate! Still half a dozen Frogs in my pond, but no sign of any spawn - until CR arrived with a rescued half bucketful and tipped it in. SA carried lots of bramble and lop and top piles onto the bonfire heap in the woodyard. After lunch BC and I joined in, carrying the Hazel weaving rods around to Groves Dyke garden and weaving them into the beginnings of a dog-proof wattle fence just inside the thinnest bits of the laid hedge. 16 Mar 2009 A Sparrowhawk glided high over the wood, wheeled left a ¾ turn, glided across the lower edge of the wood, wheeled left another ¾ turn and glided back over the wood until lost behind the trees - a territorial display if ever I saw one. Another mild, dry day and no good reason not to start cutting the grass for the first time this year. The grass cutter was as reluctant as I was, but by lunchtime we had cut every other lawn, while SA re-stacked the Cherry drums and logs up off the ground, to season. After lunch we all de-brambled the rest of Groves Dyke wildflower meadow and then hammered in Hazel posts to reinforce the laid hedge with a bit of wattle fence. After all that, BC split one of the Elm drums with a club hammer and wedges, and then graduated to the splitting axe for the other one. Whatever the knack is, she suddenly discovered it this afternoon and went home justifiably proud of her new skill and well supplied with beautifully split and seasoned Elm firelogs - the most difficult species to split. During 3 o'clocks SB joined us clutching an ancient and newly discovered tome, which may yet save many of the hidden gems of Whitby... Today, however, the employee of G4S (Group 4 Security) called, by appointment, to inspect Groves Dyke Holiday Cottage and awarded it 3 Stars on behalf of QIT (Quality in Tourism, recently bought out by G4S), under contract for VB (Visit Britain, formerly the British Tourist Board), now that YTB (Yorkshire Tourist Board) is ceasing to exist at the end of this month, after failing to successfully devolve its responsibilities to the MCATP (Moors and Coast Area Tourism Partnership) which is also ceasing to exist, being replaced by the YCP (Yorkshire Coast Partnership) which is made up mainly of the disgruntled hoteliers who have abandoned all the new, expensive, official and (allegedly) incompetent bodies in favour of creating one of their own. Confused? You will be, for all this has been masterminded (I use the word loosely) by YF (Yorkshire Forward, known to all its victims as Yorkshire Backwards), which is the government's (ah-ha!) official RDA (Regional Development Agency), soon to be abandoned in favour of a new, bigger (God help us!) SRDA (Super-regional Development Agency) covering all of Yorkshire, the North East and Cumbria, to be called NW (Northern Way), to be led by (allegedly) the ex-head of one of the big Scottish Banks which was run into the ground, before he jumped ship and was (allegedly) appointed to the FSA (Financial Services Agency) which 'regulated' the Financial Industry so efficiently (nb sarcasm) that many big banks and building societies collapsed completely and had to be bailed out to the tune of £ millions, £ billions, £ trillions and, now £ squillions by - guess who? That's right, you and me, the poor buggers who have just found that 'the value of your life savings can fall, as well as plummet' thanks to the reckless greed of all these fat cats, some of whom were (allegedly) persuaded to resign quietly with an obscenely large bonus and the promise of (allegedly) a nice, cushy, very well paid 2-days-a-month job in the North of England, for a year or two until all the fuss dies down... Bitter? Who? Us? Never! 13 Mar 09 Sunny this morning, cloudy this afternoon, but mild and dry throughout. SR noticed about a dozen individual eggs in individual jelly spheres, all resting on the underwater shelf around the edge of my pond - Toadspawn, I think. Massed eggs in jelly are Frogspawn and strings of eggs are Newtspawn - but only if my memory serves me well. Which it rarely does, so I may look this up later, just to check. If I remember... SA used the bowsaw to turn more of the Ash cordwood into firelogs and stacked them in the woodshed. After lunch BC and I helped check that the small chainsaw was working properly and, having proved that it was, SA used it to take down most of the dead Elm trunk we had left for later some months ago. Then a friend arrived unexpectedly and we all showed them around the wood, before we all checked that the kettle was also working properly. 11 Mar 09 Lovely dry, sunny day - so we laid out the big reel of electric string up to the wood yard & used the leccy saw on the thickest bits of Ash cordwood. Sadly, the blustery wind blew all that sawdust into our faces, so we put away all the labour-saving high tech kit and just carried on with the bow saw and the two-person saw. Now ⅔ of ½ the wood shed is full of firelogs. 09 Mar 09 The forecast said 'showery' but it wasn't. If we had known this, SA and I would have laid out the big reel of electric string up to the woodyard and used the super leccy saw. Since we didn't, we decided just to use the bowsaw to cut lots of the West Cord into firelogs and stack them in the woodshed. Joined by BC after lunch, we also used the 2-person crosscut saw and by 3 o'clocks we had reduced the cord by half of a half cord and increased the woodshed contents by half of a third of half a woodshed - which may not impress you, but it did us! A few Frogs were purring in the pond, one pair (they were very definitely a pair) had to be lifted up into the water, more Primroses are flowering the Bank orchard, the first Dogs Mercury is flowering (very insignificantly) and the Hawthorn hedges are just beginning to bud. To our surprise, the Willow thumbstick which I cut about Christmas and stored in the conservatory to season, is also in leaf! 08 Mar 09 Spent a fascinating afternoon with the nice man from Solarec Solar Panels (Wakefield), who fitted their solar panels on both Groves Bank and Groves Dyke some 20 years ago. A week has been booked for them in late April to simplify the complicated 2 hot tanks in Groves Dyke loft (needed due to the open coal fire we had way back then, before the current gas fire went in) and combine them into just one, as well as rationalise the central heating controls, etc. They will also arrange for a nice, new high efficiency condensing gas boiler to replace the ancient, inefficient gas back boiler (4 inch diameter hole no longer required in the cavity wall insulated wall - woopee!), remove a highly inefficient open gas fire, fit a new radiator, clean out the whole central heating system, fit thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs, as we all call them) and anything else that may be required. Then another week to do any repainting, lay a new dining room carpet, put the house straight again - before getting back to normal. 06 Mar 09 Another hard frost last night but in the sun the fine, mild and dry weather continues. SA worked away until joined by LG and Sparky the Labrador from Grosmont and JM from Aislaby - and me. Between us, we cleared away the lop and top from the felled Ash, sorting it into cordwood or bonfire / habitat heap. SA pointed out that, with BC still off 'on the sick', we needed 2 extra men to make good her absence! Good point! Over 3 o'clocks in the conservatory we put the whole world to rights, so nothing to worry about now... 04 Mar 09 SA worked away unaided by BC (still poorly) or me (swimming, then meetings) and cleared away the recently felled Cherry tree top which was still snagged up in the Blackthorn spiney. 02 Mar 09 BC was at home nursing a cold, but the weather was warm and dry underfoot so SA and I dropped the 27 year old Ash tree at the corner of the West Hazel Coppice. Like its neighbour, it was reluctant to topple but SA's chainsaw did the trick. We logged it up into either 4 foot lengths to split for cordwood, or into 16 inch drums for splitting into firelogs. Either way, they can stay up here in a neat stack all summer until they have lost half their weight of water, and then we'll carry them down to the woodyard. 27 Feb 09 Half a dozen Frogs purred in my pond this mild spring morning as SA and I admired my new Ecobase panel, bought yesterday on my way back from collecting the grass cutter from its annual overhaul. This 50 x 50 cm plastic grid is lightweight, interlockable and designed as a simple way to create a gravel base for a greenhouse of garden shed: just level off the site, lock enough Ecobase panels together as required, fill the spaces with a couple of inches of gravel and then plonk the shed on top. BUT... if you turn the panel upside-down, it should be possible to press it into soft ground until the flat under surface (now uppermost) is at ground level and provides a safe, secure and slip resistant path or area to walk or work on. We tried an upside-down one on the muddiest bit of path near the Major Oak bridge and we'll monitor its progress over the next few weeks, before buying more to make the woodyard more usable in wet weather. SA then carried up the winch and dragged free the torn-off and snagged-up stem of a 25 year old Oak at the top of Dyke Wood, before carrying up the chainsaws, fuel, ropes, etc to tackle the forked Cherry after lunch. By the time BC and I arrived we were all ready for SA to take off first one fork (which dropped neatly into place between the young Oaks we were trying to help), and then the other (which dropped neatly into the Blackthorn spiney). In fact, it came gently to rest against the pollarded Silver Birch which we had prepared earlier. A bit more chainsaw work to remove the bigger branches and then cut the 40 cm diameter trunks into manageable drums for splitting, and we were ready to replace Bruno's Banisters and carry all the kit back down to the house. 25 Feb 09 SA completed cutting back the horseshoe hedge stumps this morning. The ground is drying out nicely now and after lunch SA and BC carried down all the remaining hedge-laying produce (cordwood, stakes and weaving rods) from the top of Bank orchard and trimmed back the flopped Willow from on top of the young Oak, while I had a lovely time in yet another meeting. Not! 23 Feb 09 Mild and overcast, SA & I cut back the remaining stems of the now removed horseshoe hedge, to make any unwanted regrowth easily strim-able. Half done, half to go. After lunch we strolled up the drive, noticing the first Daffodils in flower, about 6 of them in Bank orchard. With BC we trimmed back the toppled Willow from on top of the young Oak just over the top bridge, using the bowsaw to cut through the snagged Willow branches. The tension in the branch was more than expected and suddenly the blade of the bowsaw leapt from the bow and flashed, somersaulting, through the air. I've never seen that before - and I don't want to see it again! Nobody hit and nobody hurt, but beware all stressed branches in future. Then we planted the 2 young Rowan trees, SA's just five yards West of Cherrygate and BC's just South of the Dog Snout Apple tree at the top of Chimney Bank. 21 Feb 09 A lovely mild, dry, calm and sunny day so once the washing was on the line I set off to Malton to have the strimmer serviced before the season begins. On the way home again, Flag and I stopped for our first patio lunch of the year at the Cedar Barn near Pickering. Excellent! Then a nice walk from the Hole of Horcum car park heading towards Blakey Topping, that little known oval hill which is the handful of earth which the giant Wade scooped out to throw at his wife - well, she had just dropped his hammer! And the hole where he scooped it out of? Why, that's the Hole of Horcum, of course! 20 Feb 09 After lunch we all lit the bonfire in the woodyard and then spent the afternoon cutting, carrying and burning the rest of the horseshoe hedge around the stone seat. Hard, hot work and we all enjoyed our first cold drink for the year with our 4 o'clocks. Now that this Lynicera / Lanicera / Lenicera hedge has gone, that will be a lot less garden hedge trimming to do this summer, and the chance to redesign the course and the nature of the beck as it flows around, or even under, the stone seat... 19 Feb 09 After digging 3 holes in Briggswath and another 3 in the main drive, Yorkshire Water did finally find and repair the leak - at 4 o'clock this morning. Normal water supply was restored almost immediately and now life continues as normal again. It's true - you don't miss the water until your rising main runs dry... Visit http://practicalaction.org/?id=western_sudan_food_production 18 Feb 09 First Frog song in my pond this morning. A misty morning after overnight rain, making the path around the wood even more difficult. While Yorkshire Water plc dug up Briggswath to look for my missing tap water, SA searched the silt pond behind the stone seat for the lost inlet pipe to my pond. After lunch, with BC, we all tried, poking the mud and silt where the silt pond used to be with big poker from my woodburning stove until the clunk of a plastic pipe was heard. (I'd hate to be looking for landmines the same way - still, never mind, just as long as our UK arms industry is keeping busy). So radically modified was the whole topography of my now-completely-silted-up silt pond after the recent thaw that everything was just unrecognisable. We eventually located the pipe some 4 feet away from where we'd been digging! This whole silt pond and the plastic pipes under my stone seat will just have to go and we started removing the Lynicera hedge before anyone starts nesting in it. NB: Yorkshire Water are still digging holes in Briggswath, still trying to find the leak in their pipe... 16 Feb 09 SA searched for the missing inlet to my pond, completely hidden by debris brought down by the flood which followed the last thaw. Later joined by BC, they carried several stakes and weaving rods (cut from the hedge laying above Bank Orchard) down to beef up the bottom hedge of Groves Dyke front garden. They also closed off Flag's unofficial exit from my front lawn onto the main drive. It was mild today and the ground is beginning to dry out. Both washing lines were full of fresh laundry which dried quite well in a slight breeze. Lots of Snowdrops are out now and another Lesser Celandine. Several Hazel trees now carry catkins, the Green Woodpecker is yaffling in the wood and a very smart looking Nuthatch showed up well on the feeding station. 15 Feb 09 Took a drive up out of the now green Esk Valley and over Sleights Moor. The roads are completely clear of snow, but on either side the brown Heather is now poking through an ever thinning blanket of snow. Goathland is still white (apart from the roads) so I carried on past the early warning station at RAF Fylingdales, past the legendary Saltersgate Inn (currently being re-built) and up to the car park on the A169 overlooking the still all white Hole of Horcum. My car may say it is + 9°C today, but all the white snow reflects enough of the sun's heat to remain intact up here. On the way home and looking far across the North York Moors, the higher ground beyond Glaisdale and Danby is still completely white over. 14 Feb 09 I was delighted to find that the snowplough had got as far as the Forest Enterprise car park above Falling Foss, even though the car park itself was still covered in 3 or 4 inches of snow. Or perhaps the local farmer had ploughed his way out to the main road? Flag and I had a lovely walk through the snowy woods and admired the extra snowmelt coming over the waterfall itself - very spectacular! Then we warmed up in the Falling Foss Tea Garden yurt, next to the wood burning stove. Very welcome! Their hot chocolate and bacon butty was just what was required, thank-you. 13 Feb 09 Yesterday's surprise snowfall (another 2 inches in my garden) was now melting away again, but the moortops are even more snow covered than before and the muddy paths are even more tricky. We all started after lunch, sawing most of the remaining Cherry branches in the pole barn sawing brakes. These have now been given even better grips with the addition of a couple of lengths of reject Gripper Strip from the local carpet warehouse, which only begs the question: How did medieval woodspersons manage in the centuries before fitted carpets were available? 11 Feb 09 The second, left-handed sawing brake was added to the pole barn by SA this morning, so now he won't have to stand outside in the rain any more to use the original right-handed one. After lunch BC and I joined SA to de-bramble the steep grassy bank just outside Groves Dyke hedge, carrying all the brambles to the bonfire site. Having run out of things to do that did not involve climbing the steep, muddy and very slippery paths through the wood, the woodyard or the orchard, we ended up in the pole barn using both sawing brakes to saw the stacked branches (from the Cherry tree in Groves Dyke garden several weeks ago) into firelogs. 09 Feb 09 SA and I split a few more drums of Sycamore in the SW Hazel Coppice with the splitting axe, before admitting that we should have brought up the sledge and wedges as well. A bit of sawing in the woodyard emptied the Lower West Cord completely and helped to fill the woodshed with lots 16 inch long fire logs. BC arrived and we all had an early lunch before I abandoned them for a trip to Scarborough. The lower ground may be mostly green and all the main roads may be completely clear, but the moortops themselves are still covered with several inches of snow. And very pretty they look, too. In my absence BC & SA split the remainder of the Sycamore drums during the afternoon. 06 Feb 09 This morning a hen Pheasant made a dog's dinner of the dog's breakfast - that'll teach him to eat it all up at one go! Later he barked frantically as a Roe doe strolled up the drive and across the woodyard. I gave it a 50 yard start before letting him out to fetch it. He came back shortly afterwards, but without any venison. SA used the new super long pole saw to trim some branches off the forked Cherry which will be the next to come down. After lunch BC and I joined in and together we did some more high pruning & left the site neat and tidy. Then we lit the small bonfire at the back of Dyke orchard and, with a bit of flapping, cleared that site as well. 04 Feb 09 A hard frost last night covered my pond in ice and (thankfully) locked up much of the water in and on the ground, while the rest of it drains away. My morning walk around the wood included a bit of unintentional skating, since anything that isn't icy is just plain muddy. SA checked the top drain before sawing more of the Lower West Cord into firelogs. After lunch we all walked the dogs up the main drive, seeing the first Lesser Celandine in flower in Bank Orchard, before locating and clearing the drains as we went. The rest of the afternoon was spent sawing and stacking more of the Lower West Cord in anticipation of more cold weather, before retiring to the conservatory for coffee and sticky buns to the faint calls of the birds on the nearby feeding station. 03 Feb 09 Most of the snow thawed last night and today as I look across the Esk Valley I can see more green fields than white snow. The result of all the melt water, of course, is that the beck across my lawn blocked where it goes under the stone seat and was still flowing across the lawns as I walked past. My favourite game when I'm still not quite human on a muddy morning is to reach a nice warm dry arm up to the elbow in recently melted snow, mud and twigs to clear the mouth of a drain pipe. It took a good 10 minutes to restore the normal flow, by which time I wasn't able to feel my fingers any more. Yes, I could have gone back to the house for an appropriate agricultural implement, but I did say that I wasn't quite awake... 02 Feb 09 About 2 to 3 inches of snow fell overnight, with more falling during the day. SA walked here and we improved the bird feeding station and carried extra firewood from the woodshed to the house. A dozen Fieldfare perched briefly in the top of the big leaning Ash. The roads are open as normal, the trains are running between Middlesbrough to Whitby, but many local schools are closed (usually because the teachers are unable to commute from their more distant homes). Weather Summary for January 2009. Max 8°C (46°F), Min -5°C (23°F). Actual at 09.30 hours 01 Feb 09 0 C (32°F). Total Rainfall 50mm (2" inches). 31 Jan 09 A lovely sunny day, so Flag and I went to Falling Foss Tea Garden for a nice stroll and a bacon butty (any excuse)! The spade by the gate sported a large label saying 'Please carry 1 spade-full for 6 yards', so I dug into the freshly delivered heap of woodchip and carried it into the garden to add it around the nearest picnic table - just to say that I had contributed to one of Whitby's hidden gems. In fact, I got a bit carried away and tipped another 6 spade-fulls over the wall and onto the same spot, since this was only 1 yard away. Same difference! 30 Jan 09 Dry and sunny but with a cool Westerly wind which has dried the ground out enough to fell the smaller of the two Cherry trees today. SA had everything prepared by early afternoon when BC and I joined in. With a light rope for guidance and a chainsaw for encouragement, it dropped neatly between the two young Oaks we were seeking to encourage. By 2pm it was dismantled, the lop and top stacked, the bigger bits sawn into cordword or 16 inch drums and these also stacked up off the ground. Then down to the far SW corner of the wood to take a few more 16 inch drums off the big, but long dead, Sycamore which fell onto the Hazel coppice a year ago. Half a dozen big drums were sliced off the trunk and stacked up off the ground to dry. These we can split in the next few days & carry down to the woodyard for immediate use. Judging by the weather forecast, with snow due along the East coast early next week, we might be glad of a few big clogs to add to the woodburners! 28 Jan 09 Mild, overcast but dry. SA checked the top drain and cleared a few leaves, to help it flow across the top of the wood and not down through it. After lunch we three Bank Voles de-brambled Dyke orchard, now that the Daffs and Snowdrop shoots are so well advanced that I daren't use the strimmer. We piled up our bramble collections on top of the bonfire heap, adding considerably to its height. 26 Jan 09 Milder again, overcast and dry. I delivered some more Unique Walking Sticks to Dunsley Hall Hotel, while SA and Bruno had a walk around the wood. Joined by BC and after lunch, we took the two-wo/man cross-cut saw and the big bowsaw to the far end of Bank Orchard to turn the big fallen Oak limb (sudden limb drop several years ago, following a drought) into firelogs. This was achieved remarkably quickly (if not easily) so we walked back through the wood looking at other possible schemes. One much needed improvement, following last week's mud-gripped firelog sawing, is a new, improved, well-drained, level work area immediately uphill of the two cords, with a path from it running between the cords and another path to the woodshed. Timber or stone? Decking or gravel? Woodchip or concrete? Polythene sheet or weed-suppressing, semi-permeable, woven membrane? Yorkshire flagstones or composite paving slabs? Steps or a slope? More detailed plans are afoot... SA noticed the first Primrose flower of the year, just above the woodyard near the Millennium Statue, then BC noticed the first Snowdrop in flower below the Cypresses in the lower corner of Bank orchard. Spring! 24 Jan 09 A cold clear night with ice back on my pond again, then a lovely clear, dry, calm and sunny day with a load of laundry out on the washing line. Off to Goathland for a little bit of genteel coppicing (1 young Hazel) and pollarding (1 young Willow) in the garden of friends, finishing just in time for a lovely lunch. 23 Jan 09 Too wet this morning but after lunch the sun came out as forecast and we all three stood as still as possible in the woodyard, unstacking more of the West cord, sawing more firelogs and stacking them in the woodshed. Any walking back and forth had to be reduced to a minimum because of the treacherous and slippery mud underfoot. Clearly, what we still need in the woodyard is a small, level, yet well drained area for the sawhorse, with a dry central path between the cords, and another to the woodshed... I think this could be our next big project, once the weather improves and the two Cherry trees up in the wood have been dropped. 21 Jan 09 A lovely day out with D and I from the Deep South (of England), this week staying 600 feet up at the Raven Hall Hotel, Ravenscar. We enjoyed the bird watchers' car park at Forge Valley National Nature Reserve, just outside Scarborough. There must have been about 50 Chaffinches on the feeders, as well as Great, Blue, Coal, Marsh and Long Tail Tit, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Robin and the closest and longest view of a Treecreeper I've ever had. Not to mention a fleeting glimpse of a Sparrowhawk collecting up a drive-thru Chaffinch. Then on to the new Cedarbarn Farm Shop and Cafe between Thornton-le-dale and Pickering, which we awarded 10 out of 10 on all aspects. I'll be back! That kept us going for a nice drive up Rosedale and onto the moortop to say Hello to Fat Betty and the Lion on Blakey Rigg. I wasn't expecting the 3 or 4 inches of snow up there, stretching mile after mile, but then we were 1,000 feet above sea level by then. A superb lunch (was that really a Child's Portion I had?) and then we left Switzerland and dropped back down into the green, green Esk Valley and headed for Sleights. Arriving in time for half-past-two-o'clocks with BC and SA (and half a Victoria Sponge from Cedarbarn), who had spent their time sawing the West cord into firelogs and stacking them in the woodshed. 20 Jan 09 Today Barak Obama replaces George W. Bush as President of the United States of America. It will be such a nice change to have the most powerful person in the world capable of pronouncing the word 'nu-clear' properly, able to string a whole sentence together, declaring that torture and detention without trial are both wrong and will be stopped, accepting from the outset that the world's climate is changing due to human activity, that our present 6,500 million humans on the world may be more that the planet can support, and that foreign aid can once again include funding for family planning services. Quite good really! In fact, 'things can only get better'. Oh dear! Where have I heard that before? 19 Jan 09 The Southerly gale had blown itself out by 10 pm the other night, so no great problem here on the East coast. One 30-year old Ash has had its Grey Squirrel (Tree Rat!) damaged top snapped off, but it's in such an inaccessible place that nobody will notice and, if they do, nobody can get to it to do anything about it anyway! Driving home last night I disturbed a Badger trundling along the drive as I turned in. I stopped the car and watched as it trundled along in my headlights, ignoring everything, and carried on about its lawful business. This morning it was pouring and my rain gauge (almost empty so far this month, until a couple of days ago) is now showing just over half an inch. SA repaired and sharpened tools in the Stickery while I went swimming (warm and wet is better than cold and wet!). After lunch SA lit the bonfire of branches cut from the Juniper tunnel, while I was at the first of 5 meetings throughout today and tomorrow. By the time I got back, the bonfire was burnt away and dying down nicely, thank-you. 17 Jan 09 A line full of fresh washing and Flag and I were off to Falling Foss for a nice muddy stroll to the Hermitage, then back to Falling Foss Tea Gardens for home made soup and a bacon butty. Once in the yurt the woodburner glowed warmly, the beck flowed past the window, I enjoyed my meal and Flag enjoyed his little jar of doggy biscuits (what a nice touch!). Everything was ready for a children's birthday party lunch, but we escaped in good time and were leaving the car park just as the children started to arrive. Lucky things - at that age I would have loved a birthday party in a yurt lit by lanterns by a giant waterfall in a wood in the middle of nowhere. Never mind, I'm not bitter. Just jealous! 16 Jan 09 This morning it was dry with the sun burning its way through the high mist. SA (now complete with Bruno again after a few days on the sick) checked the path around the wood (ie gave Bruno a little gentle exercise) and then removed the now redundant strand of barbed wire from the extension of Hadrian's Hedge towards the woodyard. After lunch we had a walk and a great view of a female Roe Deer standing very still in the orchard and eating the last of the windfalls. When it realised we were watching it, she moved off slowly and disappeared into the wood. Then Bru went home to rest, SA returned and BC and I (and Flag, of course) all tidied up the remaining produce from the hedge-laying: weaving rods were propped up against an Apple tree, cordwood and posts were raised up off the damp ground, lop and top was carried to the bonfire site until the path along the top of the steep bank became too muddy and then we all retreated for 3 o'clocks. Everything should now be secure and ready for the gales forecast for tomorrow night. If there had been any hatches we would have battened them down as well. A Woodmouse, the first I've seen for several weeks, scurried back and forth through the dry stone wall behind my pond, presumable laying-in stores of grain from my bird feeding station. 14 Jan 09 SA and BC carried on with the last few yards of the hedge laying, while I went back to sunny Scarborough for another meeting. They added a few yards of double wickerwork fence to protect the newly laid pleachers on the very steep and very gappy slope (Hadrian's Hedge?). When I returned after lunch we all laid the very last Hawthorn and the very last Sycamore . This whole hedge along the top of Bank Orchard is now completely laid, so we celebrated with Chelsea Buns in the conservatory. All that is left to do with it now is a little bit more clearing up, with the lop and top going to the bonfire, the cordwood to the East Cord, and the remaining weaving rods to beef up the Groves Dyke / Woodlands Drive hedge (laid 8 years ago). JW the wood turner arrived to give his latest creation to SA - a beautiful bottle-shaped table lamp in Teak (made from one of the scraps of Bournemouth pier which SA gave him a just a few days ago). 13 Jan 09 What a lovely dry, sunny afternoon - and almost warm, too. The green Daffodil shoots in Dyke Orchard are a couple of inches high now. In Bank Orchard Flag and I had a lovely time de-brambling Wasp Nest Corner by hand (or paw) before anything bursts into flower. All done now, just the bonfire to light after a few nice soggy days. 12 Jan 09 After a very windy night (no damage noticed, as yet) today dawned much milder but damp. My barometer has returned to the vertical ('Change') for the first time in about a month of 'Fair' or 'Very Dry'. The rain cleared mid morning and the sun and showers began. SA and I cleared up a bit more of the bits and bobs from the hedge laying and after lunch BC arrived and I went to Scarborough, leaving them to finish clearing up before laying a bit more hedge (and creating a little bit more lop and top to clear up another day). 10 Jan 09 A hard frost again last night, which hardly lifted all day. At 2pm the trawler 'Pleiades' was lifted by a giant crane into Whitby harbour, the very latest launch of a Whitby-built boat in a tradition that stretches back for centuries. 09 Jan 09 A good frost last night and my pond is frozen over again. In fact, it was cold enough to freeze all the muddy bits of the path around the wood and I was able to walk the dog this morning without my wellies. Misty in the distance but the sun burned through eventually. SA started the big clear-up of the hedge laying, sorting the cut material into 4 foot cord lengths (for stacking into cords to season for a year or two before sawing each length into three 16 inch firelogs and then restacking these in the woodshed ready to burn), or weaving rods (these are no ordinary weaving rods, these are the the longest, and the straightest, and the thinnest, and the very finest weaving rods that traditional Yorkshire can provide, reserved for the only wickerwork fence in the world, to protect your favourite holiday cottage for your families' personal safety and enjoyment, for years to come), or the occasional interesting stem (for a possible Unique Walking Stick), or just lop and top for the bonfire. After lunch BC went solo for the first time, while I acted as assistant. Each and every stem in the hedge length had to be identified in turn and selected, some removed and some retained for laying, each and every pleacher to be planned, prepared and then cut with the most appropriate tool, then laid along the length of the hedge, woven between the posts for strength and then trimmed to fit neatly. This was no fast and straggly section of hedge laying with only one or two stems to choose from, this was a thickly grown section of young Hazel and some Holly. By late 3 o'clocks BC had completed a very presentable 4 or 5 yards of well laid hedge with up to 15 thin pleachers lying neatly on top of each other, in addition to a couple of much thicker ones still growing from when I last laid this hedge 10 years ago. Well earned mini-Battenburgs all round! 08 Jan 09 Took Flag for a walk by Whitby Marina, for a good view across the harbour to Parkol Marine's brand new trawler 'Pleiades'. She is now complete and will be lifted into the water by a giant crane on Saturday at 2pm. A couple of dozen Redshank roosted out the high tide on the pontoons below Alcatraz and it feels almost like a spring day. I celebrated this with a coffee and a very nice slice of homemade lemon drizzle cake at the Coliseum Community Cafe, alongside Whitby bus station. 07 Jan 09 Milder and still calm and dry. SA and I laid several more yards of Bank Orchard hedge, then after lunch BC and I laid yet more - 9 yards in total today and only another 6 to go... New for 2009 at Groves Dyke Holiday Cottage: 1. Groves Dyke Holiday Cottage celebrates its 20th Anniversary 2. I am leaving the Yorkshire Tourist Board - as I feel it no longer provides good value for money 3. Instant online booking (and payment) is now on the Availability page on this website - via the same web shop still used by most Tourist Boards 4. Dogs are now welcome at Groves Dyke Holiday Cottage - provided they are well behaved, of course. Flag will love the company! 06 Jan 09 A hard frost hit most of the UK last night, getting down to -7°C according to my Max and Min Thermometer on the laundry window frame. My pond was well frozen and the feeding station was busier than ever. A 15-minute count revealed: Blackbird 5, Blue Tit 4, Great Tit 2, Long Tail Tit 2, Robin 2, Coal Tit 1, Dunnock 1, Marsh Tit 1. (0915 - 0930 hours, clear sky, calm, dry and sunny. Later 13 Long Tail Tits (the most I've seen all together this winter) clustered around the fat feeder. 05 Jan 09 Another cold day, mainly dry but with occasional light showers of almost snow down here (and real snow covering the ground around Goathland and Castleton). This morning SA and I laid another several yards of (mainly) Hazel hedge and after lunch BC and I laid several more, including a nice bit of back-laying to fill a gap. All in all, another 13 yards of hedge laid today. Then JW the local wood turner arrived to look at the drums of recently felled Cherry and Elm, as well as the off cuts of exotic planks rescued for him by BC, and the salvaged bits of Bournemouth (burnt down) Pier, which just happen to be of Jarra and of Teak, and were rescued for him by SA. His wood turning eyes positively gleamed with delight! 02 Jan 2009 SA sharpened his chainsaw while I sorted out the household insurance at the NFU Mutual office in Whitby. House with a home office and office equipment? No problem, every farm has one of those. Holiday Cottage with a wood and a woodland walk? No problem, lots of farms have those? A much better response than I ever got from any of the bog standard insurance company call centres when I first tried many years ago. After lunch and with BC, but without the promised sun, we laid out the electric string from the laundry to the pole barn and spent a couple of hours with the plug-in reciprocating saw cutting the thicker Elm and Cherry logs into firelogs or lengths for further splitting. By 4 o'clocks it was still light (days are getting longer already!) and both trees were almost completely sorted and stacked for a year or more. 01 Jan 2009 A Happy New Year to you all! Flag was too tired last night to do more than accept a few squirts of Rescue Remedy just before the midnight hour, and then lie unhappily by my chair as not too many Sleights folk got their noisy pyrotechnics over and done with fairly quickly. Bah, humbug! This morning I took him for a lovely walk in Grosmont woods and alongside the river, where we met 3 more Golden Retrievers and their owner. Chatting about our dogs and their particular foibles, she suggested that Flag had a fairly distinctive colour (and personality!) and may be from a well known breeder near York. Amazing what you can find out on a visit to Grosmont! By lunchtime the sun was out (at last!) but the afternoon was spent working on the new www.visitwhitby.com website. Click here for 2008 Wildlife Diary and News Blog... |
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