Diary page 6: April - June 2008

A photographic diary of our volunteering activities

Wimpole Farm tidying the Folly - 9th June 2008
[thanks to Val for these words - read the full text in our summer newsletter]

For a number of years the folly has been fenced off (but of course that doesn’t stop people getting in and they let
themselves in even whilst we were working). Inside the fencing there has been some planting and also scrub
has built up; the plan longer term is to have two fences about 10 feet apart, with a wild flower
habitat between the fences and then sheep or goats grazing around the folly itself.
Our job was to take down the scrub and improve the views of the folly from the house - we
had fantastic views in the opposite direction whilst we were working.

(Photo: Roger) Left: ...Mark in action with bow saw .... (Photo: Roger) Right: Val, Maxine and Betty clearing bushes.

(Photo: Nigel) Left: ...work party resting for lunch .... (Photo: Roger) Right: View from Folly to lake and grounds.

(Photo: Roger) Left: ...work party in front of Folly ....
(Photo: Roger) Right: Nigel trys out some grass scything with instructions from Simon
If you would like to try scything out for yourself, then come along to the
1st East Anglian Scything Competition Sunday 22 June at Wimpole - more information here

Just before lunch Simon (the Estate Manager) and Cory (his ever faithful hound) came to see how we were
getting on. He took us for a walk uphill round the fence through the existing wild flower belt. It was a real treat;
we saw bee orchids, common spotted orchids, various grasses (including a blue sedge), yellow trefoils, pink clovers.

(Photo: Roger) Left: Common spotted orchid - find out more about Britains Orchids here.

A later survey found around 30 pyramidal orchids, 100+ bee orchids and 3 common spotted orchids.

(Photo: Roger) Mid: Cuckoo spit - nothing to do with cuckoos just froghoppers (nothing to do with frogs either!!).
(Photo: Roger) Right: Birdsfoot trefoil bud with resident bug (aphid?).

Wimpole Estate fence clearing - 11th May 2008

Yet more fencing, this time on the Wimpole estate with Simon. Task was to remove
fencing from both sides of a ditch running across the South Avenue.

(Photo: Nigel) Left: ...Betty gets to work with the bolt croppers .... (Photo: Roger) Right: the ditch with one side clear of fence

(Photo: Nigel) Left: lunch break, smile for the camera!!... (Photo: Simon with my camera!) Right: it's a dogs life...Roger caught napping

(Photo: Roger) Left: Nigel clearing posts and wire .... (Photo: Simon) Right: Cory takes it easy

Erddig Weekend fencing - 2nd to 5th May 2008

Our weekend away took us to the National Trust property at Erddig, near Wrexham.
Accomodation was provided at the basecamp, and the task involved construction of fences.
The North Wales police have decided to setup a mounted division, and have chosen a property
and stables on the Erddig estate as their HQ. Our task was to construct the fence around the menege.
On our first day, Saturday, after a hearty breakfast we set to work digging the post holes. The soil was very
heavy clay and the rain on previous days was a mixed blessing, it made the clay heavy and sticky, but was
easier to dig than dried clay! The first job was to dig the fence post holes to a depth of around 2ft 6in.
Next the post holes were put in place and securely tamped into position, making sure they were vertical and
properly lined up. Finally the rails and kick boards were nailed in place.
By the end of the day we had almost completed one of the longer sides of the menage.

(Photo: Roger) Left: ...off to work .... (Photo: Roger) Right: Peter and Tom putting in fence posts

(Photo: Roger) Left: Clyde digging post hole ....
(Photo: Roger) Mid: Barbara and Beata discover the spades used for measuring the hole depths are not the same length!!!
(In the background are the to be headquarters for the North Wales Police Mounted Division and the horse stables.
(Photo: Roger) Right: Sian using the post hole spade .... a shorter version needed me thinks!!!

(Photo: Roger) Above left and right: ...lunch time, Barbara and Rob being hastled for food by two local residents....
They eventually got fed up, left their calling card on our mat and flew off.

(Photo: Roger) Left: work in progress ....
(Photo: Roger) Right: A few members took time out to paint fences being prepared for the June
National Horse Driving qualifier trials...more information can be found here.

Heavy rain on the Sunday night made continued work on the menege impossible, so we moved to another
part of the estate to construct another fence re-using old cast iron railings with wooden posts.

(Photo: Roger) Left: time for a rest ....
(Photo: Roger) Mid: Cutting the final set of rails to correct length using metal saws and plenty of elbow grease...
(Photo: Roger) Right: Job done and ready for painting (black).

On Monday morning we had a chance to visit the Erddig property. Amongst the items on show are a working hydraulic
originally used to pump water to the farms for cooling milk. The property itself was very much self contained and has many
interesting and varied aspect on display - you can find out more on the National Trust website.

(Photo: Roger) Right: drawing and description of
Jonh Blakes's patent hydraulic ram still
in operation at the Erddig property.
Note the French name for the water pump of "coup de belier"
Montgolfier, the inventor called it this because the noise it
made sounded like the skulls of two male sheep banging
together in a fight, hence the term ram pump.
(And there I thought ram was used due to the way the water
was "rammed" along a pipe!!)

Of interest, the firm of Green and Carter still make such rams
and they have an extensive archive of estate plans and
ram installations which are accessable for serious researchers

(Photo: Roger) Below: the feed to the hydraulic ram

(Photo: Roger) Left: ...apple tree espalier of which there are many fine examples in the grounds..... (Photo: Roger) Right: Erddig Hall

(Photo: Roger) Below: these three stained glass windows in the chapel at Erddig originated from Wimpole Hall
a property well known to CNTV. They were sold to Erddig in 1901. Unfortunately I could only photograph from the outside.

Wimpole Gardens spring planting - 20th April 2008

Helping Phil with the spring planting in the Victorian Gardens.

(Photo: Roger) Left: Alison, Barbara and Phil weeding, Peter re-planting lettuce .... (Photo: Nigel) Right: Alison and Roger planting and covering lettuce.

(Photo: Roger) Left: Nigel and Alison re-potting seedlings.... (Photo: Roger) Right: tea and cakes at the end of the day.

Castle Acre walk - 12th April 2008

No task this week, but Rob organised a walk near Castle Acre in Norfolk, home to one of the
oldest preserved monastic sites in England.

(Photo: Val) Left: the castle at Castle Acre ........
(Photo: Val) Right: A bridge for hobbits under the A47. Acting Hobbit Tom demonstrates access whilst Clyde appears to have a headache...

(Photo: Val) Left: Footpath along the River Nar........ (Photo: Val) Right: The mill at Narborough.