Cambridge National
Trust Volunteers (CNTV)
Website last updated on
13th November 2008.............CNTV member login
Planting at Wimpole Hall ..............................................................
Fencing on the Gower Peninsular
(Photo: Roger Jayes)................................................................................................
(Photo: Tom Howes)
unique visitors ......
WELCOME to our web
pages
CNTV members share an interest
in historic properties and conservation areas found within the
UK.
As an independant volunteer group we actively support the National
Trust by
giving up some of our time to help preserve and maintain the properties.
Our work is typically on Sundays, but we also carry out longer
weekend tasks during the year.
CNTV contact details here....Autumn newsletter
is here....NT
East of England what's on here.
For some environmentally
friendly ideas, read about reducing
limescale deposits
without chemicals.
Visiting Cambridge
area? Check our links
page for ideas (hand
picked and checked sites).
Article on restoring
a seed drill found
in Wimpole Gardens. The
paint colour has now been identified and ordered.
Ilam Hall Weekend - 14th September
2008 [Article by
"scribe" Neil...who advised me this is the summary edition!!]
This was it, an
opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of the wonderful
Derbyshire countryside, working in the
Manifold valley of the Peak District. As with all weekends away,
the first evening started with that good old British favourite,
rain!
. . . . . still at least we had a musical welcome to the basecamp
as the last night of the proms from PJ's car stereo
helped serenade us into our quarters for the weekend. Full of
anticipation, and like children at Christmas, we retreated to
our bunks, eager for what the next day would bring. . .
Day 1: Waking to find the rain had stopped
and the sun was actually shining we consumed a hearty breakfast
prepared
by Roger, before we saddled up our rides and made our way to the
work site, somewhere in deepest darkest Hampshire.
The day started well; we met Simon the Warden who proceeded to
take us on a visit of the public car park, followed
swiftly by a venture to the local tea room - sadly without the
refreshment as it was only 9.45am - before finally
settling in the public car park next to the river. We plotted
our course, and headed across the bog on foot, hoping
that we would all reach our destination intact. (Photos: Roger) Left: scrub to be cleared.... Mid:
the Team getting instructions....Right: Neil and Simon directing
the work....maybe?
We had been told
by Simon the Warden that our task for the weekend was the clearing
of scrub on the valley slope
on which the farmers cows would roam. En route evidence was present
that the cows had been within the vicinity,
though the trail had gone cold (and a little crusty round the
edges) though the signs were clearly there.
Armed with our weapons of destruction, including pitch forks,
bow saws, loppers and a little box of matches to help
sustain life, we headed to higher ground and set up camp for the
day. A quick briefing of the troops followed
and we quickly identified our first target, a small bush in a
clearing which Simon had singled out to stack the cut scrub against.
What followed was
utter carnage, as battle after battle took place with the scrub
on the hillside.
Joan and Roger adopted the 'double team' approach where Roger
would wrestle the leafy growth to one side,
exposing the plants stem growth just above the ground. Here Joan
would step in and launch her attack, slashing,
cutting and chopping like a crazed Tasmanian Devil until all links
with the plants life source were severed.
Wounds were common
place, and blood trickled, sorry I mean flowed. As each bush was
slain, it was dragged or carried
unceremoniously to the heap, propped against the lone bush before
finally being offered to the Gods as the pyre was set alight.
PJ led from the front and attacked the growth from the top flank,
thereby limiting the chances of escape as an area of no-mans
land was created. At one stage it was almost as though he was
down the local bowling alley as he unleashed a venomous
delivery from the top of the hill that saw his victim cavort like
tumble weed in the wild west down the hill side before ending
up smack bang in the centre of the fire . . . . . 'STRIKE!' With
deliveries like that the scrub stood no chance, and
within minutes all that was left were ashes and a memory . . .
. . (Photos: Roger) Left: Betty getting to the root of
the problem... Mid: Joan posing for the camera... Right: Mark
feeding the fire
Whilst we ate our
lunch, the vultures circled menacingly overhead (though Betty
thought they may have been buzzards.)
They were clearly hungry, waiting for the weakest volunteer to
fall by the wayside, when they would drop . . . .
and carry their prize to their nest.
Having allowed the
fire to burn down during lunch, Roger bravely set forth to try
and get the fire going again.
After a lot of flacking with the side of a 'Brake Brothers' box
the flames re-ignited, like a phoenix, rising from the glowing
embers.
The squeals and
cracks of the slain vegetation as it was reduced to ash could
be heard over the course of the afternoon,
the scrub standing no chance of avoiding its ultimate peril. Having
completed the first days battle, our wounds tended,
we headed on back to the layby where our steeds were waiting.
At this point Simon
offered to take us on a quick walk to see where the water of the
nearby river had scoured its way
into the rock like a drill, grinding away at the rock face, before
disappearing beneath the earth. Part of the walk saw us
having to negotiate a shallow, boulder strewn, stretch of the
river (it also gave us the chance to wash our boots).
Negotiating the
crossing proved trickier than we first thought, as the algae across
the ford (sorry the shallow, boulder
strewn crossing) very nearly saw a number of the volunteers lose
their footing and get washed away into the depths,
Mark being the one that came closest to disappearing, though he
managed to escape just with wet trousers and shirt. Phew!
(Photos: Roger) Left: : View from Ilam basecamp...
Right: The days work was just too much for our Alison..
Day 2: Once again Roger did us proud with
a fantastic breakfast as we entered the banqueting hall. Rations
packed,
our rides suitably rested and watered, we commenced our trek out
to the wilds again, hopeful that the remaining vegetation
would have taken flight under the cover of darkness, but sadly
this was not to be.
Battle recommenced
and before long, the freshly slain vegetation was piling up, almost
as if it were in a queue, each waiting
their turn to be tossed onto the flames which would warm, dry
and ultimately reduce them to a pile of black nothingness….
Unlike the previous day, the fire proved troublesome to start
and the question soon became apparent, exactly how
were we going to deal with this decaying matter? A lot of frantic
flacking followed over the course of the morning
as the flames would emerge from their hiding place in the embers,
licking their way across the skeletal frame of
the slain scrub, before retreating once more into the security
of the glowing embers.
(Photos: Roger) Left: Neil finally got round to some
real work today...Mid: PJ attacking from the top...Right: The
work party
With the help of
some prehistoric scrub (it really was bone dry!) located by PJ,
we finally managed to get the flames to catch.
But then Simon signalled the retreat as time had beaten us!
Reluctantly, a final
search of our battle field was made to ensure all signs of our
presence were removed, and
our supplies were gathered together. With a last glance over our
shoulders - our bodies aching and our hands bloodied
- we left the site as the hiss and crackle of the fire began to
consume the remains.
(Photo: Roger) Above: Three bats (possibly Pipistrelle?)
found sleeping in the base camp.
The previous day, there was a long eared bat resting here but
alas had gone by the time I'd got my camera.
Our work was done.
Thanks go to Roger, Joan, Mark, PJ, Alison W and Betty for their
efforts over the weekend.
Anglesey - 19th
October 2008 [Thanks to 'bubbles'
Burling for this article]
Today's task was
certainly different! We were working at Hoe Fen by the pond dipping
platform.
One of the tasks was to finish nailing all the boards onto the
platform and the other was to dig out areas
around this, in the pond, to create 'pools' of differing widths/depths
for the children to do their dipping.
In theory this didn't
sound too bad - Iwan sketched out a plan of what he would like
us to do and it sounded
quite manageable: Separate 'bubbles' of differing sizes, interlinking
in with each other, and each one having
'steps' to alter the depth.
So on with wellies
and waders and into the pond. The water level was quite shallow
and digging commenced
with a vengeance. However as we progressed digging in the murky
water it became obvious that we
couldn't actually see what we were doing! The mud was very sticky
clay and extremely difficult to get out.
Perseverance paid off, and holes of varying depth were created.
I can confirm this, because not once,
but twice, I managed to step back into one of the deep holes that
had been created thus
ensuring two slimy wet muddy feet! [I think secretly Alison
enjoyed her mud bath....ed!]
By the end of the
day our 'bubbles' had been created although it was difficult to
see this.
Broken up concrete was placed in the pools to provide escape routes
for wildlife and hopefully once
the silt has cleared/settled it will be seen that we achieved
what was intended.
As Iwan had predicted
it did prove to be a very messy but fun task!
(Photo: Alison) Left: getting started.... (Photo: Alison) Right: Digging holes in the pond....hmmm visibility
looks poor.
(Photo: Alison) Left: Nailing down the decking....
(Photo: Alison) Right: dig that mud....
Lyveden New Bield
- 5th October 2008 [Thanks to Val
for this article]
It was a very wet
day when we set off for our first task at a new
property near Oundle. When we got there
Mark, the property manager, said he hadn’t liked to ring
and cancel [due to the very very wet weather!]
since it was our first visit there, but that he had baked a cake
for us! Once everyone had arrived, we set off for a
tour of the property in every item of clothing and every waterproof
we had. We had an interesting tour but we got so wet.
Lyveden was acquired by the Trust in the 1920s; the building is
a banqueting lodge and just a shell,
but not a ruin – it was never completed. It dates from the
1500s and was started by Sir
Thomas Tresham,
a Catholic who spent much time in prison – hence the incomplete building.
(His son seemed to inherit the tyranny – he was part of the
gun
powder plot.)
There is a spiral mount enabling ladies in farthingale dresses
to get a good view of the surroundings
without having to climb steps, a restored orchard and canal system
– all part of the pleasure grounds for the property.
Once the tour was finished we had an early lunch in the car park
warden’s shed and then set out for the woods where we were
due to do coppicing work – clearing and sorting out whips
and stakes suitable for hedge laying.
The corner of one field we went round was flooded and people without
wellies got even wetter feet.
Fortunately it finally stopped raining at about 2 o’clock
so we started to steam gently and dry out.
Mark and his family (Angela, Olivia and Tom) came to help us towards
the end of the afternoon, and we got
the area cleared and piles of whips and stakes made. Finally,
we were asked back to Mark and Angela’s cottage for a
very welcome slice of homemade cake and a warming cup of tea.
Let’s hope that we have many future trips out there - hopefully
in slightly better weather!
(Photos: Val) Left/Right: clearing. Good hazel was
trimmed and cut to make stakes and bindings for fences on the
estate.
The remaining material was used to create habitat
piles to encourage
insects and provide homes small creatures.
(Photo: Roger) Left: View of Lyveden New Bield....
(Photo: Val) Right: Work party behind the newly
created habitat
pile.
Houghton Mill
- 21st September 2008 [Article and
photos by Tom]
The task this Sunday
was digging holes to put in 5 posts so that a fenced area could
be extended.
(Photo: Tom) Starting digging holes for fence posts
Digging went well
despite the concreted area beneath the paving and roots nearer
the hedge.
By 16:00 we had concreted the 5 posts needed to extend the area,
just in time for tea at the tea shop.
(Photo: Tom) 5 fence posts concreted in, from left to right Lop,
Martin, Phil (Property Manager), Alison and Joan
Ilam Hall Weekend -
14th September 2008 [Article by
Neil]
Awaiting article
Wimpole Midsummers Nights
Dream - 23rd August 2008
A change from our
typical tasks, this one involved stewarding for Wimpole's
open air theatre event – the Shakespeare classic "A
Midsummer Nights Dream",
performed by Heartbreak
Theatre Company in
the atmospheric setting of the Old Rectory Garden.
(Photo: Val) Left: Sarah doing ...something?....(Photo: Val) Right: the stage and settings. (Photo: Val) Left: Betty checks tickets.... (Photo: Val) Right: View of rectory gardens, stage is to the back
and left.
more diary pages
..... the diary of tasks and events has been split into smaller
web pages
to reduce the page loading wait for viewers with dial up connections
.... next diary page. diary page 7: 9th June 2008 to 24th August September
2008 diary page 6: 12th April 2008 to 15th June 2008 diary page 5: 23rd November 2007 to 16th March
2008 diary page 4: 29th July 2007 to 18th November 2007 diary page 3: 4th March 2007 to 15th July 2007 diary page 2: 26th November 2006 to 14th January
2007 diary page 1: 7th July 2006 to 19th November 2006
Site maintained by
Roger Jayes.
CNTV contact details can
be found here.
Thanks to Mythic Beasts, Cambridge for supporting CNTV and hosting
this site. This website and contents
is copyright CNTV 1999 - 2008 except
the title "National Trust" and the "Oak" logo
which are registered trade marks of the National Trust.
The
paint colour has now been identified and ordered.
