The project is now accelerating at pace with the major milestone of the tree planting within site.
Contract planting of the site, weather permitting will start on the 4th December and forecasted to be complete within two weeks. This stage will involve the planting of approximately 5,500 native trees and shrubs. Following confirmation of the species mix we will receive, Gavin Callard and Neill Smith have been working hard on refining the planting plan with the aim of maximising the biodiversity of the site. We have taken soil samples to help us plan this, alongside factors such as geology (wet areas) and ensuring low height species to preserve views in key areas.
Stock fencing removal
The sheep have done an excellent job of keeping the grass short for the last couple of months and have now left the site. On the 19th and 26th November we are completing key site works whist we have total freedom of the site before the tree whips are in situe. Our first volunteer day was really well attended and fueled by some takeaway bacon sandwiches from Barby Breakfast Club at the Village Hall, we managed to remove the vast majority of the internal stock fencing and barbed wire on site which has protected the established copses from livestock over the years. The transformation is very noticeable and you can now roam freely through the various areas on site. Doing this now is important as once the tree whips are in place, we would have far less freedom for some of the mechanical removal needed to get the deep fence posts out of the ground.
Pond repairs
We also completed some winter 'repairs' on the pond in Camps Copse - earlier in the year we did some work to this but now that it has again filled with water some flaws were evident. After much digging (playing) around in the clay and mud we developed a much better understanding of the ground geology and why it was leaking. We made repairs the best we could under the conditions and will formulate a new permanent plan for when the pond is dry again next summer.
Some before and after photos can be seen below:
Click on an image for a larger view.