Portal to the past...New Gateway to Galava. (Ambleside Roman Fort.)

A metal kissing gate, specifically designed for "large mobility vehicles," was installed last year (2013) between Council owned Borrans Park and National Trust Borrans Field, the site for Galava.... (Ambleside Roman Fort.)

The work was undertaken by National Trust Rangers, based at St. Catherine's, with volunteer help.

A large section of the boundary wall was taken down to allow space for the gate and cage; the wall was then rebuilt and "quoined up" to the gateway.

The surplus stone was used to wall up the old roadside kissing gate for safety reasons......No pavement, and on a blind bend in the road.

With the wall taken down, the kissing gate is being positioned
 and the cage sections bolted together. Image: © J.Lund.

TEA BREAK. Image: ©  J.Lund.
The kissing gate completed, and the walling well underway.
The "quoin end" to the left of the image is being built up to the gate post.

One of the completed "quoin ends" with top or cam stones in place.  

New path surfaced with 15/30 ml. stone from Elterwater Quarry.
The approach to Borrans Park from Borrans Field.

The old kissing gate sited further down the boundary wall. (Still in use)
It is cramped even for pedestrians; it is unsuitable for push chairs, let alone mobility vehicles!

Outlook from Borrans Park to Borrans Field from the the new kissing gate.

The greatly improved access, over the old kissing gate, will now potentially benefit everyone wishing to visit the site of the Roman Fort, Galava, from neighbouring Borrans Park.

Wildlife images

 Wildlife images: (My personal favourites) Central and East Lakes area.

White Clawed Crayfish. (Austropotamobius pallipes)  Nr. Windermere.
Above and below.
Only crayfish native to UK and an endangered species.
Cumbria is the main stronghold for this species in England.

For conservation news see post
Crayfish/Cattle Project.

Female common or viviparous lizard outside St. Catherine's Office.
 Unusual in that they are viviparous (give birth to live young). Image © V. Caudrey.

Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)  near the start of the "Tall Tree Trail." Skellghyll Woods.

Tree Bumblebee. (Bombus hypnorum) at St. Catherine's. A  bee, indigenous
to continental Europe, that was first observed  in the UK in July 2001.
Recently spread to Cumbria. See Post entitled "Bees Please" by Ben Knipe.

Netted Carpet Moth Caterpillar, September,  St. Catherine's, on its food plant...Touch Me Not Balsam.(Impatiens Noli - Tangere)...the only balsam Native to the UK.

Netted Carpet Moth. July. (Eustroma reticulatum) at rest on outside loo wall.
St. Catherine's. A very rare moth, mostly to be found in the Lake District.
For the conservation story see post on this blog site.

Grey Wagtail. (Motacilla Cinerea)  St Catherine's.
Image © V. Caudrey.

Peacock Butterfly. (Inachis io) High Close Gardens. Above and Below.

Longhorn Beetle (Rhagium mordax) Skellghyll Woods.
Image © Ben. Knipe. From Post.....Champion Trees of Ambleside.

Male Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Windermere.

Roland Wicksteed. Countryside Ranger.

New Gateway for the track to Orrest Head via Common Wood.

Accessible from the A591, to the east of The Windermere Hotel, is a gated track; this leads to a footpath via Common Wood for Orrest Head, a well known viewing point.

The field gate across the track has occasionally been left open; cattle have then sometimes taken the opportunity to go through and get on to the busy A591. 

The offending gate! Image. Ray Gregory.

To reduce the risk of this happening again, a small walled up gateway below the field gate was reinstated, at the farmer's request, with a "self closing" wicket gate for access.

The field gate will in future be padlocked and bypassed by the new gate.

Taking down the walling stone from the blocked off gateway.
Loading up the power barrow (proving its worth again!)

Most of the walling stone has been taken down in this image.

The power barrow in the trailer. The stone will be taken by the power barrow down the Windermere lake path to Millerground; it will be reused for lake shore revetment work. (See previous posts on this subject).

The wooden gate stoop ready to be "stoned in". The power barrow about to take the the last load of stone away for Millerground. The field gate gate can be seen behind the barrow. It is open but no livestock is in the field today.

The "self closing"  hook and top gate band.

The  gate spring will assist the self closing effect.

Painting on wood preserver stain. Looks good and will prolong the life of the wood.

The finished gateway...........

.........and just a reminder of how it used to look! Image Ray Gregory.

The 4 foot wicket gate, complete with self closing or self fastening catch is much easier to use than the old field gate; it just looks much more inviting to walkers, and will minimise the risk of cattle getting on to the road from here!

Central and East Lakes Rangers: Juniper Conservation Work at Troutbeck Park Farm.

Juniper, a long lived and slow growing conifer tree, is in decline in the U.K. Cumbria, even with the most extensive stands in England, is no exception.

As one of the first tree species to "colonise" Cumbria after the last ice age, juniper has been a feature on this landscape ever since.

Juniper is adapted to extreme weather conditions, and thrives on the poor soil of the Lake District fells.

Many of the trees in Cumbria are now very old; some stands have trees upwards of 200 years old. Unfortunately, the few seedlings that they do manage to reproduce are heavily grazed by sheep, rabbits and deer.

Juniper's poor regeneration is of such concern, that it has been included in the Biodiversity Action Plan as  a priority species for Cumbria.

National Trust Ranger digging out and scraping
away the turf, prior to planting a seedling.

Juniper is a dioecious  (two houses)  tree species. This means that the male and the female flowers grow on separate trees. In effect,  individual  juniper trees are either male or female.

A reasonable number of both male and female junipers, able to produce viable seeds, are needed at any given site to ensure successful regenerations.

Funding from the High Level Scheme has allowed for the planting of 500 seedlings on Doup Crag, high above Troutbeck Park Farm, to hopefully boost numbers here over the long term. 

National Trust Land Rover with the plants and materials.

Using the power barrow to take the tools
and materials on the next leg of the journey.

The quad bike and trailer also being used to transport
the juniper seedlings, stakes and mesh guards.

This is the point where it is too difficult for the quad bike to go any further.
Everything has to now be manually carried up the long, steep slope .

  Clambering up into the mist with bundles of stakes and mesh guards.
The designated planting site is still some distance away.....

A young Juniper....approx 3 years old newly planted into bare ground.
The turf has been stripped back from around where the juniper has been planted.

Junipers packed around with straw in storage box, prior to being planted.

Juniper protected by plastic mesh guards.

Juniper is an important habitat:

It supports, or is host to over 40 types of insects, including the Juniper Carpet Moth. The caterpillars feed exclusively on juniper. Larvae of the Juniper Berry Miner Moth feed on  juniper seeds.

Juniper's dense prickly foilage provides good cover and protection for nesting birds.

The Ring Ouzel, an upland bird of the thrush family, feeds up on ripe juniper berries before its Autumn migration to Southern Spain, or the Atlas Mountains in North West Africa.

Various schemes, aimed at conserving juniper, will hopefully safeguard the long term future of this threatened species.

The uplands for Juniper project

The Uplands for Juniper Project aims to conserve and restore Cumbrian Juniper populations through targeted survey work and the provision of management plans to land owners and land managers. Juniper and other tree species are being planted by Cumbria Wildlife Trust where populations are in decline or in places where recreated juniper stands will provide stepping stones between existing populations.

A young Juniper plant

This focus on juniper conservation came about after long term declines across the UK in the 20^th Century. A decline of 60% up to 1960 was followed by a 31% range contraction in the UK from 1970. These declines lead to Juniper being identified as a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species, and the species was later the only vascular plant to be short-listed as a Cumbrian BAP species.

The Wren and SITA funded Project has now surveyed more than 260 stands – a huge effort which was only made possible by the dedication and commitment of more than forty volunteers. Unfortunately, the survey findings don’t make great reading, as the majority of stands are in long term decline due predominantly to sheep browsing but with shading by tall trees and browsing by red deer being important factors in some areas. The mapping of all of these juniper stands will be used for decades to come – resulting in more focused and strategic conservation efforts in the future, which will hopefully counter the decline that the survey has now highlighted. 

Glenamara Park above Ullswater which is owned by the National Trust is one area that was identified as a site for planting, 500 young plants were planted over two years along with 40 Aspen trees.  It will act as a stepping stone for the stands of Juniper to the west on Glenridding common and to the south at Hartsop.

An Aspen tree protected by a tree guard.

 National Trust rangers and volunteers having a well earned break.

The Uplands for Juniper Project will come to an end in 2014, having planted 9000 juniper across the Lake District, and having encouraged more positive conservation work through 40 management plans Juniper in the Lake District will remain a common feature for many years to come.  

Water-Gate (Heck) at Troutbeck Park Farm.

One of the many water gates or "hecks" at Troutbeck Park Farm needed repairing recently.

The wooden cross "beam" had collapsed into the stream, after becoming rotten in the middle.

A replacement was needed  urgently.

These gates or hecks act as barriers to livestock, whilst allowing the stream to flow past.

A recently felled birch at St. Catherine's looked to be an ideal replacement.

  

With the bark stripped off, it was ready for several coats of wood preserver.

Getting the replacement "beam" into position.

The length of birch  was transported to site by land-rover and trailer.

Final adjustments.

Drilling through the new beam to allow the "swing gates" to be attached . 

Job done!