Track and drainage work at Millerground.

The accumulation of leaf mould covering the track at Millerground was getting quite thick. Neil at the controls of a JCB, scraping up the mud and leaf mould prior to some resurfacing work. 

The track was wet in places, owing to drainage problems.

In addition to cleaning the track, Neil dug a trench in order to catch surface water coming down  from Queen Adelaide Hill's steep slope above Millerground.

The slope at the bottom of Queen Adelaide Hill. The Millerground track is below the dry stone wall boundary.

"Beck Cobbles" were used to make a "French drain" in the recently dug trench. 

The finished drain. It allows water to flow freely into a pipe situated further down the slope which then empties into the beck.

The popular track that leads down to Windermere is much improved and now has a much better and (drier) surface for visitors to walk on. The new drainage system is coping well, even during  recent torrential rain.

Working Holiday

National Trust Working holidays are an exciting and interesting way for people to volunteer and make a difference in conserving the environment and the UK’S heritage. Working holidays have been a part of the National trust for over 45 years and involve people of all ages involved in all types of projects helping us in our work.

The volunteers bring with them a wealth of knowledge and new ideas, skills and experience that the National Trust and others benefit from. The holidays ensure that vital work gets addressed leading to the continued preservation and improvement of a wide spectrum of properties and makes a contribution towards visitor enjoyment and bring locations to life

Volunteers have the opportunity to work in some amazing places, gain new skills and enjoy, often unique, experiences.

Over the last week a team of volunteers have been hard at work at High Close. As part of a larger ongoing volunteer project of reinstating the footpath infrastructure and opening up the grounds for visitors to enjoy the group began work on reinstating the footpath from our new visitor car park into the grounds

The path had been cleared by Cumbria Probation Group ready for the working holiday group to begin setting the edging stones and resurfacing the path.



The group started work on laying the edging stones....

Once the edging was in place this was backfilled with stone to surface the path...

Some work was also done on the banking to remove invasive American Raspberry and to landscape the area ready for grass seeding

We didn't work the group all week, the volunteers got a break and spent the day at Tower Wood on Lake Windermere. Our instructor for the day was Loz who took the group out to enjoy some Kayaking, Sailing and the high ropes tower

 

A great day was had by all ....

By the end of the week the volunteers had completed the path which now provides valuable access to visitors to the Lake District at High Close. Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work over the week.

To find out more about the different types of  National Trust Working Holidays visit the National Trust Website Here

A couple of small jobs.

Some of our work involves basic maintenance, or dealing with situations as and when they arise.

The following are two recent examples:

A small section of the private road to Long Green Head Farm, and Troutbeck Park Farm was eroding quite rapidly. 

Digging out to create a firm foundation for the revetement and tarmac.

The repair two weeks later and holding firm.

Heavy vehicles such as tractors and "feed wagons" use this narrow, single track road so a prompt repair was needed before it got any worse.

Next..

Two trees had fallen across the boundary fence between the National Trust wooded area at Post Knott and the neighbouring field owned by Matson Ground Farm.

The fence was no longer stock proof so the trees needed to be removed as soon as possible and the fence repaired.

A chain saw was needed to cut up this much.

Now on to the next fallen tree

Nearly done.

The wood and the brash now tidied away and the fence has been straightened and is stock proof again.

Fleeced! (The Sheep and The Jackdaw)

These images were taken during a routine" litter patrol" in early April.

This jackdaw was seen helping itself to wool directly from a sheep's back for nesting material. Jackdaws are highly opportunistic. Why bother picking up scraps of wool from the ground, when the source is so readily available?

Jackdaws are known to eat sheep ticks, so they may combine wool gathering with snacking! The sheep seemed surprisingly relaxed and insouciant about what was happening.

That's a good beakful!

Tree Planting and pollards in Wood Pasture at Troutbeck Park Farm.

Wood Pasture and Parkland.

An ancient and historic land management  system where livestock grazed amongst trees grown for timber.

These open grasslands, heath, and wetlands interspersed with mature and ancient trees are ecologically important, as well as being visually attractive landscapes.

A long term benefit of livestock, especially cows, feeding, trampling and fertilising the ground has resulted in a species rich habitat.

See Woodland Ranger Ben Knipe's post "Trees + Cows = Wood Pasture," for more details.

Cattle grazing beneath the veteran trees at Glenamara Park, Ullswater.  Image © Steve Dowson, Area Ranger. Ullswater. See post "Glenamara Park."

Nowadays, careful management is required to keep wood pastures at their best by... pollarding trees to extend their life span (See images below), cattle grazing, encouraging natural regeneration, and planting and protecting saplings which will eventually take the place of the existing old trees.

A lapsed ash pollard seen from above......

.....and below. Terrific habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including bats and birds.
Usually pollarded every fifteen years.

A recently pollarded ash at Troutbeck Park Farm. The main branches are cut back close to the trunk which will promote dense regrowth. (The timber and brash stacked nearby). Pollarding slows down a tree's growth so pollards are capable of living to a great age. Older pollards often become hollow.

The National Trust has, in partnership with the tenant farmer, embarked on a major long term project to  improve the wood pasture at Troutbeck Park Farm. The work is grant aided by Natural England through the Higher Level Stewardship scheme.

Part of the project work involves tree planting and constructing tree pens to protect them during the early years.

Fell rangers and countryside Central and East Lakes rangers carrying  the materials for constructing "tree pens" up the slopes above Troutbeck Park Farm.

Back for more materials...... in Red Arrow formation.

A newly planted oak.

The tree pen taking shape.

The wide spacing between the newly planted trees will give them the potential to become iconic veterans in years to come....

'Millerground Enhancement Group'......(Community working together.)

This year has seen the start of a great new initiative to revitalise the Millerground /Rayrigg Meadow area. Historically this area has suffered from some antisocial behaviour especially if we have warm sunny weather.

 View from Queen Adelaide Hill, above Millerground

Simone Backhouse, a local Police Officer, was keen for local schools to assist the National Trust in carrying out work parties to help foster a sense of ownership for the area.

The clapper bridge at Millerground that spans Wynlass Beck near the point where it flows into Windermere.

From this original acorn of an idea, Windermere & Bowness Civic Society started the Millerground Enhancement Group. This has now developed into a fine Oak tree, pulling together the National Trust, Cumbria Constabulary, South Lakeland District Council, Windermere Town Council, Windermere & Bowness Civic Society, Go Lakes, Lake District National Park Authority and Age Concern, all working closely together to forge a common goal. The following is just one example of this initiative being implemented..

On Thursday afternoon, the 27th March, students from Windermere School, together with members of the Windermere and Bowness Civic Society, and members of Windermere Town Council met up with National Trust Rangers at Millerground.

Image showing part of the bramble choked area to be tackled.

The work involved pulling out, and cutting back brambles on the slope above the footpath in preparation for the planting of 2200 bluebells. This was made possible by kind donations from Cllr Allan Winrow (WTC), Cllr Ben Berry (SLDC) & Abi & Tom's Garden Plants of Halecat who also sourced the plants.

Making a great start.

Looking so much better.

Putting the brambles into bulk bags......

.....ready for collection.

Two trips were needed for the National Trust Land-rover and trailer to remove all the bags. 

An excellent afternoon's work by everyone involved.

The following weekend the bluebells were planted by the Windermere and Bowness Civic Society. 

Pictures of the new blooms to follow....

                                            Success!  22nd April 2014.