The weekend volunteer team carried on where the Tuesday group left off by clearing more of the brash above the Decoy Pond. We were pleased to be interrupted by a number of reserve visitors who stopped to say how impressed they were with the results of last autumn's forestry work. It seems that everyone is looking forward to seeing the heathland coming back and to how the plants and wildlife will respond to the removal of the heavy pine tree cover in areas like the bank running down to the pond. The photos show the view from the top of the bank and Janina, Alan and Chris getting "kippered" by the bonfire.
Yesterday's volunteer work party spent the day clearing brash from one of the banks leading down to the Decoy Pond. The brash was left behind after the recent felling of trees on this bank to allow more light into the pond. There was a lot more than we thought and it will take another two or three days of work to finish. The bank faces south and there are high hopes that it will become a hot spot for butterflies and reptiles. The clearance work also helped reveal the deep hollow-way that runs down to the pond and which is thought to have been used as a drove road by farmers moving their animals from one place to another. The photos include before and afters which show how much material we cleared up and the hollow-way exposed as a fascinating feature. There is also one of our happy band of volunteers looking very satisfied with their efforts.