December work day 6th December.

A message from Ron.
Hi and an early Merry Christmas to you all,

Don't forget this Sunday we'll be at Hall o' the Heath tidying the hedge and area around the pond. Our resident fire lighter will, hopefully, produce enough hot embers to roast a few potatoes and there should be enough coffee and mince pies to complete the 'feast'. Let's hope the weather is better than last month's!

A nice warm fire from December 2007.

Tree Planting with Haslington Guides

On Sunday 22 November the Haslington Conservation Volunteers were joined by the 1st Haslington Guides and their Senior Section to plant a variety of trees.
During a break in the rain we managed to plant three locally grown oak trees together with a pack of 30 smaller specimens to develop a small copse close to Fowle Brook.
The trees included Hazel, Holly, Dogwood, Hawthorne and Dog rose.
Tree warden Colin Lythgoe identifies the small oak, surrounded by the tree planters. If we come back in a few dozen years it might look like the slightly larger specimen growing on Shukers farm behind the group.
The instructions from Ron required us to remove a small area of grass, two spades by two spades, dig over the ground that was uncovered. Then the tree "plug" was popped into a hole in the loosened soil, firmed in and a stake knocked in alongside - missing the roots. Apparently many bare rooted saplings are killed off by exposing the roots to icy or drying winds, so they need to be kept in the plastic bag until the moment of planting. A tree shelter made from corrugated plastic was then placed over the small tree and tied to the stake. The tree shelter stops attacks by rabbits or other small creatures, but also provides an excellent miniature greenhouse environment to encourage growth. Finally the grass that was dug out is placed face down around the tree - this provides some nutrient but also reduces competition with the tree until its roots are re-established.


Guide Leader Joy Hitchen had obtained the 30 small specimens. The tree shelters were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Haslington. Thanks also to Brian from the Cheshire East Rangers and the parents of the Guides.

Winterley Pool Panorama

Winterley Pool Interpretative Panel

The interpretative panel was the subject of some vandalism during October, this required some minor repair work from Ron and Colin. The panel is now back in a safe condition, but the group are progressing plans to create an new display using more modern printing technology in the near future.

Autumn at Winterley Pool.

October Work Day

Sunday 4th October 2009.
The October work day for the Haslington Conservation Volunteers will be building bird boxes. If you can meet on the Waterloo Road Car Park at 09:00 or 09:10 at Zan Industrial Park. The work will involve assembling bird box kits that Julie has obtained for us. We will be working in a unit at the Zan Industrial Park in Wheelock.

Mecca

The second location in Macclesfield to be visited by the Haslington Conservation Volunteers was the private woodland of Mr Raymond Maddock. The area known as Mecca, a former equestrian centre contained trees in a variety of settings.
Hornbeam to provide shelter for sheep in a small pit left over from clay extraction. Colin points to a young example of Hornbeam.

Ray discussed the practical aspects of maintaining woodland, cycles of thinning out young trees - which were then used as fuel for his wood burning stove. Having identified the trees to be removed, all the branches up to head height would be removed and the brash cleared away. This would leave the ground clear when the trees were then felled and cut up, if a tree falls in the wrong direction it is quicker and safer if the ground is clear. In areas where the thinning has taken place the undergrowth rapidly moves in again, providing a cycle of habitats within the wood. Small glades have been left within the woodland to provide light and access - a favourite area to see butterflies, or resting members of the HCV.

Ray had been able to buy many of his thousands of trees from sales at Chelford Market, he became the buyer of last resort where sellers did not want to take their stock home again; this has resulted in a very mixed selection of specimens.
The woodland runs down of reclaimed land towards the Macclesfield canal. This pond full of rushes and reeds is fed from the wood and spills over into the canal.

Teggs Nose Country Park

The Haslington Conservation Volunteers 2009 educational visits took us to two locations near Macclesfield. The first was to Teggs Nose Country Park to look at the variety of trees around the reservoir.





The old Hornbeam with its twisted trunk and branches may be made up from more than one tree. In times past owners sometimes planted more than one tree in the same hole to act as boundary markers for their land.

Teggs Nose has been the site of a quarry, the overburden and waste was pushed over the top of the hill forming scree slopes and areas of deeper soil - attracting varying plant life.

September workday

Ron's monthly message....
"Here we are at the start of another month. This Sunday we will be working at Hall o'the Heath replacing damaged tree barriers and, if time allows, removing some ragwort from the wildflower area. I would also like to remind you of the forthcoming trip on Sunday, 13th September. We will finalise the details this Sunday.

Let's hope the weather has improved by the weekend. Look forward to seeing you at the usual time on Sunday morning."
Sunday 6th September 09:00

August Workday

A message from Ron....
Another month has passed and we have a workday this Sunday. We will be putting up a barn owl box at Hall o'the Heath. Unfortunately, Brian will not be able to join us. We might have a replacement ranger but I am sure we can cope on our own if necessary.

The Barn Owl Box came pre-assembled, but needed to be firmly bracketed to the top of a reclaimed telegraph pole. Farmer Dave Gilbert appeared to have a selection of poles in stock so we chose one that would leave the box about 5m above ground level.

The box and pole was taken from the assembly yard using the farm mucking out tractor down to a site between two fields. This is the second large owl box that the HCV have installed on the Hall o'the Heath farm; the first being in the wildlife garden near the pond. The new box will be visible from the Haslington Circular Walk route.

Haslington Hall and the Women’s Institute

Haslington Hall and the Women’s Institute

Whilst Colin Lythgoe was compiling the Haslington Walks leaflet produced by Haslington Conservation Volunteers in 2008 he noticed what seemed likely to be an error in the association between Haslington Hall and the founding of the Women’s Institute - this had been repeated in many leaflets and guides about Haslington. Reasearch by Colin and his sister should now provide a definitive response.

HASLINGTON HALL AND THE WI: CORRECTING A POPULAR ERROR

There is a popular misconception concerning Haslington Hall and the founding of the Women’s Institute Movement. This is that the founder of the WIs was Mrs Watts, the wife of Colonel Humphrey Watts who lived at Haslington Hall. This is not correct.

The Women’s Institute movement was founded in Britain in 1915 by Mrs Margaret Rose “Madge” Watt. The first President and founding member of Haslington and Crewe Green WI in 1944 was Mrs Lillian Watts.

The origin of this error is not known but given the similarity of the names and the connections with the WI it is easy to understand how it could start. It has been repeated many times and is included in several local leaflets on Haslington; in information at a County level e.g. About in North West England: Haslington; “Haslington Hall is … Notable more recent residents include Margaret Rose Watt, who was influential in establishing Women's Institutes, Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake, the first director of the Women's Royal Air Force … “ and is even included at a national level e.g. Wikipedia “Haslington Hall: … Previous residents include Margaret Rose Watt, who played an important part in setting up Women's Institutes in UK. She was a Canadian who lived in England between 1913 and 1919.”

Margaret Rose Robertson was born in Ontario, Canada, married Dr Alfred Watt and moved to Victoria, British Columbia. She was a leading figure in the local Women’s Institute, a movement which had started in Canada in 1897. When Dr Watt died in 1913 Mrs Watt and her two sons moved to England to provide for their education. With her she took her devotion to the Women's Institute. At the outbreak of World War I, she realized what a benefit a rural women's organization could be to England. With a small group of like-minded women, she interested the Department of Agriculture in London. When the first Women's Institute was established at LlanfairPG, Anglesey on 16th September 1915, it was patterned on the style of the groups in British Columbia. Mrs Watt strongly favoured the idea of having an international body for rural women. She campaigned for this from 1919 until 1933 when the Associated Country Women of the World came into being. She was elected President, a role she fulfilled until 1947. During this time Mrs Watt travelled the world spreading the word about Women’s Institutes. She died in Montreal in 1948.

Stephanie Lillian Clegg was born in Wilmslow in 1905. In 1930 she married Colonel Humphrey Watts, becoming his second wife. When the Haslington and Crewe Green branch of the Women’s Institute was founded on 17th September 1944 Lillian Watts was the first President. Colonel Humphrey Watts was a senior partner in the prosperous family textile firm in Manchester but his real loves were the theatre and the Territorial Army. He served in France with the Cheshire Regiment in the 1914-18 war and in 1930 was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Regiment. When he returned from France in 1919 he bought Haslington Hall. He married his first wife, Gladys Ethel Mary Parkes in 1907 and they divorced around 1926. They had two children and the second child was Felicity Hyde Watts. Born on 1st May 1913 at Cheadle Hulme, she spent much of her youth at Haslington Hall. After a distinguished career in World War II, she became the first Director of the Women's Royal Air Force when it was formed in 1949, when she was Air Commodore Dame Felicity Peake.

Colin Lythgoe 01270 Crewe 582642, 11 Waterloo Road, Haslington, CW1 5TF

July work day

The July workday involved clearing footpaths around the Hall o'the Heath pond and wildflower garden.
Chris Strimming Ron clipping the grass around the exhibits in the wild garden.

Dave clearing grass away.

A surviving teasel in the recently planted area of saplings. All the grass was passed over the fence for the eager cattle to consume.

July workday - 5th July

Message from Ron

It's coming up to our first Sunday in the month meeting. We will be up at Hall o'the Heath doing various jobs. We need to finish off the two gates, tidy and do some work on the wildlife garden ready for the Brownie group's visit this month. Also, we'll be working along the footpath through the wildflower area and clearing around the kissing gates. So, we will need Brian to provide us with strimmers, two if possible. I will bring a couple of pairs of shears.

Look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Let's hope it's a bit cooler by then!

Regards,

Ron.

Midsummer Walk

Ron organised a walk on Midsummer's Day along parts of the Haslington Circular Walk and the Conservation Walk.
Leaving Haslington Hall and heading for the hills.

The end of the road..

Stile entering Stockton Farm

Wildflower meadow at Hall o'the Heath Farm.

Cattle grazing at Hall o'the Heath Farm

New Calves.

Midsummer Walk with Ron

Ron sends a reminder that he is leading a Midsummer's walk on the Haslington Circular Walk route on Sunday, 21st starting at 10.30am from Waterloo Road car park. The walk is featured in the Cheshire East Open Air programme. The route is 4miles/6km and should be back at Waterloo Road for 13:00.
Some cycle parking available at the start of the walk.

Gates installed at Hall o'the Heath

The June work day required the installation of three gates at the Hall o'the Heath farm. The gates will provide us with access to the Wildlife Garden and new area of trees for maintenance.

Expert use of the spoons.

Daily Green Tip

A site with daily Green Tips....

http://www.squidoo.com/GreenTip

June Work Day

Sunday 7th June 09:00 starting from the Waterloo Road car park.

A quick note from Ron highlighting this Sunday's Conservation Volunteers work day

"We will be back at Hall o'the Heath to fit two small wooden gates and to tidy up the fencing and gate on the hazel coppice.

Look forward to seeing you, come rain or come shine."

Winterley Pool - Display Board

Ron and Colin have been busy performing their annual refurbishment of the Winterley Pool interpretive panel. This year in addition to the repainting of the woodwork a replacement plastic sheet has been installed - resulting in a much clearer view of the details of "Dawn to Dusk at Winterley Pool".


Following the Bank Holiday weekend feeding there were one or two wildfowl still able to float.

Village Day 2009

The Haslington Conservation Volunteers had their usual stand on the village green on Saturday. Sheltering under a gazebo that was tied to a tree shelter due to the strong winds. The display included leaflets for the groups circular walk and the Open Air guide 2009 from the Cheshire East Rangers. Bird identification charts were available that would cover most of the common local feathered wildlife.
Ron had also provided a couple of bird boxes – if you would like one they are available for £8 – you can install them at home or we can fix them up in either the nature area on Primrose Avenue or on the circular walk route.

New Kissing Gate onto Holmshaw Lane

To Install a Kissing Gate
Start with a wobbly wooden stile, this one is where the Haslington Circular Walk meets Holmshaw Lane. The stile was not that old but appeared to have been hit by a vehicle and was unstable.

The kissing gate is made from galvanised steel and arrives in three pieces on the back of Brian’s trailer.

Having removed the stile, the gap in the hedge needed to be widened slightly.

The ground needed levelling and holes digging for the three deep supports and the crossbar under the gate opening. The ground was mainly sandy apart from one hole into clay that required the crow bar to loosen the ground up.

Once the frame is considered level, the holes can then be filled and the ground compacted.

The team from Haslington Conservation Volunteers, with Brian from the Cheshire East Ranger Service.

The finished gate, ready to find the way back home?

Dates for work days

Dates for work days are displayed in the notice board on the side of the Red Cross building on Waterloo Road car park.
Generally meetings start at 09:00 on the first Sunday of each month.

Summer at the Hall o'the Heath Pond

Early Summer
July 2009

July 2004