Hall o'the Heath

Preparations start for the baked potatoes  

December workday

Message from Colin....

"So this coming Sunday is the most anticipated work day of the year and I hope to see everybody there, but particularly Dave and Chris! 

There are a few jobs that I have thought of that we can do to work up an appetite:-

•  Change the house type nest box in the yard for a new starling box
• re-label all of the boxes in and around the yard with the correct numbers
• check all of the owl nest boxes using the big ladders
• reinforce the wildflower meadow fence with two new fence posts
• remove supports etc from trees in the wildlife garden

and that’s before I ask Ron!"

Sunday December 7th, 09:00 starting from Waterloo Road Car Park.

November Workday

A note from Colin.

"The next workday is the next Sunday which is the first Sunday in November – hard to believe with the weather as warm as this.  The plan is to check the nest boxes at Hall o’the Heath farm; Ron has the ladders, the forecast is fair so we should be good to go.

 

Hope to see you all then."

Sunday 2nd November, 09:00, meeting at Waterloo Road Car Park.

October Workday - Plant Plugs

The October workday was split into two tasks, both at Hall o'the Heath Farm.

Task 1. Planting 150 wild flower plant plugs into the wild flower meadow.

Colin describes the method...

10 plugs of 15 varieties, plus some extra potted plants.

Remove a small area of competing turf, insert and water in.

Task 2. Replace the damaged fence and access point, this should keep straying cattle from the newly planted area.  The two rails have been bolted into place, they will be unbolted in the Spring to allow access once the growing season starts again.

Autumn Workday

The first Autumn workday is on Sunday 6th October starting at 09:00 at the Waterloo Road car park.  We hope to be planting a tree inside a new tree guard at Hall o'the Heath Farm.

Pond Dipping at Hall o'the Heath Farm

As a practice for research that will be undertaken at Winterley Pool, Julie Molyneux provided a practical session in pond dipping at two of the ponds at Hall o'the Heath Farm.
Pond 1

Located to the SW of the farm yard in an area that has been protected from farm animals until this season.  The pond does not hold any special conservation status, though examples of ?? grass which are rare in this area have been found close to the pond on the E slope.  A seeded wild flower meadow is on part of the land that supplies the run-off into the pond.  The pond was mechanically dredged in November 2011 see the Blog entry for November 2011, the water is max of 2ft deep over a clay/brick base.  Although summer waterlevels can be low it has never dried up in recent years.  The pond was partially shaded when the dipping took place between 18:40 and 19:20.  Samples were taken from the N and E bank of the pond.

• Stone Fly larvae
• Blood worm
• Rat tailed maggot
• Dragonfly Nymph
• Water Boatman
• Smooth Newt
• Whirly Gig Beetle

Sample tray. Note Water Boatman top right, immature newt bottom centre.
Found a newt on every other dip, large number of water boatman and Rat tailed Maggots, higher density and variety of species than at Pond 2.

Pond 2.

Located in a field to the SE of the farmyard.  The pond and surrounding field do not hold any special conservation status. Contains large numbers of dense bull rushes and Rosebay Willow-herb.  The area is surrounded by an electric fence to minimise intrusion of cattle.  The pond appeared to be a maximum of 4ft deep, we had witnessed it being dredged in 20??.  It is located on one of the highest points on the farm, was it an old marl pit, how is the waterlevel maintained given the surrounding land is lower?  Dipping took place between 19:30 and 20:10.  Samples were taken from the E and S bank of the pond.

• Water Boatman (large numbers)
• Great Crested Newt ?
• Smooth Newt

Initial conclusion that there did not appear to be a great a variety as in pond 1, this may be due to the fact that is was nearly fully covered in vegetation prior to the dredging in 20??.

April workday

Many of the smaller broken branches from the fallen oak tree were added to the various woodpiles within the wildlife garden at Hall o'the Heath Farm. It may look like a fire, but it will become home for various bugs, beetles and slithery things.

Dave and Chris installing a small stile to provide access into the wet woodland area, to allow monitoring of bird boxes and the other wildlife.  The growing foxglove plants did survive.  The materials were recycled bits of wood from earlier projects.

December bonfire and work day

First start a fire using wood from a fallen tree and farmyard rubbish such as coloured binder twine.

Baked potatoes had been prepared by Chris and Dave.  There were options for bacon, cheese and vegetarian, wrapped in foil, cooked at home in the oven, packed into sweet tins (sitting on wire netting).

Then placed into the fire.  The result was excellent crispy bacon wrapped baked potatoes - hot but not burnt.  Add sausage rolls from Alan, Chocolate Fudge from Sarah and lots of cakes from Ron.

Sarah and Ron checking one of the bird boxes next to the Hall o'the Heath orchard. 

The end......

Hall o'the Heath Pond

During the summer it was noted that the pond at Hall o'the Heath Farm had become overgrown with vegetation to the extent that you could walk across it.  The plan was to dredge half the pond and remove much of the strong growth.  Back in the autumn we had removed a post and wire fence so the cattle should now be able to graze down the the waters edge and keep future growth under control.  During November the pond was cleaned out with an excavator, we are now waiting for more rain to refill to cover the shallow edge of the pond.  In a wet year the water spills over the back edge of the pond through trees and into a drain, these pictures show the lowest level of water for many years after a mild and dry autumn.

Orchard Workday

The October workday took place in the Hall o'the Heath Farm orchard.  Tools provided via Alistair of the Cheshire East Ranger Service.  The plan was to cut back the hedges and overgrown grass and brambles to reduce competition for the fruit trees.  The crop of apples appears to have been quite good this year.

Dave hiding with his hedge trimmer behind one of the very fruitful apple trees.

Fruit on the new apple tree planted this Spring.

Ron gathering the grass and other strimmings to be fed to the waiting cattle.

Julian at work with the brush cutter on the strimmer.

A heavy crop of small apples, most of which will be left for the birds to feed on.

October work and field trip

Message from Ron...

"Hi Everyone,

We have a busy weekend starting with the field trip this Saturday, 1st October.  We'll be heading out to Lathkill Dale to walk the full length of the dale from Moneyash to Haddon and return, a distance of about 8 miles.  Walking boots are recommended.  Please be at Waterloo Road car park for a 9.00am start.

Next day, Sunday, October 2nd is a workday and we'll be at Hall o'the Heath for a general tidy-up of the orchard and hazel copse plus some work on the wildlife garden.  All being well, Alistair will join us.

See you soon,

Ron."

December 2010 Workday

The December workday required the collection and disposal of various lumps of fallen branches as part of a tidy up around the orchard at Hall o'the Heath farm.  Chris and Dave had prepared baked potatoes that required heating up ready for an early lunch whilst the frost and snow were still around.

Baked Potatoes cooking on our traditional December bonfire.

Workday Sunday 3rd October 2010

A message from Ron

"This Sunday is our workday and we will meet as usual at Waterloo Road car park at 9.00am.  From there we're going up to Hall o'the Heath.  We hope to cut and rake the wildflower meadow but if Dave is unable to cut the meadow for us, we will do some tree planting instead."

Sadly the workday was postponed due to the very heavy rain.

Orchard work Sept 5th

The orchard at Hall o'the Heath farm developed by the Haslington Conservation Volunteers.  ready for its yearly tidy.

The grass and brambles were cut back from the whole area and thrown into the neighbouring fields for the cattle to feast upon.

The volunteer workforce taking a food break of essential biscuits and coffee.

The volunteers with Cheshire East Ranger Alistair.

Spring Trees

Spring Trees in bright sunshine at Hall o'the Heath Farm, Haslington March 2010

March Work Day - Tree Guards March 2010

The March task required the construction of a large tree guard around various trees planted at the Hall o'the Heath farm in Haslington.  It was a very bright clear morning, with the sun rapidly melting the frozen surface of the fields.

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.

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.

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.

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.