News Archive 2023 Oct-Dec
Something completely different awaited the working party of eight volunteers this morning: removing a large tree from the river – not a new task, but a change from strimming. This was on a surprisingly pleasant day which started cold and dull but got out sunny, although windy, later.
We started off as usual by wheelbarrowing our gear from the van to the site – on the north bank somewhat downstream of the tunnel. Lots of kit was needed today, including winching tackle.
Two of the volunteers set off to do some strimming: from the upper footbridge down to the Rest-a-While seat and somewhat onwards from there. One side of the path, it turns out, was badly in need of a strim.
Meanwhile the others were working out how to tackle the fallen tree. It was an ash (we think) and had been growing by the Burn on the south bank until it blew down a while ago. Some branches had been cut off already to free up the north-bank path. Today the project was to get rid of it altogether before a logjam builds up in the river.
First, the lesser branches were cut off and discarded nearby. Next, the chainsaw was used to cut off branches, then to cut through the main trunk close to the base.
Photograph A. Initial clearance
Photograph B. Cutting through the trunk
Basically the rest of the session consisted of cutting up the trunk and hauling the hefty pieces out of the water using a couple of hand-winches. This afforded the volunteers plenty of upper-body exercise, pushing the winch handle to and fro in order to haul a log out inch by inch.
Photograph C. Hauling log out of river with winch
The log-rolling tool came in handy as a lever for getting logs over obstacles such as tree roots. By the end of the session the river had been cleared and there was a big pile of branches and logs by the riverside.
Photograph D. Result!
This was an unremarkable day for wildlife, but a curlew, a jay and a grey wagtail were heard (but not seen).
Keep an eye open for fungi when walking in the Dene. All sorts of weird and wonderful shapes appear on the ground and on logs at this time of the year.
Seven of us assembled at Dene Cottage this morning to have a go at the sycamores and ivy on the western side of the estuary – on a dull, warm and very humid morning.
Sycamores are a non-native species of tree, as most people acknowledge, and they tend to spread through woodland over time at the expense of other trees. You may have seen sycamore seedlings springing up as weeds in your garden. So, we try to keep them under control by:
pulling up saplings,
cutting down small trees, and
removing lower branches from larger trees
Photograph A. Sycamore leaf (with “tar spots”)
Photograph B. Cutting down a small sycamore
It wouldn’t be practical to fell fully-grown sycamore trees; they are very large. Well, we found plenty of sycamores in the estuary area; most of them big trees; some smaller trees but no saplings at all – possibly because the dry springs we have had recently haven’t been good for germination of seeds.
Ivy is a native species. It is seen growing up trees throughout the Dene. At this time of year it is in flower. We think that it needs to be kept in check because trees burdened with ivy are more likely to fall down in a storm and because it would be unsightly if all trees had ivy on them.
Photograph C. Ivy in flower
It was hard work scrambling up and down the steep, bramble-infested slopes of the west side of the estuary but we managed to remove a lot of sycamores and ivy plants using bow saws, secateurs, loppers and pruning saws.
There was a muddy-bum competition at the end of the session, as several of us had slid on the steep slopes – your correspondent being the winner! The washing machine was busy in the afternoon.
Boardwalk repair and sycamore and ivy control – plus an unplanned item – were the tasks for the nine-person working party this frosty morning.
We met up at the metal gate on the Hartley West Farm access road at our usual time of nine o’clock. Three of us went to the side waterfall and started work refurbishing the sloping boardwalk there. The other six grabbed bowsaws, loppers and long-handled saws to tackle the ivy and sycamores on the south bank upstream of the stone bridge.
There are quite a lot of trees with ivy in that part of the Dene, so we removed some of it by simply snipping through the stem and removing some or all of the ivy plant.
Photograph A. Removing ivy from tree
The sycamore situation is also fairly under control in that area – not too many saplings but quite a lot of trees varying in size from smallish to large. So mostly we spent our time lopping the lower branches off the larger trees and felling a few of the smaller ones.
Photograph B. Sawing branch off sycamore
Meanwhile the old rusty wire netting was removed from the boardwalk and two of the cross-boards were taken up as rotten. These were replaced. The rest of the boards were cleaned.
Photograph C. Repairing boardwalk
Meanwhile, it was found that the pipe that drains the pool at the bottom of the side waterfall was blocked. It had been deliberately blocked with part of a tree trunk and large rocks. It was for this reason that water was running along the line of the boardwalk and contributing to the rotten timber. So, we had to unbung the pipe, which took quite a lot of effort.
The weather was much warmer by the time we had finished; in fact we were almost too warm, having dressed up in warm clothing because of the frosty start.
Seven volunteers met at the metal gate on Hartley West Farm road on a rather damp and cold morning. Despite the conditions it was decided to push on and give it a try.
The group split into two parts, four continuing from last week with sycamore and ivy “bashing” on the south side of the burn upstream from the stone bridge.
The other group of three proceeded upstream from the meeting place on the north side to clear an ash tree that came down in storm Babet and was lying over the path. Chainsaw and muscle power were used and the path was soon cleared. This group then switched to the south side where a large bay willow fell over the burn some time ago and was partially blocking the flow.
Photograph A. Clearing fallen ash
This was a rather tricky operation as it had to be carried out from the river bank because the water level was high. Two winches, chainsaw and lots of muscle were needed to drag the tree around to the bank and then cut up into smaller pieces for removal. Fortunately the “bashing” group joined to help the removal work.
Photograph B. Winching branch out of river
Photograph C. Fixing winch line to tree
During the winching work some small sycamore trees were pulled over from the north side and are now lying at an angle over the river. These will be removed in future sessions.
Rather to everyone’s surprise the above tasks were completed on time and the rain held off for most of the morning. It was a very tired group who trudged back to the van with four wheelbarrows and all the gear.
A working party of eleven met up at the familiar assembly point of the metal gate near Harley West Farm this morning to control sycamores on the north bank of the middle Dene. The rain held off, but this was a dull day with a lot of mud under foot.
The rationale for “sycamore bashing” has been covered in previous reports. This morning we came across a much larger number of seedlings and saplings than on previous outings. These were on the north side between the two footbridges. Unfortunately they tended to be on steep slopes and in amongst brambles, but that only added to the fun!
Photograph A. Sycamore bashing
The new mini-chainsaw tool came into its own today – very convenient for cutting down sycamore saplings. The rest of us were using loppers and saws. We must have removed several hundred would-be sycamore trees during the session.
We had a couple of new recruits to the team today and they got a good idea of what are all about – including the vital importance of tea/coffee breaks!
And we got a new mascot as well: Percy the brown cockadoodle, who gave us a demonstration of high-energy activity, dashing around and around us during tea break.
The river level was very high today – so much so that the waterfall just looked like some rapids – see photo.
Photograph B. Waterfall after heavy rain
The working party composed 11 volunteers this morning, and the task was sycamore-bashing again – on a good day for task work, with light winds and no rain (but lots of mud under foot).
The meeting point was the water pumping station near Holywell. Our red tools van can nowadays conveniently be parked in a special-purpose bay near the pumping station gate – thanks to Northumbrian Water.
The work was very much as last week: using various saws and loppers to remove sycamore saplings and the lower branches of established trees. This involved a lot of scrambling up and down steep muddy slopes clad with brambles.
Photograph A. Sycamore bashing
One of us put on waders and attacked the small sycamores growing in the river bank. We found and removed perhaps several score sycamores, which should help to keep the woods in balance, without the sycamores taking over as they tend to do.
Gullies (path drains) are always getting blocked up at this time of the year because of the dead leaves, also twigs blown out of the trees. One of us dug out the gully on the south bank by the upstream wooden bridge. He also unblocked the gully on the north bank downstream of that bridge and cleared out the wire mesh filters in the channel above.
Photograph B. A gully, after unblocking
A flock of several wild geese flew overhead during the session – probably pink-footed geese overwintering here after breeding in Iceland or Greenland.
Oh, and while having a break we were treated to some scrumptious cake baked by the wife of one of our volunteers in celebration of his birthday. He won’t say how old he is, but he says there were twelve candles on the cake plus a 60-watt light bulb!
A decent turnout of ten volunteers met up at the Northumbrian Water pumping station on a dull and wet morning to do some logjam removal plus some ivy and sycamore control.
There were two logjams to sort out, both on the Seaton Burn close to the oxbow pond which is upstream of the tunnel. The Burn was flowing fast and deep after recent rains; nevertheless two of our volunteers donned waders and braved the turbulent waters. I think both pairs of waders were leaking, so this was not a very comfortable experience!
The first logjam required some chainsaw work to free up the tangled branches, then the hand-winch was put to use removing the resulting logs. Meanwhile all the twigs, branches and litter that had built up behind the jam were thrown out onto the river bank. This resulted in quite a pile of large and small timber by the riverside that you might see next time you go for a walk in that part of the Dene.
Photograph A. Freeing first logjam
Photograph B. Winching branch out of river
The second logjam was just downstream of the first. There was a long tree-trunk in the water that had to be winched out. This was moved so that it lay alongside the path on the side away from the water.
Photograph C. Freeing second logjam
These activities only required about six of us so the other four roamed around the woodland on the south side of the Burn removing ivy from trees and looking for sycamores to either pull up or cut down according to size.
Fortunately, it did not rain during the session apart from a shower at the beginning. Indeed we were feeling quite warm in the end as it turned out to be a mild day.
Incidentally, last week’s session (14th November) was called off because of rain.
Nine hardy volunteers turned out on a cold morning at the Holywell pumping station to complete last week’s logjam clearance work and continue the sycamore and ivy control project.
Five of us worked on clearing the third logjam near the oxbow, two in waders. (One of the pairs of waders was leaking badly, and the sole was later found to be disintegrating.) The chainsaw and the winch were deployed, as usual in this kind of work.
A willow had slumped into the river, with one branch partly submerged. This had trapped a couple of logs that had floated down from upstream plus lots of sticks, twigs, leaves and litter. One person in waders busied herself removing all the lighter material, which was very voluminous. The other – in fact the team leader – used the chainsaw to chop up logs and organise the winching effort.
Meanwhile on the bank, three of us spent our time winching, passing strops and cables to and fro, and hauling waterlogged timber, large and small, out of the water.
Photograph A. Starting logjam clearance
Photograph B. Chain-sawing
Photograph C. Winching
Photograph D. Cleared river
Meanwhile the other four volunteers ranged widely over the slopes of the Dene on the south side up- and down-stream of the oxbow looking for sycamore saplings and ivy. The sycamores were pulled up or cut down, according to size. The ivy was removed from the trees it was climbing up. This work was made more difficult by the fact that the slopes were steep and muddy – so several of us had muddy bums before the end of the session.
Several hikers, dog-walkers and cyclists came along the riverside path as we were working and had to go round or under the steel winch cable, with guidance from us.
The wildlife scene was rather quiet today, but:
A robin was flitting around inspecting the material we put on the river bank, no doubt looking for something to eat.
A kestrel was heard calling as it flew overhead.
Long-tailed tits were calling near the van.
The weather today was cold and wasn’t much warmer at the end of the session than at the beginning. There was no wind or rain, and the sun was shining – but not very high above the horizon even at noon. And, of course, it was muddy under foot after all the recent rain.
Final note: Many thanks to James from Whitley Bay for his generous donation of bird feed. It is much appreciated.
Seven reluctant volunteers dragged themselves out of hibernation and turned up in the darkness of early morning at Seaton Sluice estuary this dull and dreary morning to do gully clearance work – only to find that as the sun rose it was the brightest morning for a long time and a fine day for volunteering work.
The meeting place was outside Dene Cottage. A couple of wheelbarrows were loaded up with the necessary tools – spades, mattocks, a rake, a bowsaw, a pair of loppers – and off we toddled down the west-side estuary path to the vicinity of the steps up to the high path. Here is where the gullies start – drainage channels both across the grassy area and along the uphill-side edge of the path.
These get filled with dead leaves, twigs and other litter at this time of year, which is not good news as they are needed to get the water off the land and keep the paths dry.
Photograph A. Clearing pathside gully
Photograph B. Land gully in need of clearing
So, out with the spades, mattocks, etc and we were all digging out the gullies slowly working our way southward. One of them partially consisted of a plastic corrugated culvert pipe, which had been buried at the wrong depth, with the result that water was not getting away. We dug that up and relaid it at a better depth.
Photograph C. Re-laying culvert pipe
Meanwhile, overhead branches were pruned back along the line of the path, and briars and brambles cut back.
Quite a few people wandered along the path as we were working, mostly walking their dogs, but one guy was jogging with a heavy rucksack on his back!
Then, along came a familiar black-and-white dog around mid-morning, wearing a very festive Santa coat, and sure enough our lady chairperson came into view with a junior family member and a box of biscuits for us to sample at coffee break – much appreciated, as we needed an energy boost.
There was little wildlife to report today. The all-white egret was watching us from the salt-marsh on the other side of the burn, and flew away and back again while we working. The usual redshanks and black-headed gulls were conspicuous by their absence, though, strangely.
There are no leaves on the trees now, and no flowers, but the sunny scene around the estuary was quite picturesque. Get down there and have a walk! Watch out for the gullies crossing the grassy area though – as always, Holywell Dene is a rough walking zone, and users have to take care of themselves!
By the way, if you are wondering why there have been no reports the last couple of weeks, the reason, in a word, is weather: two successive rainings off.
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