Enfield Conservation Volunteers
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Enfield Conservation Volunteers |
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JANUARY
Sunday 9th
Ladies Day at Grovelands Park
Holly has spread itself freely under the oak trees and encroached on the pathways and a massive clearance is needed. In mild weather three ladies joined Christine in cutting back and burning holly all day. We made a difference but recognised just how extensive this task is. We regretted leaving larger roots in place and missed the assistance of a winch gang to eradicate them. Many more hours are required to get on top of this job.
Jill Kidger
Sunday 23rd
New River Loop – Town Park
8 volunteers (along with the Park Manager, Mr Chengappa, … a member of parks staff with a chainsaw, and myself) braved the river crossing to work on the island in Carrs Basin. Being one of the few refuges for the waterfowl, the island is subject to trampling and erosion, as well as invasive Norway Maples getting a toe-hold. Our task was to coppice the maple and create barriers to restrict the sites where the ducks and geese gain access, thereby reducing the erosion and compaction. A bonus is the “dead hedge” allows the leaf litter to accumulate and will thus hopefully improve the soil structure. We will return to plant up with some whips to create more cover and improve the understorey.
Christina Lee
FEBRUARY
Sunday 6th
Hillyfields
New location today. Whilst we have visited Hillyfields a few times in the past, we have never (to my knowledge) visited this part. We were down the far end of Hillyfields, upstream or down Cooks Hole Road, depending upon how you wish to navigate. A few years previously a large wall of hedge trees had been planted, and now they needed to be trimmed back to enable the hedge to thicken up, rather than just grow up and out. This will also make the hedge more inviting to birds, as they will get more shelter for nesting and resting. The hedge at the bottom of the hill was growing quite well, but the plants towards the top of the slope were struggling a bit more, no doubt due to the lower slope receiving more water. However, the whole area was quite wet and muddy, meaning that the Rangers Land Rover needed a little pull to get it off the field and back onto tarmac! It did make an interesting end to the day though.
Robin Herbert
Sunday 20th
Grovelands Park
A return visit to the area where we installed a porous pipe and built a hoggin path to improve access for walkers. This area had previously been waterlogged and people had been taking detours into the adjacent woodland areas to avoid the mud. Now that there is a proper pathway, it was decided to put up temporary barriers to restrict access to this woodland to allow the undergrowth to regenerate. Eight volunteers, including two new members, coppiced some of the trees in the area and recycled this material by constructing deadhedges to prevent access to the damaged areas. The deadhedges will slowly rot down over the next two to three years but this will have allowed the woodland floor to regrow.
Judy Mayo
MARCH
Sunday 6th
Trent Country Park
Today the group continued the battle against the invasive sycamores in the Nature Trail. Some were felled with bowsaws or axes, some grubbed out with mattocks and some stumps had their regrowth removed with billhooks and loppers.
Eight volunteers, including one new member, saw the sycamore army retreat a few more yards.
Steve Mathieson
Sunday 20th
Hillyfields
Five members turned up to the Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hilly Fields, which contains a colony of yellow meadow ants. These ants build large mounds in native meadowland but need sunlight to warm them. Our task was to cut back the young growth of the silver birches, which if left would reduce the sunlight and therefore the size of the colony even more. Where the woodland has encroached around the perimeter of the area, it is possible to see abandoned and crumbling anthills. A future task will be to cut down some of the larger trees to try and enlarge the ant’s habitat.
Judy Mayo
APRIL
Sunday 3rd
Grovelands Park
A well attended task today, 11 volunteers including 4 new ones, some of whom had seen notices put up in the park before the task and decided to join us to help out. Working on the footpath at on the south-east side of the park, running along the fence line of the houses in Broadwalk, we continued to make the path dryer and more accessible. On particularly muddy sections of the path, shallow trenches were dug along the line of the path, into which old railway sleepers were laid. These sleeper protruded several inches above the ground, and into the gap a permeable membrane was laid, that then covered in stone chippings to make a firm surface that would drain away any surface water. Hard work on a warm day, but a satisfying one if it ensure that the path does not spread due to walkers trying to find a dry way through on wet days.
Robin Herbert
Sunday 17th
Hillyfields Gough Park
Jill Kidger
MAY
Sunday 8th
Grovelands Park
These two tasks involved the continuation of improvements to a footpath which runs along the bottom of the wooded slope in the north of Grovelands Park. In winter, the path becomes very boggy, so a raised section was made using sleepers set on edge and hogging infill. It was hard to imagine that the ground had ever been soft and wet, as the volunteers chipped away with their mattocks, or hammered stakes into the resistant earth. However, several passers-by assured us that our work was useful and appreciated.
Four volunteers attended on 8th May and six, including two new members, on 3rd July.
Steve Mathieson
Sunday 22nd
Whitewebbs Park
Due to the restructure of the Parks Service, this task didn’t go ahead.
JUNE
Sunday 12th
Forty Hall
One of our annual visits to the Flash Lane aqueduct, built in 1821 to carry the New River into London. Only 6 volunteers today, but since the major work of clearing the two tunnels under the aqueduct has been completed, all that needs to be done is the clearance of the accumulated weeds and other plants that have started to colonise the surface of the aquaduct itself, and the surrounding walls and railings. This was completed, ensuring that this historic section of the original New River remains visible for all who pass to see and wonder at the feat of engineering.
Robin Herbert
Sunday 26th
Pymmes Park
The disused Beverly bowling green at Pymmes is being transformed into a wildlife garden: a gradual process, given the differences in management regimes between bowling lawns and meadows. Today four volunteers planted plugs of ten species of wildflowers: birds-foot trefoil, kidney vetch, tufted vetch, primrose, cowslip, dog violet, salad burnet, field scabious, musk mallow and teasel.
Earlier planting were showing some signs of success, but creeping thistle and in particular common ragwort, were taking over in places, so some volunteers set to work pulling out these invasive plants, while others watered in the plugs. No doubt, not all of our introductions will survive, but given time, most should find their own niches.
Steve Mathieson
JULY
Sunday 3rd
Grovelands Park
See 8th May
Sunday 17th
Whitewebbs Ornamental Lake
Six volunteers with 2 staff, on another hot Sunday we were grateful for the dappled shade of the trees by the ornamental lake. We removed decayed chestnut paling and chainlink enclosing oaks, silver birches and rhododendron, and replaced it with a post and rail and stockwire fence to create a protected area for wildlife close by the water.
Jill Kidger
Sunday 31st
Trent Country Park
Sycamore clearance today, for a change. Continuing our long and seemingly never ending battle against invasive and non-native sycamore in various location, but most notable here in the Nature Trail. Slowly we are making a difference, but much hard work is needed to remove all the stumps, not just coppice the trees, so that they don't come back. Once they have been removed, native trees and other plants will have a chance to grow and restore our woodland to their more natural state.
Robin Herbert
AUGUST
Sunday 14th
Forty Hall
Due to the holiday season a depleted band of five volunteers returned to the area near the fishing lakes to remove more of the invasive sycamore trees to allow the native trees to get more light. Re-growth from previously cut back trees was also removed to weaken the tree further. Although small in number, the group advanced further and further until we found a massive sycamore which was much too big for us to tackle. Unfortunately it is these very large trees which produce the millions of seedling trees which negate our good work. [ A decision was made to ringbark the tree to try to stop the sap rising to the crown, and thereby killing it]
Judy Mayo
Sunday 28th
Trent Country Park
Today the group returned to the removal of Rhododendron from Shaw’s Wood. Although Rhododendron is an attractive shrub, it is undesirable in wild laces as it is invasive and smothering and has no intrinsic value for wildlife. It was often introduced to woodlands in the 19th century by estate managers who wanted to provide cover for game birds, but in more recent years, conservationists have been battling against it all across the land.
Ideally Rhododendron needs to be winched out, as it readily sprouts from the smallest bit of rootstock, but today the volunteers mainly cut it back, only pulling up clumps which could be removed by hand. This did mean that a large area could be cleared, giving the impression that we are finally getting on top of the creeping menace in Shaw’s Wood.
7 volunteers, including one new member, looked back on a tract of woodland newly ready to be re-colonised by native flora.
Steve Mathieson
SEPTEMBER
Sunday 11th
Trent Country Park
A visit to the water gardens today. Located more or less in the middle of the park, they are a hidden gem visited only by the few that know they are there or have discovered them. With just 5 volunteers, our task was to continue to clear the pond of bog bean which are clogging the pond up and not allowing the water to flow or anything else (vegetable or animal) to live with it. By slowing down the water they will eventually silt the pond up so much, it will no longer be a pond! With waist high waders donned, a brave few entered the water to do hand to hand battle, as there has proved to be no other successful method of removal then by grabbing them by the hand and pulling (always being careful not to fall over in the process!). At the end of the day we had made quote an impact on the site, so hopefully the water will continue to flow for a while longer.
Robin Herbert
Sunday 25th
Houndsden Spinney
Eight volunteers worked in perfect Indian Summer weather to extend the boardwalk by 6 metres and create steps to connect it to the path by the Houndsden Gutter. New turf and sleeper steps were constructed in the sloping path to the boardwalk. Sycamore trees were culled in the spinney and a local man who showed interest in the project was given an ECV leaflet.
Jill Kidger
OCTOBER
Sunday 9th
Trent Country Park
Another new site. Trent Park, but a part of it that we have rarely visited. Oak Wood, albeit located nowhere near Oakwood tube station, but a little way north of the Cockfosters entrance. In this wood are a couple of dew ponds – ponds which fill with water only due to dew and moisture accumulating in them, rather than being fed from a stream – which were beginning to become overcome with encroaching trees and other plants. This was leading to them drying out in the summer, and indeed when we visited they were merely a little soggy. Many trees were cut back so that they no longer drained the ponds of water, nor deposited their leaves them to clog them up. Many hands made light work, with 13 volunteers including 2 new volunteers.
Robin Herbert
Sunday 23rd
Hillyfields
In mild dry conditions six volunteers made many millions of Yellow Meadow Ants very much happier when they trimmed away self-seeded hornbeams and birches from around and on top of their mounds. Since the Yellow Meadow Ants prefer open sunlit territories, brambles were cleared and branches removed from overhanging mature trees to prevent the ants from being shaded out. A satisfactory day’s work.
Jill Kidger
NOVEMBER
Sunday 6th
Jubilee Park
The Friends of Jubilee Park had asked ECV to help repair the children’s’ willow maze which had several large gaps and in other areas was very overgrown. 13 volunteers including some of the Friends set to work in what was to become very heavy rain pruning the overgrown willow or weaving it into the chestnut paling fence to hide the gaps. The material that was cut down was trimmed to provide willow cuttings that were placed in the ground where the previous plants had been uprooted. As willow strikes easily it is hoped that by next summer, the maze will be surrounded by a barrier of willow to allow the children to play happily.
ECV would like particularly to thank the Friends of Jubilee Park for making us so welcome and for the very welcome refreshments and shelter which was provided. We look forward to working with them again.
Judy Mayo
Sunday 20th
Firs Farm Nature Reserve
It is some time since ECV visited Firs Farm, and the site is looking somewhat overgrown. However, being overgrown made the mixed hedge alongside the road ideal for laying. Originally planted by ECV in 1991, the hedge had been laid first in 1999. this gave the members the chance to check the effectiveness of their previous work. While the hedge was reasonably bushy, too many pleachers from the previous cut had survived, and they now sprawled along the bottom of the hedge inhibiting re-growth.
The old horizontal growth had to be removed, where possible, along with surplus stems, brambles, old hedge posts and assorted fly-tipped rubbish. The stems selected to be laid were then cut though most of the way, to try to ensure that they would die back after one or two years. This should make the re-growth come from the base of the stubs, or even the rootstocks, so filling the hedge with a thick scrubby understorey: in five or so year’s time we’ll know how well it worked.
Five volunteers, including one new member, tried their hand at this ancient craft. The heathering topped off fifteen metres of reasonably neat and sturdy laid hedge.
Steve Mathieson
DECEMBER
Sunday 4th
Grovelands Park
Sadly only 4 volunteers turned up to this festive cull of the holly in Grovelands Park. The entrance by Branscombe Gardens was very overgrown and the holly had been left to run wild. This resulted in a dark impenetrable barrier under which nothing else could grow. Although few in number, the volunteers set to with saws, loppers and billhooks to remove the straggly and younger hollies which were encroaching near the footpath, leaving some mature specimens and a clearer area where it is hoped that bulbs and other tree species may find space to grow. In true conservation style the results of our labour were put to good use. The branches and thinner trunks of the holly were stacked near the gate for the Council to chip. The thicker trunks were left in the denser undergrowth as log piles for insects and small creatures to overwinter and will eventually rot down.
Judy Mayo
Sunday 18th
Xmas Social
A circular walk in the Green Belt, finishing at the Fallow Buck for an enjoyable pub lunch.
