Projects
Apiary
At the start of 2023 Margaret had one bee hive on the woodland. Over 2023 this has expanded to be 7 bee hives. She has another 5 bee hives on her allotment. 3 of the 7 were purchased the other 3 were made from splitting the existing hives. The picture shows the hives in October.
Bat Boxes
In May 2023 we put some bat boxes into the wood. You have to use untreated, rough sawn wood for bat boxes. I obtained this from a saw mill in Sheffield. I made 12 boxes in all. We contacted the Cheshire Bat conservation and they sent two people to put them up for us.
Bird Feeders
We have started to put some birdfeeders around the woodland. It is getting pretty cold, so they seem to be appreciated.
We also placed birdfeeders by the pool. one of the first visitors was a magpie.
Bird Hide
We are constructing a bird hide. A guy from Macclesfield RSPB came to look at the woodland and advised us where to site it.
We are constructing a breeze block base, 3 x 7, with one deep in the first row, 2 in the second and 3 in the third. These were wheel-barrowed in along the public footpath, 4 at a time. The wood had to be carried up from the bottom. A tree fell across the path at the steepest point, to make things even more difficult!
I used two benches as a work bench initially, I also used the surface provided by the breeze blocks. Work started near the end of April 2022 and was completed Early June.
I built the sides flat on the ground. Daniel helped me raise them into place.
Benches
We are making a number of benches from sleepers to site around the woodland. This bench is sited under a large oak tree and enjoys a great view.
This is the bench near the pond. In the picture we are having our first takeaway meal at the woodland. It was a very cold day.
Community Library & Commemorative Bench
We wanted to set up a commemorative bench to my brother who died far too early and we thought it would be nice to couple this with a community library. The pictures show: the library box in construction; the view from the bench; the bench and library from both sides and the dedication to Terry. We sited these alongside the public footpath that passes through our wood.
Foot prints in the snow
We got snow on the 28th & 29th November 2021. It was enjoyable looking to see which animals were about. These are some of the footprints we found. Can you recognise them? Click here if you want to find out.
Orchard
We decided to create a small orchard.
We thought it would be nice to get youngsters to plant the trees. Margaret first planted a plum tree to practice.
The Zoe brought Luke, Alma & Erin across to plant each plant an apple tree.
Frida, a family friend, brought Chloe, her granddaughter to plant the final apple tree.
We have decided to clear the brambles away from behind the bird hide to give an area where we can plant small fruit bushes.
Paths
The path was blocked by two fallen trees. We spent two sessions removing the branches that were blocking the way. We have left two of the main branches that form a overhead arch.
In many cases the trails are steep and difficult to pass. We intend to put steps made from logs, of which there are an abundance, This was our first attempt.
Paths - banisters
I hope to be fit for at least the next two years, so I am using this time to make sure I will be able to get round the woodland over the next twenty years. Here I have put banisters up alongside the steep path to help people keep their balance.
We are making a circular trail around the lower part that is easier to walk. We are smoothing and widening the paths and covering them with wood chips. We ordered 10 ton of wood chip, when it came the lorry was too wide to reverse into the gate, so they had to take it away and delivering it has 3 transit van loads. The picture is of the first load (just over 3 ton). The 2nd picture is the path after being smoothed and finally with the woodchip.
In the lower part there are numerous springs that make the land swampy. We have built a plank footbridge over the worst of this and we have channelled some of the small streams under the path by making small bridges out of paving slabs. The paving slabs are seated on pieces of flat natural stone.
Stocking the pool
On 18 November 2021 we stocked the pond with 15 sticklebacks, 15 rudd and 12 tench. We had planned to only put in 6 tench but only small tench were available so we doubled the number.
Avoiding the pool drying up
By mid June the pond level had lowered considerably. We were concerned that it might possibly dry up.
Fortunately we have a stream that flows near by. So we decided to syphon water from the stream to the pond. I bought a cheap 50m hose pipe and a small syphon hand pump. I managed to get two syphons running out of the 50 m hose. The syphons need re-priming every few days, but the water level is improving.
