Somewhere Under The Rainbow

Wednesday 30^th January 2013

6^o C but it certainly didn’t feel like it in the strong westerly wind. The recent snow had all but cleared. Our planned trip to Craster two weeks ago, to help with some dry stone wall building, had been cancelled because of the snow. Last week a deep covering of snow prevented any conservation work.

Recent snow melt meant streams were in full flow
 

Today the team was given the task of clearing branches and brash from a large open area near the turning circle on the edge of West Woods. The reason for clearing this area was so that it can be planted with hazel trees. The brash was collected and moved to the edges of the area to form log piles. It was backbreaking work. Many of the branches had lain there for some time and were overgrown with grass and brambles. One advantage of some of the branches having been lying for some time was that many were rotten and as such were an ideal medium for the growth of some wonderful fungi.

Some of the team at work

Some of the fungi

Around lunchtime we received a good soaking from a sudden burst of rain. Fortunately it was fairly short-lived, but an added bonus was a lovely rainbow seen over West Woods. During the course of our day we received several visits from a nosey red kite.

Rainbow over West Woods

Phil Coyne