Leaves, Leaves and Western Hemlock

November and December 2013

Wednesdays in November and December were largely dry working days for the conservation team; and it wasn’t all raking up fallen leaves – it just seemed that way!

Our first task at the beginning of November was coppicing at The Octagon Pond, using the cut branches to form some dead hedging. Then it was off to Snipes Dene to pull up western hemlock saplings.

A Dead Hedge next to Octagon Pond



Candle Snuff Fungus

Western Hemlock Saplings

The first task on 13^th November was turning over the bark chippings in the children’s play area at Strawberry Castle. This was followed by, yes you guessed correctly, pulling up western hemlock saplings, this time in the Hollow Walk area.

Some of the Team at Work

Leaf Clearing 4th December

The volunteering life ... meet Mike

Mike on leaf-raking duty

Mike helps to looks after the Garden Cottage garden here at Gibside; he also lends a helping hand with a wide variety of other tasks in the gardens. Here he introduces himself and his interests and explains some of the joys of volunteering.

I have been volunteering at Gibside for two years now and more often than not it has been once per week as a garden volunteer. Initially it was a Thursday but the possibility of playing golf on that day led me to change to a Wednesday. However, all of this is reliant on the weather and as I sit here at my computer late in the year 2013 it is dreary, raining, depressing and it is a Wednesday and too wet to go in.

I have been retired since 2005 and although my intention then was to travel, life took a different path and took me to Newcastle over two years ago now to be with my partner Margot. What I then needed to do was to find something to do as Margot was and still is working. I followed my interests and as I enjoy gardening I looked around and found that the National Trust was looking for garden volunteer. Following a visit to Gibside to see the Head Gardener Keith I agreed to start and the rest is history as they say. Who they are I have no idea!

It was a good move and I am still here and intend to continue as long as possible. I have met some nice people in my time here, none more so than my colleague John who started at the same time. I enjoy his company, we have a laugh and we have things in common like sport and music. Volunteering at Gibside also gives me an opportunity to learn about plants, shrubs, trees etc although when Keith tells me what a certain  plant is called I cannot recall its name after a short while (which is frustrating especially when a member of the public asks what a certain plant is called). However it is great to be outdoors getting fresh air and exercise. John and I were given the old cottage garden to look after and through hard work we have it looking really nice and presentable and both of us are proud of our efforts.

Garden Cottage garden that Mike helps look after

Looking round and about Gibside there is lots to do especially following the changes made by the site. Part of the changes made are in the walled garden which is starting to look lovely now that the area is free from cars and will require ongoing maintenance, so there will be plenty to do. The fact the site is huge impacts onto the type of work needed to be done, so Wednesdays is unpredictable in its nature and we could be weeding, cutting grass, moving plants and other items, laying turf etc; there are the endless trips to dump garden waste, oh and a few cups of tea along the way. All in a good day at Gibside.  Is it tea time yet?

Outside of Gibside I enjoy playing golf at least twice a week, attending an art club, walking, learning to play the guitar, and doing tai chi. In my time here in Newcastle I have also tried woodworking, photography and many other things. Before Newcastle I lived in Bolton for 20 years, and before that Scotland, but Huddersfield is my own town and that is where my roots are. For all my roaming around I have never lost my Yorkshire accent and I am always proud to be a Yorkshireman.

My career spanned 37 years, working  in the textile industry for 6 years and then 31 years in the chemical industry for ICI which became Astra Zeneca who then demerged the agrochemicals to become Syngenta (a Swiss based company).

At this point I need a cuppa!

Lets hope next Wednesday is a nice day.

Mike Kitson

The volunteering life ... meet Sylvia

Sylvia harvesting potatoes

As part of our regular Wednesday team, Sylvia helps look after Gibside's cut flower plot and tends her own vegetable plot with fellow volunteer Maureen ...

Six years ago retirement loomed ahead, I had to have some new interests to fill my days. An article in an NT magazine caught my attention, it was asking for volunteers to help with grass snake habitats at Gibside. I drove the 20 miles to see what Gibside had to offer and discovered it is a good place for a long walk, a cup of tea and a nice piece of cake and if you're lucky you might see the red kites flying high above.

I was accepted as a volunteer and after 6 months working with the conservation team through the winter months I transferred to gardening in the flower borders! So on Wednesdays I travel to Gibside to weed, sow dig and hoe. I am also lucky enough to share a volunteer plot with Maureen and over the past 4 years our skill in growing fruit and vegetables has improved and we are proud of our produce.

Despite the backache and tired muscles it is worth the effort in order to meet like minded people, chat to other volunteers and visitors, share gardening tips and work together to make Gibside a good experience.

Sylvia Stockdale

The volunteering life ... meet Geoff & Charmian

the green-fingered Charmian

 This week husband and wife team, Geoff and Charmian -- one the unsung hero of Gibside's wooden edging and the other a welcome green-fingered addition to the team -- tell us a bit about themselves, their work at Gibside, and their other interests too.

In March 2012, I started as a garden volunteer, initially just a half day as I was still working as an Associate in a landscape architectural practice in Newcastle. Hence the related interest in ‘all things green’! I quickly settled in, thanks to the other friendly volunteers and staff. One year on, my husband Geoff, a retired civil engineer with interests in ‘all things structural’ joined the gang.

Living nearby, we have had an interest in Gibside from the early days of the National Trust involvement, when the Estate available to the general public was much smaller. Now there are so many different experiences to be had - the Skyline walk in particular gave we gardeners delightful walks in wintertime when weeding wasn’t on the agenda! Great views from the tops, apart from the newly installed wind turbines at Kiln Pit Hill that are a jarring note viewed from there and elsewhere on the estate where carefully cleared vegetation and seats offer rest to our visitors and a chance to view the Derwent Valley. I wonder if the effect of the turbines on the historical setting of our Listed Buildings got a mention in the Environmental Impact Assessment!

king of the wooden edge, Geoff

A typical day involves instructions from Keith or Tam, then ‘High Ho High Ho, it’s off to work we go’ in our rosy NT tops, chatting to visitors as we work! Me to the ‘softer’ gardening chores while Geoff prefers the tougher stuff so has been wielding a pick and mel in the heat of summer, edging planting beds and part of the road system, anchoring  the corners of the new apple tree stations, his eye for ‘all things straight’ put to the test.

We both enjoy a nice cuppa and something delicious from the Potting Shed café once we are done, such an improved ambience ... and just the occasional passing wedding guest teetering along in impossibly high heels!

As for other stuff, we both manage Ebchester Community Association and Geoff is heavily involved with several local organisations including a group which has been set up to restore or replace Ebchester Boathouse (an NT property) and encourage further recreational use of the River Derwent.

I have sung in choirs for over 40 years and am Chairman of Newcastle Choral Society; I love Pilates, take care of gardens and grandchildren, socialise, (garden visits always a passion) and oh, maybe the occasional bit of dusting! 

Charmian & Geoff Marshall

Ranger Phil's Nature Diary - Waxcaps, Acorns & a Deadly Parasite

I recently took an early morning stroll along the Avenue in search of a rare species of fungi usually found here at this time of the year. The species in question is Clavaria zollingeri or Violet Coral and as the name suggests it grows in a branching manner rather like a marine coral in a vivid shade of violet. I had searched for this a couple of times in vain but on this occasion was fortunate to find a single specimen partly hidden by a covering of fallen leaves. The unimproved grassland of the Aenue is the typical habitat of this species and also of other species including the waxcaps, a particularly colourful family, many of which occur in intense shades of red, orange, yellow and pink. I came across a number of different species including the Parrot Waxcap, a variable species , occurring in most of the colours already mentioned and even a bright green making it rather difficult to locate amongst the grass.

Violet Coral; Clavaria zollingeri



Parrot Waxcap;  Hygrocybe psittacina



Scarlet Waxcap; Hygrocybe coccinea

Blackening Waxcap; Hygrocybe conica

Most of the trees lining the Avenue are oaks and at this time of year the ground beneath them is strewn with thousands of acorns which provide a plentiful bounty for a variety of wildlife.  Birds such as the brightly coloured Jay take advantage of such a feast and they will also spend many hours caching the surplus in case of leaner times ahead in the winter months.  Squirrels are also regular visitors and like the Jays they also spend much time 'hiding' the surplus.  Although we still have Red Squirrels here and in the past I used to see them on the Avenue, sadly I only ever see greys these days.  Roe deer also eat acorns and on this particular morning a family of three were present which amused me for a while muncing on them with small pieces spitting and falling from the sides of their mouths.




Family of Roe Deer feeding on Avenue bank


There is another uncommon species of fungi I usually look for here at this time of the year.  Called Cordyceps militaris or Scarlet catterpillarclub, this is another grassland species which I have usually found in areas arond the Chapel.  It grows as a tiny finger-like spindle, up to about five centimetres tall in a bright shade of orange-red. It is however the life cycle of this fungi which is fascinating if not a little macabre.  It is a parasitic species which attacks and grows within it's hosts body, an underground living catterpillar, eventually killing it before growing and sending up above ground a new fruiting body.  Being so small these can be difficult to locate especially amongst fallen leaves but with a little patience I managed to find several of them.

Scarlet Catterpillarclub; Cordyceps militaris

Fruitbody emerging from pupa

The Redcoat Army

Wednesday 30th October 2013

Normal service is resumed(no rain)! A lovely autumnal morning, only 6^oC, but at least the sun was shining.


After the presentation of a 5 year service award to Mike, 13 conservation team members headed out to The Lily Pond.  The vista up from the pond towards the Column to Liberty had already been strimmed (yippee! No noise) and our task was to rake up the grass cuttings then add them to wildlife habitat piles in the woods.

Butlins? No, it's the Conservation Team at work.

Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum)

With such a large team of workers the task was completed by lunchtime, so it was back to base for lunch in the Walled Garden.

Task almost complete

On the Hunt for Field Voles

It was a lovely sunny Autumnal afternoon with the threat of rain as Catherine, Veronica and myself set out to see if we could find signs that field voles resided at Gibside. We had carried out some mini mammal trapping in September but field voles are obviously a bit more savvy and seem to be able to avoid the traps. So the way that we survey for them is to look for the signs that they leave behind.

Similarly to when we set the traps for our first survey, you choose a 100m long section of the mammals favorite habitat. In this case field voles love lots of long, uncut grass that you might find on road-side verges, woodland rides, field edges or along fence-lines or walls. Then at every 10m point of your 100m line you search for 10 minutes within a 1m squared area for signs of the voles. 

As you begin to part the thick grass the first sign that you may see are the little runs that are created as the voles make their way amongst the grass looking for food.

Then as you look closer you'll see little piles of grass where they have chewed the lush, green shoots of grass and left the leafy tops. If you look closely at the ends of these bits of grass you can see the jagged edges where they have been nibbled.

Sometimes you just find one or two bits of grass and other times you might find a whole pile of them.

The third sign that you are looking for are their latrines. These are prominent areas where they deposit their faeces. Not the nicest thing to be looking for but with all wildlife it is a definite sign that they are around even if you don't see them.

The forth sign that you are looking for are their nests, these are made of woven grass and generally can be found in dense vegetation at ground level. We didn't find any nests on this occasion but as Veronica explained they only use nests during the breeding season in the summer then abandon them, so by the time it comes to the survey the nests could be flattenned and misshapen and no longer look like a nest so they are very hard to spot.

For my first attempt at searching for signs of field vole I was very pleased with the result. We searched along two 100m long sites at Gibside and found signs of field vole at both. This data will be added to The Mammal Societies national database as well as contributing to Gibsides records. I hope we are as successful next year.

Eventhough we didn't spot one, this is what a field vole looks like.