The Colourful Coast

I suppose it's understandable (perhaps even inevitable) that we immerse ourselves in the happenings on our own patch. So, I'm going to use this post to draw attention to a rather fine part of Cumbria that lies outside the National Park -the fact that I was born and raised there is entirely coincidental and I am completely unbiased in my praise of St Bees Head! It was my personal connection with the headland that first drew my attention to the Trust's work there and I became involved with the Saltom Pit project.

If you have never visited, you are missing a treat. The Trust has been a key agency in the development of what is known as the Colourful Coast project and there has been some great work done to promote access to a stretch of coast between Whitehaven and St Bees. You can read much more at the Colourful Coast website: http://www.whitehavencoast.org.uk/

There are plenty of gentle strolls along country lanes, along the beach, around the harbour and down to the historic Saltom Pit but the more intrepid walkers have a superb, cliff-top walk from St Bees to Whitehaven around the headland with views across to the Isle of Man and Scotland on offer. I'm no longer strong enough to do it and I miss it!

Wendy

All shapes and sizes

What's the use of a volunteer in the Lakes who can't contribute much to an outdoors work-team? Well, here's my work space - my kitchen table.

(I do have a study upstairs but the kitchen is so much more friendly.) I do also work sometimes at a desk in Bowe Barn and the tea there is just as good as mine! One of the advantages of working at home though is that I can take the occasional break to spend with my newish granddaughter in Hong Kong - thank you Skype.

What do I do? I'll have a go at just about any desk job and there are plenty of things falling into that category. Some begin with 'Do you think you could ...?' and I am given the time and space to find a way to do something. So there are some challenges to enliven the days - it beats day-time TV!

So, if you know somebody who can do similar, encourage them to volunteer . I'm sure there will be someone in the Trust who will be glad to have the support. Wendy

Drains and Gulley Clearing - Why you may ask!

It may not seem important to most but without the work undertaken by the NT Rangers and volunteers more damage as shown would take place trashing the fellsides and paths. All the soil and rocks could as in this case end up in the lakes and block paths. If you look closely you may see NT volunteer David part way down the wash out showing how large it is. This was caused by one nights rainfall on the slopes of Burntness Woods Buttermere.

NT Volunteer Phil can be seen digging out a blocked side drain in the rain near to the wash out.

Countryside Meets Town Part Three

You may recall we were asked to move some stone troughs and help spread some stone chippings. Hard work but the effort was worth it to improve access in and around WWH garden. Photo`s show Phil, Jim and Ranger Jack hard at work.

Countryside Meets Town Part Two - Caution Heavy Plant Crossing!

Dig up move and replant some box hedging - no problem if you happen to have a powered barrow.

Countryside Meets Town - Wordsworth House Part One

When Amanda the gardener from Wordsworth House asked if we could help by digging in some stone edges in the Georgian Garden we were only too pleased to help. Phil, Jim, David and Theo took up the challenge. Mind you this task also turned into spreading several tons of stone chippings on the paths as well. (Oh did I mention also taking down and removing a very large and well built shed and also moving stone troughs - oh and did I forget moving the box hedging?)

We were closely supervised by two of WWH volunteer gardeners to make sure we behaved!

The never ending supply of coffee, biscuits and cake helped greatly.

Stile into a Gate Part Two

The weather remained kind to us as we stabilised the path and replaced the wire fence with a timber one. The end result looked very nice! The work was sponsored by a donation to the NT and the paymaster is visiting soon to see how the money was we hope well spent.

Stile into a Gate Part One.

Ranger Mark, his son Stephen plus volunteers Phil and David were tasked with removing an old stile and replacing it with a gate on the shore path of Crummock Water. You cannot really get a better site to spend time "working". Engaging with the public as they passed through the work site.

The weather as you can see was very kind to us - it`s a hard life being a volunteer in such lovely surroundings!

As far as we could get it!

It may not have been far but the new Land Rover has been christened. Its first river crossing and a trip through a very messy cow field.

Getting the Hang of This Now

Just in case you think the country side volunteers only go dry stone walling, we also undertake "most" other tasks asked of us. Some of the other duties we have performed this year are, hedgelaying, fencing, installing and repairing gates and stiles, maintaining the NT boats on Crummock, Buttermere and Loweswater, litter picking, path maintenance, drain and gulley clearing, heavy duty tasks in the gardens at Wordsworth House, brashing, slashing, cutting and burning, lonning repairs at Watergate Farm, footpath surveys after adverse weather looking for damage/landslips and staffing NT displays at public events. Quite varied really.

Check back soon for some further updates and a picture selection of the other tasks undertaken by us.

The New Toy!

Ranger Jack with the new Wagon. He was not the only one to sit in the drivers seat. Mr T better known as Theo also liked his new vehicle.

Countryside Volunteers - Give a Kid a New Toy!!

Another good day out in the spectacular Loweswater area. Phil, Jim, Robin and David were tasked with repairing gaps in Dry Stone Walls on the NT tenanted farm at High Nook. The highlight of the day was trying to get NT Ranger Jack driving a brand spanking new Land Rover Defender as far off road as possible! Well Ok we only managed to get it across a beck and into a messy cow field to take us to our work site. (well isn`t that what Land Rovers are for)

We repaired two wall gaps, stabilised another and part repaired a fourth leaving us work for next week?

A great day out.

Countryside Volunteers Newsletter 5

Countryside Volunteers Newsletter 5 will be on its way to you soon - let us know what you want to see and hear, and what we should plan.

J&J

Countryside Volunteers - Dry Stone Walling

Countryside volunteers, Phil, Jim, David and guest Paul had a grand day out at Lanthwaite repairing two wall gaps above Crummock Water.

Path Repairs, Ennerdale

Here we go, the first proper post on this new blog, sadly without pictures as the weather meant it wasn't worth taking cameras out.

Tuesday 16th August: The Wild Ennerdale volunteers, led by Mark Astley, helped fix some problems on the footpath from Bleach Green up to Anglers Crag, draining wet patches (helped by the heavy rain, which made them all much clearer..) and repairing bits of the path that were starting to collapse into the Lake.

Hi there! At last we have figured out how to use this blog feature on the hub....it's so easy peasy we're sure that you'll all be able to use it.

Jean & Jean

Hello and Welcome

Welcome to the North Lakes volunteer blog – we hope you will use this space to share an update on what your volunteer team’s been working on recently. 

If you are a volunteer in the North Lakes and want to post your news on this blog, please contact us via the contact page on the Volunteer Hub