News | SACV | A voluntary conservation group working in and around Manchester, England

Willow hedge and willow tits

October 15, 2018 by Julian

This past weekend was our final residential weekend of the year, working for the Peak Park Conservation Volunteers. On Saturday we were on the shores of Tittesworth Reservoir, creating a willow hedge to prevent walkers and dogs from disturbing an area using by ground-nesting birds. On a very wet Sunday we were at a different nearby site, this time enhancing the habitat for willow tits by creating standing deadwood. An excellent trip – in spite of the rain and a recalcitrant fire alarm in our accommodation!

Gap to be filled with willow hedge

Volunteers at work 1

Volunteers at work 2

Volunteers at work 3

A dog tests the barrier

The completed willow hedge

Creating willow tit habitats

Creating deadwood for willow tits, and habitat pile

Heathland at Tegg’s Nose

September 26, 2018 by Julian

This past Sunday we once again joined Martin of the Cheshire East Rangers to carry out some heathland work at lovely Tegg’s Nose. We were removing gorse bushes that would otherwise swamp the heather and blueberry on the slopes here.

We also found some sort of translucent yellow fungus that we couldn’t identify (anyone?!).

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Volunteers at work

Fungus

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Posted in Heathland | Tagged Cheshire East Rangers, Tegg's Nose Country Park |

Urmston Meadows and water voles

September 4, 2018 by Julian

This past Sunday (2 September) we were out helping City of Trees at Urmston Meadows with some habitat management: thinning out trees, mostly willow, as part of a larger project which aims to improve local conditions for water voles. It is thought that there are already water voles at this site and the work aims to enhance the conditions for them.

Many thanks to the new volunteers who came along – it was good to meet you all!

Getting started

In progress – increasing light to the bank

Canine volunteer takes a rest

Work done – a clearer bank

Posted in Coppicing, Woodland management | Tagged City of Trees, Urmston Meadows |

Hogswood and Brookheys Coverts

August 12, 2018 by Julian

As in previous years, today we were once again out with Cheshire Wildlife Trust volunteers at Hogswood Covert and then Brookheys Covert (sites now managed by the National Trust), continuing the battle against the invasive Himalayan balsam in these woodlands. It was pleasing to see that there was less balsam to be found than in the past, so the battle against the invader is gradually gaining ground!

Himalayan balsam developing seed

Volunteers tackling Himalayan balsam

Uprooted Himalayan balsam

Posted in Invasive species | Tagged Cheshire Wildlife Trust, National Trust |

Steps at Chorlton Water Park

July 22, 2018 by Julian

Many thanks to the small but dedicated band of volunteers who made it out today to help renovate a set of worn-out steps at Chorlton Water Park. What an improvement!

Steps before

Volunteers at work

Steps from above

Steps afterwards

Volunteers

Posted in Steps | Tagged Chorlton Water Park |

A hot day at Hollinwood

June 10, 2018 by Julian

Today we were back at Hollinwood Scout Camp – the development of the camp and woodland has progressed apace since we were here about a year ago. We did some clearing work around the “main camp” part of the site, particularly for the removal of the invasive Himalayan balsam and in preparation for further ongoing management of this area. We were glad of the shelter of the trees in today’s heat, and of course for the excellent supply of tea and biscuits!

Cleared area

Tea break

Path and recently planted hawthorn hedge

Path and bird hide

Posted in Invasive species, Woodland management | Tagged Hollinwood Scout Camp |

SACV goes to Ireland!

May 27, 2018 by Julian

This month saw SACV’s first international outing! We spent a long weekend in Ireland and joined in with voluntary work being done by Mountain Meitheal, a group of environmental volunteers who have for the past fifteen years undertaken conservation and restoration projects on mountain and forest tracks and have won awards for their work.

Our volunteer Mike is a past member of Mountain Meitheal and nobly organised the trip over to Ireland for nine SACV members. In glorious weather, we worked with Mountain Meitheal on path maintenance and waterbar construction on Three Rock Mountain (Saturday 5th) and were taken on an instructive guided walk (Sunday 6th) around Glendalough to see some of Mountain Meitheal’s past projects.

It was a great weekend. Very big thanks to Mountain Meitheal who gave us a warm welcome, contributed very generously to the cost of our accommodation and were informative and engaging guides to the local area. And of course – very big thanks to Mike who came up with the idea and planned the weekend, booked the ferries and youth hostels, drove the minibus and pulled the whole thing together!