Let's just say the weather was mixed, shall we? So anyone apart from me, Richard the Younger, Phillip and Graham D was probably sensible in staying away.
We all enjoyed a brief, Malteser-laden visit from Em II and Boogie - he said he hoped to be with us again soon and promised to bring Em with him.
Both hives are now populated again but our buzzy friends were pretty quiet (apparently they don't like rain, so I have something in common with bees after all) as, thankfully, were the Pateley midges, altho' Graham said that he 'sensed' them.
Continuing moderate progress on the wall. We're at the tricky uphill stage now but our strategy seems to be working.
Please let summer come soon!
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Two for the price of one (weeks, that is)
Sorry I forgot to blog last week and apologies to those who showed up on 13th June because I've forgotten who did and who didn't ... apart from Robert, that is, who joined us for the first time in many a long month. Welcome back and I hope you're able to get more time off before we run out of walls.
The bees, although only recently decanted into their new homes, were very well behaved and only mildly curious about our comings and goings. Not so the midges which were a complete pain in the butt and anything else they could get their itchy little feet/teeth/fangs into. Aaarggh!
Good progress on the wall though, as evidenced by Tony's separately loaded photos.
Yesterday (20th June) is clearer to my fading grey matter. A beautiful, warm, sunny day (yes, we did have a summer one day this year!) and Tony, Emma, Roger, Phillip, Paul, and the Richards for company. Only one hive still occupied (altho' Kit whizzed off to collect a new swarm in the afternoon) and the bees plagued Richard the Y but left the rest of us alone.
The lower end of the wall is now up to full height and the remainder is coming on well altho' the uphill middle section is still presenting challenges.
Photos below courtesy of Richard the E.
The bees, although only recently decanted into their new homes, were very well behaved and only mildly curious about our comings and goings. Not so the midges which were a complete pain in the butt and anything else they could get their itchy little feet/teeth/fangs into. Aaarggh!
Good progress on the wall though, as evidenced by Tony's separately loaded photos.
Yesterday (20th June) is clearer to my fading grey matter. A beautiful, warm, sunny day (yes, we did have a summer one day this year!) and Tony, Emma, Roger, Phillip, Paul, and the Richards for company. Only one hive still occupied (altho' Kit whizzed off to collect a new swarm in the afternoon) and the bees plagued Richard the Y but left the rest of us alone.
The lower end of the wall is now up to full height and the remainder is coming on well altho' the uphill middle section is still presenting challenges.
Photos below courtesy of Richard the E.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
I wandered lonely as a..
Clouds! We'd almost forgotten what they look like after so many days of glorious sunshine but there they were offering some relief from the blazing sun.
So making the most of the modest weather we carried on piling on the courses and digging out whatever large stone we could find to help us raise the height of the wall.
We were joined by Kit who did some heavy haulage work and Kev (a proper waller!) who had itchy fingers and added a few stones to the wall - every little helps! Soon we might even be joined by the bees, although we have been assured they can be locked up on Wednesdays so that we can wall without being stung.
The adventurous bunch this week were; Phillip, Paul, Richard (senior), Catriona & Roger
See you next week
Em
So making the most of the modest weather we carried on piling on the courses and digging out whatever large stone we could find to help us raise the height of the wall.
We were joined by Kit who did some heavy haulage work and Kev (a proper waller!) who had itchy fingers and added a few stones to the wall - every little helps! Soon we might even be joined by the bees, although we have been assured they can be locked up on Wednesdays so that we can wall without being stung.
The adventurous bunch this week were; Phillip, Paul, Richard (senior), Catriona & Roger
See you next week
Em
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
NAWG goes global
From time to time we are joined by people who are just passing through or visiting Nidderdale who have heard about us and the work we do and this week was just such an occasion. We were glad to welcome Mick who has come from Australia just to enjoy some walling with us, oh and he might be seeing other parts of the UK at the same time but really that pales in comparison to walling with us!
It was a glorious day in Nidderdale, the sun beating down and the best views from Sparrowhawk Farm across the dale. However, not always the best weather for walling as it's hard work, but we slogged on in the sun and managed to throw up several courses around the wall.
We worked on filling in the gap between the low end and high end of the wall and generally raising the height of the rest of the wall.
As we sweltered on through we all had a fantastic day out in the sunshine, the sunburned few were; Chris, Richard Senior, Richard Junior, Paul, Phillip and of course Mick.
See you next week, Em
It was a glorious day in Nidderdale, the sun beating down and the best views from Sparrowhawk Farm across the dale. However, not always the best weather for walling as it's hard work, but we slogged on in the sun and managed to throw up several courses around the wall.
We worked on filling in the gap between the low end and high end of the wall and generally raising the height of the rest of the wall.
As we sweltered on through we all had a fantastic day out in the sunshine, the sunburned few were; Chris, Richard Senior, Richard Junior, Paul, Phillip and of course Mick.
See you next week, Em
 |
| not sure what happened here, for some reason it won't turn round :-/ |
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The day after...
Well, we headed back up to Sparrowhawk Farm on Wednesday to carry on walling (could be a film in that!)
We had a sunnier day than the Tuesday which is unusual since we seem to be visited by the type of weather only seen in biblical times when we venture up that hill.
A few more courses were added to the wall and fun was had trying to keep walling horizontally round corners, we like a challenge! I was joined on our pleasant afternoon by Chris, Catriona, Richard and Graham D and we enjoyed lovely scones courtesy of Kit and Megan.
See you next week
Em
We had a sunnier day than the Tuesday which is unusual since we seem to be visited by the type of weather only seen in biblical times when we venture up that hill.
A few more courses were added to the wall and fun was had trying to keep walling horizontally round corners, we like a challenge! I was joined on our pleasant afternoon by Chris, Catriona, Richard and Graham D and we enjoyed lovely scones courtesy of Kit and Megan.
See you next week
Em
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
A taste of Tuesday walling
Well, firstly, apologies for the late blogs they have been safely tucked away in my head and hadn't made it into digital print!
This week sees a first for the walling and conservation groups in the AONB, we've mashed things up and ventured out on a Tuesday to give the AONB's Nature Conservation Volunteers or NCV a taste of what we get up to on a Wednesday.
First we'll need a bit of history...
A long time ago in an AONB well quite close by really, there was a group of volunteers who worked to improve the AONB, walls and all! At some point the walls were tackled by a new group on Wednesdays who went on to become the NAWG! ie us.
The NCV still meet on Tuesdays and tackle bracken bashing, woodland/wetland management and other practical conservation jobs that need carrying out around the AONB, on occasion they also wall.
So our Tuesday Taster session is part of an ongoing programme of knowledge sharing between the various parts of the AONB, there have been woodland management talks, identification lessons and training events so far and there is a lot more planned for the rest of the year.
We had dull but not unpleasant weather and we were joined by Graham, Tony, Howie and Ros from the NCV and Chris, Paul and me from the NAWG - we are reaching an acronym meltdown I think!
We had a good session up at Sparrowhawk Farm and managed to get a few courses stacked up, there was plenty of banter and I hope we were able to pass on our enthusiasm for the craft and tempt our Tuesday brethren out on a Wednesday.
We'll be back with Wednesday's activities next, Em
This week sees a first for the walling and conservation groups in the AONB, we've mashed things up and ventured out on a Tuesday to give the AONB's Nature Conservation Volunteers or NCV a taste of what we get up to on a Wednesday.
First we'll need a bit of history...
A long time ago in an AONB well quite close by really, there was a group of volunteers who worked to improve the AONB, walls and all! At some point the walls were tackled by a new group on Wednesdays who went on to become the NAWG! ie us.
The NCV still meet on Tuesdays and tackle bracken bashing, woodland/wetland management and other practical conservation jobs that need carrying out around the AONB, on occasion they also wall.
So our Tuesday Taster session is part of an ongoing programme of knowledge sharing between the various parts of the AONB, there have been woodland management talks, identification lessons and training events so far and there is a lot more planned for the rest of the year.
We had dull but not unpleasant weather and we were joined by Graham, Tony, Howie and Ros from the NCV and Chris, Paul and me from the NAWG - we are reaching an acronym meltdown I think!
We had a good session up at Sparrowhawk Farm and managed to get a few courses stacked up, there was plenty of banter and I hope we were able to pass on our enthusiasm for the craft and tempt our Tuesday brethren out on a Wednesday.
We'll be back with Wednesday's activities next, Em
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)