Georgia Tsakiri

Hello all!

Week 2 was pretty exciting, and the snow had melted, which made it much easier!  I joined Ally Taylor, BTCV’s South Manchester Project Officer, and helped out with Woodland Management at Clayton Vale.

Clayton Vale is a Local Nature Reserve located in East Manchester and is a green space of around 100 acres. It forms a valley with the river Medlock running along its base. Previously a landfill, the area is now a wildlife haven and is spotted with many types of trees, including Silver Birches, Ashes, Sycamores, Willows and Poplars.

Our first job was to mark the weak and diseased trees to be felled with marking spray, thus making them easier to identify and avoiding cutting healthy trees. Tree felling of larger trees can be tricky, as it poses many safety hazards. With Ally’s help, I cut down my first tree, an unhappy looking silver birch. Ally showed me how to cut a “birds beak” and a “felling cut” with a bowsaw (and which direction to run if the tree falls towards you!)

Tree felling is, surprisingly, a very essential conservation activity, as it strengthens woodlands, it adds to their diversity and encourages wildlife. Moreover, it is a very eco-friendly technique, as the cut logs are used for stacking and/or hedging poles, and brushwood and excess timber is are used for habitat stacks.

I had a go at sharpening logs for hedging poles, with the aid of a billhook – the first two were a bit scruffy looking, but got the hang of it in the end! Alan showed me how to use an axe – I had a go, but I think I’ll stick to the bowsaw (although, a few swings a day can definitely help release any negative energy!!!)

This week’s activities have been very useful for improving tree identification. Apart from tree felling, we also focused on cutting unwanted saplings, and knowing what to cut is very crucial.

On Thursday we had an astonishing number of helpers, considering the cold – 13! It’s great to see such large turnout, and work with like-minded smiley eco-warriors!  We continued with tree felling but also carried out litter picking throughout the site; it was very disturbing to see so much litter in a Nature Reserve, especially when there are bins all around the area. It drives me mad, but I guess some people will never respect nature. Sad, really.

The week ended with lots of pending admin work back in the headquarters – processing new volunteer forms, projects sheets and risk assessments. I feel like it’s been a very productive and interesting week, and look forward to continuing the Clayton Vale task in week 3.

Carbonara al funghi, anyone?!