Wednesday 4th February 2026

 Six of us today (including the welcome addition of Robert), working our way alongside the ditch from Didbrook towards Toddington on the Cotswold side, in wonderful springlike weather.


We got a moderate amount of the previously cut stuff burned, but did struggle as it has been so wet recently, hopefully this will dry out a bit for next week.

We have now cleared up to just past the filled in bridge by the first power pole, which is where we start clearing all the bank rather than leaving the margin of trees on the slope.  So we are now definitely working towards Toddington now rather than working away from Didbrook, and will continue next week.  

Nick Wright

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 10th January 2026

Image
Mass turnout today with   Alex, Andy, Chris, Dick, Ian, Lawrence, Robert, Trina, Paul, Sally and Simon.  Welcome to Simon on his first session at lineside clearance. Freezing cold start to the day (I had to pour a coffee over the container padlock to get in) and no Isuzu which was off for repair so it was a bit of a struggle with one of the new vehicles.  Still the team was all on site by 0930 and we made good progress through the day.  Sarah Clayton (Infrastructure Manager) also visited with another potential recruit. Ian and I were on chainsaws with Ian taking out the last of the tall trees at the top of the bank.   The main team ended up running two bonfires and getting rid of most of the cut wood.  There are now several piles of cut hawthorn logs ready for anyone who wants them by the side of the fence.  The bank itself is quite slippery as the ground thaws out so care needs to be taken. Work drew to a close at about 2:30pm in brilliant s...
Read more

Wednesday 14th January

Six of us today, finishing off clearing the northern fence line of Winchcombe P.Way Yard.  This was fortunate as the Pick-up was away for the day so we used the alternative version i.e. wheelbarrows. As well as finishing the clearance, we chipped all that we cut today and the big stuff from last week. Job now completed so back to Didbrook next week hopefully. Nick Wright
Read more

Saturday 24th January 2026

Image
We started the day with a team of 10.  I had not been with the team for over a month so had not seen the full extent of the clearance that had been done.  The changes that have been created are tremendous and the embankment has now been totally cleared back as far as the first cross drain. Today the team cleared  about 40 metres and this may not sound much but it was a tremendous achievement as the tree growth was dense . The team developed the technique of cutting the trees high up on the bank and rolling them down onto the fire .This proved to be very successful. There is quite a large amount of cut debris to be disposed of on another occasion but the wind direction was not conducive as it was blowing straight into the buildings We will have to take extra care of how we dispose of the trees from now on as we are very close to the buildings and a propane gas cylinder that supplies the farm. With regard to the logs there is  a large amount of cut material ready for c...
Read more