LFS Conservation Working Party March 28th to April 5th 2014
Our departure from Hartland International Airport was
delayed due to a missing pilot, but this gave us opportunity to meet Rev
Shirley Henderson, The Bishop of Crediton, his PA and wife who were being taken
by Derek Green to see the latest parish to be added to his diocese.
On arrival, the first challenge was to get into the Barn as
quickly as possible to get the best available bed. I was not on a flight early enough to claim
the much-coveted downstairs dormitory, but I did manage to avoid the Suicide
Bed placed at the top of the stairs where any violent turning over could
precipitate the sleeper downstairs into the kitchen.
After our leader's pep-talk, where we were allocated duty
cooking days and the rules of the Barn we were
free to explore the Island; I
walked to Tibbets, across Middle Park and back via Pondsbury and Ackland's Moor
pulling in all the ponds on the way. Dinner was provided by Trevor and Lou – Bangers and mash
with vegetables and onion gravy followed by apple crumble with custard or
cream.
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| Slow worm |
Day 1 Saturday 29
th March – we were split into 3
groups of 4 (the remaining two staying back to shop and prepare food) to remove
Alexander heads, build a fruit cage, and prepare the site for a wall
reconstruction all in Millcombe. I was
with the Alexander removal party and we managed to remove the heads from 387
plants. We were then deployed to help
the two other teams. During our day we were delighted to find three adults and
one juvenile slow worms found between stones in the tumble-down wall. Dave and Brummy Dave gave us a feast of Chicken, ratatouille
lashings of vegetables and choice of apple crumble and/or fruit salad with
cream, ice-cream, custard or, in some cases, all three.
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| Fruit Cage |
Day 2 Sunday 30
th March - Two parties today,
finishing off the fruit cage and rebuilding the wall. An additional task was found necessary to
help the wheelbarrow access when two extra bridges were built over the drainage
channels. I found a further adult slow worm
in the Phormium growth above the new wall.
New recruit Mike teamed up with Keith to provide us with
Cottage pie a selection of seasonal vegetables followed by rice pudding.
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| Evening Meal |
Day 3 Monday 31
st March was my major trauma day –
cooking for 14 people. Well Michael
planned the menu and did the cooking, I just did prep work. We served the group with Beef bourguignon and
a layered vegetable dish topped with potato and cheese followed by local
cheeses and biscuits then Chocolate Bread and Butter pudding. And this was in addition to completing the
Millcombe garden wall. The other half of
the party undertook Rhododendron burning on the east sidelands above quarry
beach.
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| "Hoopoe" eggs? |
Day 4 Tuesday 1
st April. Half Day!
Michael unfortunately had to leave on the first sailing as his wife was
unwell so he and Brummy Dave stayed in the village to propagate some seeds into
the propagator the rest of us man-handled into the Lodge area. This was before the rest of us set off to
burn Rhododendron brash just south of Quarry Beach for the morning with the
afternoon off. The planned stunt for
April Fool's day was planned and executed by Kevin. He borrowed half a dozen duck eggs and
painted them and placed them in a constructed “nest” by the Marisco wall seat
to fool the tourists. Rob and Kelly made the evening meal of mushroom soup
followed by chicken breast served with a vegetable medley with fruits of the
forest meringue for dessert.
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| Copper Mine |
Day 5 Wednesday 2
nd April – Day off! A leisurely breakfast was followed by 9 of us
setting off for a walk to the north end.
We walked the centre path and had a break above North Light. We then set off down Long Roost to find the
Copper Mine. We found it but did not
venture all the way down to it. We then
split into three groups; Dave, Rob and Kelly going down to the North Light,
Keith and Megan to Seal Hole and Trevor, Kevin, Andy, Dave (Fred) Stone and I
walking back down the west side to find the Quaking Bog at ¾ Wall, the Millstone
Factory, the Mangonel Battery and works below it and investigate the earthquake
and the new rock fall to the seaward.
Dinner was in the Tavern.
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| Dinner with the Conservation Team |
Day 6 Thursday 3
rd April. We spent a full day Rhododendron burning near
the Quarries. We shifted a lot of brash
in the mist and drizzle although it did brighten up a bit later. In company of a pair of Peregrines we looked
out for Oldenburg's arrival and diversion to Gannet's Combe to drop off the
three RSPCA rescued puffins. A few
minutes later we sighted two small pods of 10-12 dolphins. Standing in one place for a day gives lots of
opportunity to observe and we saw Ravens flying to and fro to a nesting site,
gulls challenging each other, pairs of Oystercatchers and many smaller birds
such as Willow Warblers working the piles of brash. We were visited by Keith Hiscock who joined
in and carried a log back to the quad trailer, the final job of the day for
each volunteer to stock up the firewood store.
Evening meal was provided by our two firemen from Stoke, Tony and
Andy. They did a fantastic job providing
for and extra 5 guests, Beccy and Jonny, Steve and Lottie and the new assistant
Ranger Nick. We had a huge pot of
Spanish Chicken and Chorizo, followed by Banoffee pie (or steamed syrup pudding
for those with dietary issues) finished off with cheese and biscuits.
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| Millcombe Wall Builders |
Day 7 Friday 4
th April. We were all detailed to collect sufficient
stone to complete the final courses of the retaining wall in Millcombe gardens
then split into a party of wall builders and controlled Rhododendron burners. Dave, Mark, Megan, Rob, Kelly and I spent the
whole day in completing the wall and tidying up the area. The remainder undertook a controlled burn of
Rhododendron piles near Quarter Wall Copse with proper safety measure involving
a water bowser, hoses, beaters and trained fire fighters, with the exception of
Brummy Dave who did some propagating and kindling production. Evening meal was
prepared by our two vegetarians, Megan and Kevin comprising Feta salad, Chicken
Curry served with garlic potatoes, fruit salad and ice cream followed by cheese
and biscuits.
Day 8 Saturday 5th April - An exceptionally wet, drab, misty day. After a leisurely breakfast and packing, we
cleaned up the Barn and remade the beds before dispersing to wait for the
Oldenburg. I decided to walk to Widow’s
Tenement, via Middle Park and back by way of Tibbets, the Quarries and Upper
East Side Path. I saw nothing except
mist and a few Meadow Pipits and heard Skylarks. On return for lunch, we met Nic Saunders who
was staying for a week helping Charlie re-point the church. The Tavern was packed with steaming visitors
and stayers waiting to access their properties.
We had to embark at 3:30 when we watched two Herring Gulls near Rat
Island eating a hand – well it was a starfish really. We saw a few rafts of Manx Shearwaters and at
Ilfracombe, more dolphins.
I enjoyed each day of my first working party even though I
still ache everywhere – the sleep deprived nights were another matter … ….
Some new acquaintances were made, friendships developed and
lots of new words learned. Like, where
Yamyams come from (the Black Country), who had been Ganderflanking (Old English
“aimless messing around”) and what mojo is (mortar).
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