Anyway, this week's group have been replacing sections of fence in the deer park where the old posts have become rotten in the base. It's essential that we keep the deer park in good nick as the deer have been here for a long time and we would hate to lose them! The team were led by Mark Sayfritz, a regular contractor at Attingham who has plenty of experience in fencing, and assisted by myself. They have put in a fantastic effort and worked hard all week - lots of digging, hammering and driving in the posts with a drivall. This fence will hold up for several decades before it needs replacing again, so thank you very much guys!
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| How do you know if the hole is deep enough for the post? Stick Fiona in of course! |
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| Working holiday leader Elizabeth keeps the fence posts straight and tidy |
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| Everyone gets to improve on their hammering skills |
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| Pip the dog enjoys plenty of attention! |
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| A good sturdy stretch of deer fence - six feet high to keep the fallow herd in and everything else out! |
On Wednesday, while the holiday team enjoyed a much-earned day off to explore the local area, I took a small team of volunteers to Wheathill Farm on the edge of the Estate to plant up two Black Poplar trees. Wild black poplar are becoming increasingly rare in the UK so we had a male and female tree to plant near our only other mature black poplar in the hope that they will grow and pollinate and produce us some 'babies' to plant in the future. Before we could plant them I cleared several large willows to create space and a break in the tree canopy to let light through to the young trees while the others burned the brash.
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| The poplars are planted next to the only other black poplar on the Estate (tree on right) |
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| Matt, Adam and Bob after a long day of cutting and burning brash |
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