Easter

It's been a fantastic Easter at Attingham - sun, sun and more sun! The childrens trails have been hugely popular, there have been rides around the deer park in the tractor and trailer and guided walks around the park and gardens. The bluebells are out in their full glory - the picture above is of Rookery Wood with the path that leads from the Stables down to the Mansion.

The last week has seen the wardens embarking on a large fencing project on some of the fields that we look after along the banks of the River Severn. We are using sweet chestnut posts instead of treated softwoods as they are naturally hard and long-lasting without any chemicals. We have also been stacking wood that was felled over the winter to thin out overcrowded woodland so that it can season and be processed into firewood. It's hard work in this heat! But working outside in the fresh air and feeling the sun on your arms and watching the flora and fauna around you come to life is why this job is so brilliant.

Cowslips in the Outer Courtyard at the back of the Mansion

Working holiday

This week a working holiday has been taking place in the deer park. The National Trust runs these holidays throughout the year at properties all over the country as an opportunity for people to work on projects alongside wardens and gardeners, experience new places, learn new skills and make friends. My interest in wardening was sparked off by my taking part on working holidays for several years so you never know where they could take you!

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!



How do you know if the hole is deep enough for the post?
Stick Fiona in of course!

 

Working holiday leader Elizabeth keeps
the fence posts straight and tidy



Everyone gets to improve on their
hammering skills



   

 

Pip the dog enjoys plenty of attention!




 



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.

The poplars are planted next to the only other black poplar on the Estate (tree on right)

Matt, Adam and Bob after a long day of cutting and burning brash

More bluebells...

Today Clive, one of our buggy-driver volunteers, kindly pointed out a clump of bluebells that are now in flower in Rookery wood:

I think this beautiful weather is encouraging them out early - roll on the Easter holidays!

BLUEBELLS!



The first bluebell of the season



Sorry for the lack of activity lately folks, I have been off work with a virus. Back on track now though, and happy to have lots to update - starting with my favourite wildflower. Today, aroung 4.15pm, I found the first bluebell of the season out in flower near the clock tower at the back of the mansion. It's looking a bit lonely at the moment but its here, and there will be thousands more to follow! In a few more weeks, Attingham will be carpeted in blue - Rookery Wood (between the stables and the tea room), the Mile Walk and the woods between the suspension bridge and the Deer Park are all spots around the park with fantastic displays of bluebells. Ron, our Engagement Warden, will be giving guided walks later on in April to show visitors some of the best views. I have alerted the National Trust 'Bluebell Watch' and am now eagerly awaiting the rest of the flowers to come.

Other wildflowers are also making an appearance now, including these snake's head fritillaries and oxlips on the bank near the clock tower:



Snake's head fritillary - unmistakable with its purple

chessboard patterning



A white variation of the snake's head fritillary






 

Oxlips



The horse chestnuts are in leaf

Across the park and estate tree buds are bursting into leaf and the cherries and blackthorn are blossoming. I love the vibrant greens of leaves when they are young, particularly those of horse chestnut before they darken with age and usually become marred with leaf blotch in summer time. Today, the air around the mansion was filled with the scent of freshly cut grass - a definite sign that winter is over!

Finally, several weeks ago Attingham was visited by a group of Trustees and the Director-General of the Trust, Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE. They enjoyed a tour of the walled garden and visited some of the rooms in the mansion that have been altered as part of the Attingham Re-discovered project. My manager very kindly took a photo for me on the day, so here they are with some of the senior management team:

The Director-General and Trustees join us at Attingham
for the day

Sunshine and coppicing

The sun is shining, we're down to shirts and yesterday I actually managed to get sunburned in March! It's been a busy week as usual. On Monday I took a group of volunteers over to Brompton to finish planting up a new hedge line and cutting out elder from an established hedge .

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View of Cronkhill from the newly-planted hedge

 On Tuesday I worked with Seamus, one of our regular contractors, and volunteer Pete to cut up two willow trees that had fallen over into a field before helping two other vol's to shift some wood and logs.



Pete and Buster take a break from sawing willow





Now you see it...





Now you don't!



Wednesday was spent up on Wenlock Edge with a large volunteer group, coppicing hazel and ash and making stakes and binders out of the cut material. Hedgelaying season is over now but the binders will be used over the next week to bind all of the hedges that have been laid this winter, while the stakes will be stored away until next September when we can begin to lay again. The trailer was full to the brim by the end of the day, over 200 stakes and 200 binders. Excellent work from the team!





Twitter

Just a quick note to point you in the direction of the Attingham Park Twitter page, where you will find regular updates of what's going on from all departments - Attingham Twitter page

Meanwhile, it is the first day of the full open season tomorrow with the Mansion beginning its seven-days-a-week opening. Come and have a look at what they've been up to all winter!

Hedgeplanting at Brompton



Adam plants up a hedge

This week some of the warden volunteers have been working near the Brompton Cookery School, removing old fences and planting up new hedge lines while I cut out the elder that was choking an existing hedge. The elder stumps are treated to prevent regrowth, and the gaps in the hedge then replanted with other species - hawthorn, hazel, field maple and dogrose. It's a beautiful part of the estate with views looking back at the Attingham mansion, St Eatas church in Atcham and Cronkhill, a neighbouring Trust property.



Brian removes fencing wire from the posts





Cutting out elder from the hedge



Meanwhile, another team has been hedgelaying along the field opposite the Atcham Industrial Estate and doing a fantastic job. The hedge has not been laid before so has been ideal to teach new volunteers the art of hedgelaying. We get our hazel stakes and binders from Wenlock Edge, another NT site, and use them to lay in the 'Midland bullock' style - upright stakes, one clean side and one brash side, and bound along the top. There are just a few weeks left to complete the hedge as by the end of March, the trees are beginning to bud and bird nesting season starts.