C.A.T  8^th December 2012

Wow…this was a special one. The Centre of Alternative Technology usually has us working on the opposite side to the main C.A.T centre, on the opposite valley, and that was where we were today. The task ahead of us included coppicing, laying chicken wire over walk ways and bridges and cutting a large pile of fallen branches and trees into more manageable sizes.

The work went well with three separate groups working on a task each. The scenery, up in the woods, was great, except for the overcast weather in the morning. All was going well until.. well you remember that I said it was a special one? Well that was for one reason - the first injury ACV has witnessed in a long time! Now we won’t name names but someone ended up cutting their thumb on an axe and needed a little trip to the hospital to get themselves sorted out, after a little bit of first aid magic from yours truly - of course. Tip: roll out the bandage and find the padding first, before you start rolling it around the injury. Lesson learned. Our injured warrior was all fine and well after the task, but has a nice scar to remember the day by!

Lunch was served in the building we were working around, an impressive make shift barn, housing a kettle and crafting areas. After the excitement of the morning the afternoon passed without incident but we got a lot of work done. The chicken wire made an excellent addition to the walk ways, making them safe for future use in the rain. Feel free to visit the C.A.T centre to learn more about alternative technologies, they are a welcoming and friendly bunch and have a very impressive centre and grounds! A restaurant is present on site for those who get peckish waking around the site.

To find out more about C.A.T. visit their website:

http://www.cat.org.uk/

By Ben Griffiths

Denmark Farm 24th November 2012

On Saturday 24^th November, ACV visited Denmark Farm Conservation Centre, near Lampeter. Even the freezing weather and drizzle couldn’t put off our 10 eager volunteers!

                          

After getting rather lost on the way there (blame Amy, whose only knowledge was to “turn left at the grey house”!) we arrived in good spirits. After a quick cup of tea, we were briefed on the day’s task, which was to involve making habitat piles, side pruning and coppicing, and create drainage ditches in some of the paths, led by Tony, a woodland worker and trainer.

Splitting into groups of three we worked on sections of path, ‘leapfrogging’ to the front and cracking on with the next section along once we’d finished. We cut back branches hanging into the path, to allow easier accessibility for visitors to the centre, and dug furrows into the path to reduce waterlogging. If these are successful, the ditches will be filled with gravel to make them permanent.

Scenic views on part of Denmark Farm

(image from Denmark farm – too much rain to take out camera!)

After making significant progress, we retired to the main building for lunch and, of course, tea and biscuits! Angie, one of the staff, also treated us to a slide show of how Denmark farm has developed from a tired, over-worked intensive farm, to the natural wildlife haven it is today.

After lunch we split further, with half the group continuing with the morning’s work, and half pruning pathways on another section of the 40 acre site. As it began to get dark, we ferried 10 happy but exceedingly muddy students back onto the minibus – with warning that we’d leave them behind if they were too muddy!

For more information on Denmark Farm visit www.denmarkfarm.org.uk.

By Rachel Say & Amy Brittan

Pictures courtesy of Denmark Farm

Old Chapel Farm 24th to 25th November 2012

The second residential of the semester and one that is a highlight for ACV. Unfortunately, due to gale force winds we weren’t able to make the entire weekend but luckily the Welsh weather calmed down enough for us to make a day of it on Sunday.

Sunday

After a long trek up a steep lane from the parked minibus to the camp fire and wood shed (the hub of Old Chapel woods) we had a day of varying tasks ahead of us.

Split into groups we had some of our number putting in steps into the hillside, as access to the new planned Neolithic site, which proved hard work at first as the ground was incredibly solid.  Whilst the other part of our group were charring split oak posts that were to make up the main posts for one of the Neolithic buildings.

After lunch we planted some trees, amongst them some Hazel, just above the Neolithic site and then set about putting the charred posts into place to create the beginnings of a round house.  Then, with just a small amount of time remaining we put in a couple more steps before setting off for home.

If you’d like to know more about Old Chapel and the work they do, including their work on the Neolithic site, please visit their website:

www.oldchapelfarm.org

By Steph James

Pictures courtesy of Alex Dodds

Penglais Woods  10th November 2012

On the 10^th November 2012, ACV volunteered for Ceredigion County Council in nearby Penglais Woods - no need for minibus travel this week, it’s only a 5 minute stroll from the Uni campus!

As other volunteers from the local area also came along, we had a small army to make a real difference to the environment. 

After a quick briefing, we set about the morning’s task of clearing brambles and non-native invasive trees. We needed to create the ideal environment to plant a wide variety of native species. Massive piles of brash showed quite how much clearance we managed!

After the mandatory ACV tea-and-biscuit break and our lunch, we received a briefing into tree planting – a lot more complex than most people think! Apparently, if roots are exposed to the cold breeze for too long, the chances of the tree surviving and flourishing once planted is significantly lowered, so timing was critical.

Once we understood the process, everyone cracked on planting trees – up to 100 were planted that afternoon! Species included elm and hawthorn.

Hiding from rain showers and working in the drizzle has become second nature to regular ACV-ers, and this particular Saturday was no different!

Thank you to everyone who came on what was a very successful task!

By Rachel Say 

Hafod 3rd November 2012

  

Our morning started like any other, piling into the minibus for the trip to the Hafod estate.  Situated about 12 miles, south-east, of Aberystwyth, at the top of the Ystwyth Valley, Hafod is thought to be one of the most picturesque landscapes in Europe.

Most of the estate was a conifer plantation managed by the Forestry Commission but areas are being cleared and either returned to Heather meadow or broadleaf woodland. Our job, working with the wardens of the estate, was to remove fast growing spruce from a high field.The highland cattle do a good job of keeping in check most of the time but pockets had started to get too large and needed the attention of ACV and its willing volunteers.

We set to work and made good progress in the field till lunchtime. After lunch the weather started to turn but we had a fire going by this point and burned the cleared trees. We even helped clear the dense vegetation in the area of an old scenic view point, overlooking a small waterfall, which feeds into the Ystwyth River.

All in all, it was a good day out and a fair amount achieved. Thanks to David for letting us come and work with him and his team.

Find out more about Hafod here: http://www.hafod.org/homepage.html

By Edward Bell

Green Phoenix 27th to 28th October 2012

For the first residential of the new academic year we found ourselves at Green Phoenix again!

Saturday & Sunday

Arriving bright and early we were all keen to get started as soon as possible to warm up on this freezing Saturday morning.  We did a small amount of dead hedging (creating hedging from cut trees and branches) before moving onto our main task of the day.  Scott (the founder of Green Phoenix) wanted a relatively untouched area of his site opening up to allow light in so that mosses, ferns and grasses could establish themselves on the woodland floor, making for a much more inviting habitat for wildlife.  Whilst Scott used his chainsaw to fell the larger trees we worked to billhook all the lower branches off of the trees up to around 6ft and then chopped down smaller trees using axes, once again placing all the felled materials into dead hedges.  Another purpose for clearing the site was to help open up space around a ditch that ran through the middle of the area we were working in and to clean it out of debris so as to link it with other ditches and habitats to help Green Phoenix’s water vole population.

Unfortunately, an arctic weather front called a stop to our plans to camp overnight on the site, as camping on frosted ground would have been uncomfortable...to say the least.  So we left for the warmth of home and came back Sunday morning refreshed to find a very wet day of work ahead of us – but on the bright side it wasn’t as cold!!  Carrying on our clearing work, in the same area, by midday we had helped transform the once dark area into light filled woodland and the ditch that was once only a trickle and full of debris was now happily flowing with water.  So we moved onto billhooking trees in a small surrounding area to, again, open up the woodland as much as possible to allow light in.

If you would like to know more about Green Phoenix and the work that Scott does or would like to get involved please visit the sites below:

http://www.thegreenphoenix.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/Coedphoenix

By Steph James

Picture courtesy of Coed Phoenix :)

Ynys Hir October 13th 2012

On October 13^th ACV braved the rain and wind to volunteer at Ynys Hir, an RSPB reserve relatively close to Aberystwyth. Many of you may recognise the name – this is where the last Springwatch was filmed!

13 ACV members met bright and early to get down to work. Our task this week was right infront of the visitors centre, clearing brambles and brash to create habitat piles, and hence an excellent environment for grass snakes. The setting was beautiful – a view of the lake and mountains infront, and the reserve’s ever-busy bird feeders just behind us. They were bustling with bird-life and squirrels all day!

 
ACV successfully cleared this large patch, and even though we were told it was the wrong time of year for grass snakes, we did find one – though definitely not a very live one!

  

After all the hard work, we took a well-deserved break to walk around and enjoy the reserve. We found an amazing hide half way round, which offered an incredible view of the Dyfi estuary.

Thanks to all ACV volunteers for braving the rain showers and to Ynys Hir for having us. As always, we look forward to returning to the reserve in the future!

 

By Rachel Say

For more information on Ynys Hir - http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/y/ynys-hir/

Green Phoenix 6^th October 2012

The first task of the year, woo hoo! The aims for this task were to selectively fell (coppice) an area of spruce trees in order for a pathway to be formed and a clearing made for new plant growth. The branches of felled spruce were then to be made into ‘dead hedges’, simply staking up the branches one on top of the other in a neat fashion, so that they would form a perimeter hedge, bordering the new opening. It must be said that Dave’s group made some rather fancy and neat hedges, while mine (Ben’s) group tended to go for the chop em’ down and stack em’ up approach.

After lunch we got the chance to work on filling in gaps between the logs of the newly built log cabin (new study and crafts room) with wattle and daub, essentially a clay based mixed mixture that would insulate the building. Messy fun! The weather was nice, a bit nippy but once we got into our work it felt like a spring day.

Green phoenix is always looking for helpers and accepting of visitors and school groups.

http://www.facebook.com/Coedphoenix

By Ben Griffiths

Picture courtesy of Coed Phoenix :)

Tasks for Semester Two

A look ahead at all the organisations we will be working with this semester 

February - May 2013

Ceredigion County Council

Hafod Estate - Forestry Commision

Llandre Heritage - www.llandre.org.uk

Shared Earth Trust - Denmark Farm

Old Chapel Cambrian Archaeological projects

C.A.T (Centre for Alternative Technology)