Friends of the CArrs

Attended a meeting tonight of the Friends of the Carrs.

Looking at improving the council run park which abuts NT land. We share the same aims and share the same issues such as dealing with non native invasive species. So we work beyond our boundaries and share knowledge, people and tools.

Tonight we looked at events amongst other things and in particular an event in September called "Canines Capers on the Carrs" a family fun dog show.

People can bring their dog, have a go at the agility course, try to win best in various category's whilst having fun and we can get a message across at the same time about responsible dog ownership.

Should be a good day.

Down the Drain!

Over the last two years flooding and ponding around the village has been getting progressively worse. Investigations with our drainage contractor over the 'summer' of 2012 revealed that the main drain taking surface water from nearly all parts of the village was in need of replacement.

The drain originally put in sometime in the 1820s was on its last legs. The photo below gives an idea of the issues we are dealing with.



section of drain nearly blocked completely with silt



 The drain is comprised of clay 1' long pipes butted up against each other. Soil particles can get between these and as you see in the photo, limit the water's progress through the pipe.

The answer was to install a new drain along the 600mtr length and bypass the old drain, letting it die slowly. It will continue to take water but not in the capacity we need to move it off the property to the river.

The new drain was started on January the 4th and progress to date has been good. We have picked up lots of land drains, these could be anywhere between 150 -200 years old, some still working. These have all been connected into the new drain.

                                                         This image shows a 'horseshoe' drain which were roughly spaced around every 12mtr through the field. Where they were working they were connected up to the main drain to carry on the good work.

The main drain itself is made of rigid plastic, twin wall construction and very strong. This will be taking water for the next 200 years. So everything needed to be accurate from the fall from one end to another between 1" to 1 1/2" to joining in old pipes.

Once connected up, end to end, we should see the effect almost straight away. We currently have standing water in fields that should melt away into the drain.

We are about half way through the project, so we'll keep you informed of progress and just hope it stays dry so we can complete it without wading through sludge!

Bat Mitigation Training North Wales

I am spending two and a half days at Plas Tan Y Bwlch, Snowdonia National Park study centre. The course is designed for consultants and others dealing with bats and covers measuring success, compliance and reporting. Although not a consultant, the content is applicable to my work at Styal.

Today, we have been out to a road construction site to view mitigation work that included the installation of three bat culverts to get bats (and otters) also a high level crossing for bats, across a busy road. We looked at the potential for success of this project. All very interesting. We then visited a small church with a roost of lesser horseshoe bats. Work had been carried out to enable the bats to easily access and egress the site.

 Here's the family that lived at the Plas around the1890's and the house itself. Well cared for and and a great venue for a study centre.

River Claims Another Dog

Hear news today of yet another dog drowning in the Bollin. The under current and fast flows in places mean that even the strongest swimmers get into trouble.

The rain we have had recently means the river is usually higher than normal and in places is deeper than people imagine. This video was taken a while ago standing next to the main weir at Quarry Bank Mill. The road was closed as this caused flooding with the water from the Bollin and the Dean rivers backing up.

You don't really get the sense of the raw power from the footage. But if you have a dog, keep them away from the rivers at the moment!

United Utilities

Thursday 23 August we had a group from United Utilities to come and have a go with our sweet chestnut cleft fence. We are renewing all of the fencing around the village as some of it is falling apart. As the team soon found though, some of the posts just did not want to come out of the ground!

Working on three different sections, the group soon mastered the art of hole digging. I was impressed by a particular group working by the chapel who seemed to be able to dig perfectly round holes. Putting the posts in was a different matter. The back filling is a technique that needs to be practised. Little and often with lots of ramming to firm up the post. All this needs to happen while another keeps an eye on the post being straight, not an easy thing with bent posts!

At the end of the day a very satisfied group and a good job done.

Wet Weather!!

Prompted by a colleague in another part of the country who said she keeps up to speed with what I am doing via my blog, I thought I had better write some info.

The recent weather has kept us busy in more ways than one. Dealing with floods, blocked drains, washed out paths and much more. Other parts of the country have had it far worse than us, but there has been no end to it lately. It looks as though the jet stream will move North giving us what we should expect this time of year. Hopefully. 

We are busy hedge cutting, grass cutting and general maintenance at the moment. All the wet weather has meant everything is growing really well, except crops! Some of these have been underwater, so remains to be seen if they will recover when the sun comes out.

Busy working on recruitment for a new post at the moment for a project officer, but more about that later.