by Pete, 7th March 2010, 18 Volunteers
Pyromaniacs. Photo: Geoff & Margaret
A lovely ‘late winter/early spring’ day saw us working down near Druids Farm. The task for the day was a continuation of the fencing work carried out on two tasks last year. The aim was to replace a run-down section of the boundary fence in this area with a new ‘post and wire’ fence. Various jobs were on offer including removal of birch scrub from around the old fence, removal of the fence, putting up the new fence and burning all the birch scrub and old fence posts. Luckily we had a large group of 18, and we quickly broke into three groups: the pyromaniacs, the fencers and the scrubbers. The fire party got straight into it as there was some felled brash already to go. Although this took a while to get going, ace fire whisperer, Stuart, eventually had a roaring blaze (well, after an hour).
Scrubbers? Photo: Geoff & Margaret
The scrub removal team set about the far section of the fence with gusto and it was soon a blur of bowsaws and loppers. Very soon this cut brash was making its way to the growing fire.
The fencing team (of which I was part) first removed the rusty barbed wire from the old fence section and then the posts (which also made their way to the fire). 
Then came the good stuff: putting in the new straining posts including the struts, then the intermediate posts, and finally stringing the wire using the much beloved monkey-strainers. We don’t often get the chance to string the 
wire and see the job finished, so it was great to put at least three lines of the wire on the fence. The scrub removal team also got 
on really well, so after lunch they got the chance to start putting in the straining posts for their new fence section.
Finally, we welcomed back one of our founder members today, Stephen Nicholson, along with his son, Michael. Good to see them both as part of the enthusiastic scrub removal team.
For more info on post & wire fence building/straining posts/straining see the following BTCV links:
- handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/chapter/591
- handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3296
- handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3290
Last 4 photos taken by Pete.
