by Vinny, 11th April 2010, 8 Volunteers
It was to be a day of moist peat, moist buns and moist brash. Rob (warden) excused himself because of a wedding that he was involved with on the previous day (that’ll be his own wedding) and for some reason he thought that his new wife might have an issue with him coming on the task!? Sue gave Colin a special pass out as it was their 40th wedding anniversary (congratulations). Colin didn’t think that my offer of a moist raspberry muffin, with or without a candle, would be sufficient recompense for her – in fact he thought that he might be paying for it for the next 40 years! Pete had had the foresight to book sunny weather some weeks in advance; I am pleased to report that his request was granted.
We started with a safety briefing in the car park, and were then expertly driven (OK, just driven then) to Buckstones Moss. Tonne bags of heather brash had previously been airlifted in to Buckstones Moss (at the north of the Marsden Moor Estate). The heather brash also contained a selection of seeds which had originated from (Peak District) species-rich moorland.
In Rob's absence Vinny did an excellent job as task leader
& here demonstrates the proper spreading technique - Ed.
The task was to grab hand/armfuls of brash and then spread them thinly across areas of bare peat. This covering will help stabilise the peat, initially with the heather brash and in the longer term with the germinating seed stock. Stabilisation of the peat will reduce erosion and the CO2 impact of the moor. The spread areas will be monitored over the coming months.
During the afternoon Kate impressed us when she demonstrated her agility by doing a back flip over a bag of brash – or she might have got stuck in the peat and been falling with style? At the end of the day eight WYNTV members and one community warden managed to spread 33 tonnes of brash across the north of Buckstones Moss.
Alison (the community warden) won best hat award (when did she grow that extra hand?). The empty tonne bags were removed from the moor but are non-returnable. So if you would like one please contact Colin.
Vinny
