by Colin/Geoff, 24th/25th April 2010, 18/9 Volunteers
I was one of the 9 day-trippers on the Saturday, and very much enjoyed the drive over (as a passenger for a change, thank you Stuart) and the hot sausage bap and coffee on our arrival in Keswick (thank you Pete) before meeting up with everyone else at Bowe Barn.
Our task for the day was to remove the traditional NT ‘oak leaf and acorn’ signs, and assemble and install three new and very substantial interpretation panels at the Neolithic Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside Keswick, where we have previously replaced worn out turf around the stones.
We split into three teams and Roy, the warden, was happy for us to take our time, specifying care and precision (fortunately WYNTV watchwords!). 
So each step entailed considerable thought and planning, which together with the rocky soil and the need to bolt the completed structures to stakes driven into the ground at an angle below the surface to prevent theft of the solid oak boards from which the panels were made, meant it took longer than some of us expected and provided a challenging but rewarding task that kept us hard at it, finishing only a few minutes before 4pm.
There was a panel for each of the three entrances/exits to the site (there are three of these to minimise erosion). 
One panel was about the stone circle in Neolithic times, one in Victorian times and one in the present. We were delighted to find a Neolithic boulder buried at the site of the first (fortunately we were able to work round it), some pottery (undoubtedly Victorian!) at the second, and the cap from a USB data stick at the third!
A great task; and brilliant weather – enjoyed just as much by the dozens of paragliders launching themselves from Lonscale Fell, the other side of the A66. One even landed in the field we were working in (aiming for the Stone Circle?) but I must have had my head and shoulders in a trench while drilling a bolt hole at the time, as I didn’t even notice.
Geoff, one of the over-nighters, takes up the tale with an account of Sunday’s task:
The task on Sunday was at a National Trust owned cottage situated just down the side of the café at Grange. It had obviously been used as a bed and breakfast (Long Corner) as indicated by the sign tucked away in a pile of rubbish. A gas tank was going to be installed in the garden and this was unfortunately on the site of a small but rather deep pond. 
We emptied the pond using buckets and transferred the entire contents, sludge and all, into containers in Roy's trailer. Carolyn was official tadpole catcher and Jenny was the frog catcher. Steve tested the depth of the pond with a pole and found it to be about 4ft deep. It's a wonder that nobody fell in.
The water was then taken by road to another pond which is situated in woodland towards Cat Bells. Frogs, tadpoles and newts were carefully released into their new pond, which is much larger and has a wooden viewing platform. 
We had to work quickly because Roy's vehicle and trailer blocked the track and had to be moved several times to allow access. The bucket fillers did a splendid job keeping up with the people returning with empty buckets and although the weather was a bit miserable, it was a good and worthwhile task.
All photos by Geoff and Margaret
Geoff
