Cakes and maps.

Once again I have been working with a group of volunteers but this time it was with the National Trust’s regional volunteers.  These are people who commit to twelve volunteer work-meets per year.  They work with a number of rangers across the region including two sessions per year with me.  With that level of experience, they have built up an impressive array of skills which can be used on a wide range of projects.  Most of these people return year after year and it is always good to see them and catch up on all our news.

This time we were working at Braithwaite trimming back the vegetation along the side of the approach road to Force Crag mine.  En route to the start of the job they pointed out that a bridge we were crossing is one that they built in a previous year.  It’s always good if volunteers can revisit this type of project and see it in use.

An extra benefit to working with this group is that part of their routine is to bring cake – as you can see in the picture, they don’t ‘do things by halves’ and the lunch-time picnic is much enhanced with generous slices! 

Library picture

The other theme to the week/weekend was the Keswick Mountain Festival where I ran a ‘Map-reading made easy’ course.  This was fully-subscribed and was free – although we don’t refuse donations.  It was aimed at people who want to get to grips with basic map and compass work.  We started with learning to ‘read’ the contour lines and carried on to recognising other features on the map.  We then added taking bearings and back-bearings and also some micro-navigation.  We present the material in as many different learning-styles as we can and sooner or later everyone has that moment when the penny drops and they ‘get it’.  We have the reward of knowing that a new group of people can go out to enjoy the fells more safely. 

Library picture

Neolithic cross-roads?

Regular readers of the blog will know that I have mentioned Castlerigg Stone Circle a few times.  Any who have visited will know that it is in a stunning, elevated setting with glorious panoramic views of the surrounding fells.  It dates to somewhere around 4.5 thousand years ago and is one of the oldest Neolithic circles in Britain.  It became one of the earliest scheduled ancient monuments of Great Britain & Ireland in 1883 and was purchased and donated to the National Trust in 1913 when Canon Rawnsley organised a public subscription.

The stones are of a local metamorphic slate with the heaviest being estimated to weigh around 16 tons and the tallest stone measuring approximately 2.3m high. Some stones in the circle have been aligned with the midwinter sunrise and various lunar positions.  There is a tradition that attempts to count the stones will produce different answers and there may be some truth in this.  It all depends on which stones you count.  Some that are now visible are probably stones used merely to pack and stabilise the larger stones. 

There are many theories for the building of the circle but nobody really knows what Neolithic stone circles were used for.  Part of the charm of these sites is that we can each enjoy imagining their use.  Your theory might just be right. 

Current thinking links Castlerigg with the Langdale stone axe industry.  The site is situated at the junction between several valleys and the main intersection between the routes from the coast to the Eden Valley and to the Central Fells.  If you plotted the axe factory sites in central lakes, the obvious route from the coast would be to head for Castlerigg and follow the Armboth Ridge through to the Langdale fell and central Scafell Massif where the majority of the stone axe factory sites are to be found.  Langdale axes have been found in many ritual sites so it’s possible that trade and exchange of the axes would take place with ritual and ceremony at a site like Castlerigg.

Langdale was important for axe production because of the greenstone (Borrowdale volcanic series) to be found there.  When napped it fractures with a fish-hook-style fracture – a shape that lends itself to the production of good tools and axes.  These were of such quality that they were traded across Europe.

There is plenty of other evidence for Neolithic activity in the area.  Some years ago I helped to document burial mounds on Armboth Fell overlooking the circle.  We also have examples of cup & ring rock art in the Borrowdale valley.  So there is no doubt that this area was a hive of activity then.

All of which makes this a site with some special qualities.  You really need to visit to ‘feel’ the place and maybe even imagine your own stories.

Protecting 4000+ years of history and also introducing Fletch.

I was working this last weekend at Castlerigg stone circle (a Neolithic stone circle just outside Keswick that is 4 to 4.5 thousand years old) with a National Trust volunteer group from the Leeds area of Yorkshire.  Members of this group have been coming annually to spend a working weekend in the Lakes for the last 15 years.  Over those years they have done huge amounts of work. 

This year we were re-turfing around the Castlerigg stones.  It is a job we do every one or two years depending on the wear and tear caused by the combination of footfall and weather.  The heaviest wear of course is immediately around the stones so we replace worn sections with new turf to protect the site and to keep it looking good. 

We dig out the soil from a section to a depth of about 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 cm).  

That is taken across to a strip along the side of the field where we have taken out turf to use for the repair.  The soil fills in the strip and is reseeded and the removed turf is laid around the stones in the circle.  This is an annual or biannual cycle.  We also trial new seed mixes in search of the most sustainable, hard-wearing option for this site.

Sunny had his last day with us on the Saturday as he returned to his family on the Sunday.  He’ll be able to show off his new swimming and ATV driving skills!  The Yorkshire crew carried on without him and, as they always do, completed a fantastic amount of work for the Trust.

I’ll close this post with a mention of Fletch the perch-crow and his new blog.  Fletch is a resident of the gardens at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth who believes that he is the world’s first ever blogging perch-crow.  He is going to be blogging about thieving birds, visiting armadillos, crocheted mice called Bubble and Squeak and his life in general.  He will also be talking about gardening (particularly heritage gardening) and what’s going on at Wordsworth House plus he’ll be giving useful tips.

Go to the following link and you can check out his blog – there’s even a photograph of him!

http://fletchtheperchcrow.wordpress.com/

Navigation training

As part of a recent working holiday that was based at High Snab Farm , one of the things we did was have a navigation training session.  We used a walk up from High Snab and around the walk known as the Horseshoe Round as our training ground..

On a nice sunny day when viewed from the valleys, our Lake District hills look very inviting and benign but the weather can change very quickly.  Sometimes within an hour or less, those enticing, sunny summits can become windy, rain-lashed and shrouded in low cloud.  That footpath that you could see stretching ahead of you is now lost to view and thick mist can be very disorientating.  The only safe way to deal with that situation is to have good navigation skills and equipment.  GPS has its uses but, like all technology, is not totally dependable.  Maps, compasses and the skills to use them can be life-savers e.g. maps show you where the unexpected crags are located.  So, I always give our working holiday groups the opportunity to learn or brush up and then practice map and compass work.

The Keswick Mountain Festival is coming up on May 16-20 and I’ll be offering some free map and compass navigation sessions there.  So if any blog readers are at the festival, do come and find me – if I’m not doing a navigation session, I might be at the National Trust’s yurt on Crow Park.

Sunny was with the working holiday group on our big mountain walk – he busied himself going around the group and satisfying himself that they stayed together!  He is really good at getting along with people.  He’ll soon be going home to his own family and I suspect even Reiver will miss him.

Sunny's holiday adventures.

As Sunny is still 'on holiday' with me, I thought that the dog-loving readers of the blog might like to see pictures of some of the experiences he's had. 

At first we were mindful of sheep and lambs until we could be confident that he understood that he should ignore them.

It turned out that he was very obedient and he showed no signs of wanting to head off in their direction.  In fact he was remarkably obedient for an 8 month old who could easily have been over-excited by so many new people and experiences.

Even the ATV didn't concern him and he was happy to spend some time on a lofty perch surveying a new patch.

I don't know if he had tried swimming before but he certainly enjoyed it this time.  This was in the Elizabethan reservoir above High Snab Farm but I don't suppose that impressed him!

Dogs are amazingly quick learners if we humans will only spend a little time teaching them.

Lakeland bunnies.

Well that’s the Easter holiday period over for another year and thankfully there were no fire problems to be dealt with.  The Trust organised a number of Easter Egg Trails across the Lake District during the Easter weekend.  Ours took place on the Monday around the lake shore, Friars Crag and Cockshot Wood area.  Although it was a bit drizzly, it didn’t dampen spirits too much and we had a good number of people come along in family groups. 

All those who entered set forth with a trail sheet containing seven questions each with three options for answers.  Correct answers provided the letters for an anagram of BUNNIES.  That was the cue for the outbreak of bunny-hopping that you can see in the photograph above.   Successful completion of the sheet was rewarded with an Easter egg – and of course no child ‘failed’ to win an egg!  Regardless of the weather, several generations enjoyed the trail and some even came well-prepared to have an outdoor banquet at the picnic tables at the foreshore.

Later in the week I had a newcomer join me for his first day at work.  Sunny is a friend’s dog and whilst they are on holiday for two weeks, Sunny is spending his time with us and is coming out to work with me.  He is an eight month old Labrador who still has a lot to learn but is a very fast, keen learner.  Reiver didn’t come with us because she is an elderly lady these days and is semi-retired from public duties.  She also needs some rest from Sunny occasionally!  

We have been burning the brash and reinstating fences at High Snab where we have been hedge-laying these past few weeks.  High Snab’s farmer, Tom, is in the middle of lambing so the volunteers took turns to go in pairs to help with that.  Lambs seem to enchant everyone and I’ve never come across anyone who has not been keen to have some experience with them – feeding orphans is always popular!

Sunny had a busy and exciting day with so many new people and experiences but he was flat out and soundly asleep as soon as he was home!

Outwitting sheep!

Like much of the country we have been enjoying a spell of really good weather recently so we took full advantage of it to do a lot of outdoor work.

The first big job for me and my volunteers was to join our forest ranger Maurice planting trees on the Raise Gill slopes of Watendlath valley.  The ground is pretty stony there so it took considerable effort to create holes for the planting.  The prolonged dry weather hasn’t helped either.  But, as you will have realised if you follow the blog, my volunteers are not easily discouraged.  Eventually there will be 2.5 thousand mixed hardwoods planted to re-wood an area and stabilise the slope.  You can see from the pictures just how many were planted and protected with tree-guards – sheep pay no heed to our efforts so we have to thwart them somehow!

We now need some rain to give the trees a good start.  We have had some snow and rain but it is still so dry that we have to be vigilant about the potential fire hazard on the fells.  We hope all our visitors will be careful but we do have our fire-fighting kit ready.   A good downpour soon would dampen everything down to reduce the fire risk and would also be good for the growth of the vegetation. 

Later in the week, I worked with a different group of volunteers litter-picking on the Derwentwater foreshore.  We cleared a large area on the isthmus (near Keswick) of a trailer of litter and also cleared a trailer of wood which we will use for a beacon.  To celebrate the Queen’s jubilee, we are planning to have a beacon on Catbells and another on Crow Park opposite Theatre by the Lake.  We were working with the usual foreshore volunteers and also with Keswick Army Cadets. 

It was glorious weather and we were able to enjoy our lunch on Crow Park with views down Borrowdale and with Skiddaw at our backs.  What could be better?