A pleasant Spring morning, and an amazing turn out of fourteen Friends and two dogs!
We met in Old Leo’s car park and our tasks for today were litter picking and path clearing. Because we were a large group, we split into three groups: one group litter picking; another group clearing paths in Alwoodley Plantation and around Adel Crag; and the third group working along Crag Lane, and along the stream to Adel Pond.
Your correspondent was in the last group and so this report will focus on their work.
As we left Old Leo’s car park we paused to admire and encourage the work of one of our happy litter pickers.
We made our way along Crag Lane to a point just beyond the picnic area and before the turn off for Adel Crag. This spot is very muddy in wet weather, and a number of years ago, under the leadership of Steve Joul, we put a drainage pipe under the path. Unfortunately, the pipe regularly blocks up with mud and so the first task this morning was to unblock the pipe. One of our party had brought along some drainage rods for this purpose.
While three of us cleared the drainage pipe, and removed a lot of mud from the path, the fourth member of our team went on to the steps leading down from Stairfoot Lane car park to Meanwood Beck, and made a great job of cutting back holly which was encroaching onto the steps.
Having cleared the drainage pipe, the rest of us made our way to the steps. Here we noted that some of the iron rods supporting the steps were protruding and creating a tripping hazard. Using a mattock, we hammered the rods down.
From there the four of us made our way along the stream to Adel Pond, clearing some fallen branches and removing saplings and holly which were encroaching on to the path.
By now the morning cloud had cleared and it was becoming rather warm! This part of Meanwood Beck is particularly attractive. This morning there were masses of wood anemones in flower on the opposite bank of the stream, and since the stream is in a valley, the only sounds were the babbling of the stream and birdsong.
When we reached Adel Pond, we met up with two litter pickers, and spent a few minutes removing large logs from the pond, so far as they could be reached from the bank.
It was now noon, and we made our way back to Old Leo’s car park via the orchid meadow.
Friends of Adel Woods 