Another dire weather forecast, but six of us met up in the Stairfoot Lane carpark at 10 am – and as usual the weather was far better than predicted. In fact we had no rain until the odd spot as we finished our morning’s work.
One of us chose to litterpick, while the rest of us walked along Crag Lane to the disused rugby field to give some TLC to the fruit trees which Steve Joul and his son planted there in March 2021. At the time, Steve was Parks and Countryside Ranger with Leeds City Council. You can find out more about the trees and the reason for planting them in our post for 18th March 2021
Steve and his son also gave a lot of their own time to water the trees in the dry Summers of the last four years, and last February Steve and yours truly braved very cold weather to put tree guards around the trunks of the trees to prevent deer damage. We were pleased today to see that all the tree guards were still securely in place and the trees were all doing well.
When the trees were planted the area was all grassland, as can be seen in the post for 18th March 2021, and it was quite a suprise to find that most of the trees were surrounded by bracken, as can be seen in the photograph above. The area of bracken has increased very substantially even since last February as can be seen for the post for that date.
So today we spent an hour and a half clearing bracken and brambles from around the trees.
As we completed our task, our wonderful lone litter picker arrived to have a look at what we had achieved.
Her litterpicking journey had taken her from the Stairfoot Lane car park, through the woods behind Adel Crag, across Gemma’s field to the Village Green. She focused on the edges of the Green where there was a lot of rubbish. From there she came back for a circuit around the disused rugby field. After dropping in to see us, she made her way back to pick up litter on the opposite side of the Green, finishing – beyond the call of duty – at 12.30 pm, having collected two bags of rubbish.
COME ALONG TO FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS EVENTS!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us in carrying out the important work of looking after our local woods.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks. Our next educational work event will be a birdsong walk at the beginning of May.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page and come along to one of our work parties.
If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Friends of Adel Woods 