Your correspondent had a walk 
through the woods this afternoon and is pleased to report that on 
Saturday the Path Clearing team did a wonderful job clearing the path by the Seven Arches and doing further work at Adel Bog.
Generally, it was good to see that path widening work we did on Crag Lane earlier this year has held up really well. On the other hand, there are weeds a foot high on the path we cleared at the Slabbering Baby entrance. If you walk down that path, walk on the weeds please!
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A beautiful if cold morning. Despite the nippy start, a good turnout of fifteen Friends, all in good humour, met in the Stairfoot Lane carpark.
We had a group of litterpickers, a group of path clearers, and a chain gang adding five new steps to the top of the steps from the stream.
Your correspondent was embedded
with the chain gang, helping Ade to load wheelbarrows with the remains of our pile of crushed sandstone in the carpark and to take them down to the steps. Hence all of the photographs today are of this aspect of our work.
Five new steps were artistically sculpted into the hillside under the expert guidance of Steve Joul. Of course not everyone took it so seriously!
You couldn’t make it up!
“Aren’t they good!”
At about noon our intrepid team of path clearers arrived having cleared branches from paths as far afield as the Seven Arches and Adel Bog. They were desperate to try out the new steps.
We finished at about about 12.30pm, in good spirits.
Thank you to everyone who took part today. You have changed history!
Trying out the new steps! History is made.
A big thank you to a team from Deloitte who, under Steve Joul’s leadership, successfully carried out the gargantuan task of tidying up the Hospice Woodland.
The woodland had become rather overgrown and the team had to remove brambles, branches and even some trees to re-establish reasonable access. A member of the FOAW committee has walked through the woodland and says that as a result of Deloitte’s work it has been vastly improved.
Thank you again!
The Happy Team!
A beautiful day. Tina and Tom did some litter picking; David did cleared paths; and the rest of us cleared holly and other vegetation round Adel Woods’ patch of Japanese Knotweed in preparation for Steve Joul treating it.
Japanese Knotweed is a 
problematic invasive plant which we are trying to eradicate in this country. For more information have a look at the wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed.
Before…
The task turned out to be a lot bigger than anticipated and seven of us were engaged for an hour and half clearing holly.
…and after
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A lovely surprise this morning when Win came to offer us some encouragement at this morning’s task. Win fractured her humerus when she fell at our last event, but the good news is that it is healing well and she will be starting physiotherapy in a week or so’s time.
The Three Graces
We carried out two tasks this morning. Chris, Carol and Beth litter picked, while the rest of us dug up saplings on the moor. It was a beautiful morning, though very muggy.
The sapling force focused on a section in the middle of the moor and probably removed at least a hundred birch’s and oaks between us.
The moor is looking really good at the moment. The heather is in full bloom and looks fabulous, and the good news is that there are lots of young heather plants coming through too. There are also lots of bilberry plants – some still in flower (which seems quite late).
The account of the morning’s activities would not be complete without mentioning Hector and Chance who kept us entertained with their morning long struggle for possession of Hector’s tennis ball!
Tired and happy
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Another beautiful day and another turn out of seventeen Friends to help Steve Joul work on Adel bog.
Tina went litter picking with Pippa. David H went path clearing round the back of the Buckstones. Michelle went litter picking, and the rest of us worked on the bog.
The bog is looking pretty good at the moment. It is very wet and muddy. This is undoubtedly due in part to the very wet weather we have had for the past couple of months. However, there is no doubt that the bog is a bog, though in need of tender loving care to restore it to its full boggy glory.
We felled a couple of silver
birch on the north east corner of the bog, cut back vegetation round the northern margin, and dug up many small trees and stumps on the northern side of the bog.
Steve Joul showed us the heath spotted orchids which are in flower at the moment, and described the difference between them and marsh orchids. We then counted the orchids in flower and found thirty – though we did not differentiate between the different types.
There are several different types of flowers in bloom at the moment, including the marsh asphodel which like the heath spotted orchids, in Leeds, is only found in Adel bog. Other flowers we found were the devils bit scabious, the marsh violet (not in flower), and tormentil. In writing this note, your correspondent has found the following website which seems pretty good at helping to identify flora and fauna in the UK – http://www.judywoods.dial.pipex.com/
This report would not be complete without a mention in despatches for Win who fell on the way down to the bog and has unfortunately fractured a bone in her shoulder. Win is an enthusiastic and much appreciated supporter of FOAW and we wish her a speedy recovery. We are also grateful to Nurse Settle who took Win down to A&E and looked after her so well.
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The path to the Buck Stone
Steve Joul and fourteen Friends put in two hours of hard labour to improve the paths leading from the Buck Stones into Adel Woods.
The same view on 4 May 2012
The first was the entrance from Buck Stone Avenue leading down to the Buck Stone. A local resident had asked if the Parish Council could improve this path which was getting very muddy, and the upshot was that FOAW agreed to do it, Leeds CC providing us with crushed limestone.
The next path was the one lower down
Buck Stone Avenue.
Finally, we cleared the path from Buck Stone Road leading towards the Slabbering Baby.
Before…
This has slowly been getting narrower over the last couple of years – two years ago, it was easy to drive a vehicle down the path, but now the path had become so overgrown
…and after – the same view!
that it was only wide enough for pedestrians walking single file!
Two hours of intense activity and the results were astonishing!
At the end we all had a great sense of achievement – and were exhausted!
Friends relaxing after a job well done!
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“And what do you do?”
Friends of Adel Woods were graced with a visit from Her Majesty who managed to find a window in her busy schedule to make an appearance at the Alwoodley Fun Day in her honour. Here she can be seen exchanging pleasantries about woodland ecology with committee members Judith and Phil.
Yesterday, as we endured a full day of heavy rain, the outlook for today did not look very optimistic. Yet a sundance performed by Barbara after extensive research on google, seems to have come up trumps because overall we enjoyed a beautiful summer day.
The day started at about 10.30 am with setting up our stall. The siting of our marquee, within inches of two inflatable fun activities, and with a generator positioned about fifteen feet behind us, did not look too promising. Yet once the sides of the marquee had been fixed in place (with typical FOAW resourcefulness and ingenuity because they had very little in the way of fasteners), Judith and Stephanie wowed the public with the imagination and sheer daring of their creations. Judith with her aquaria containing leafmold and fungi on the theme of “decay” – surely more illuminating and thought provoking than Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde – and Stephanie with her “Tree with cut out Woodland Birds” – as joyful and optimistic a riposte to Tracy Emin’s bed as one can find in the contemporary art scene. And all this accompanied by down to earth yet well-judged and interesting displays providing information about Adel Woods, their fauna and flora.
“Roll up! Roll up!”
Not to be outdone, your correspondent provided a game of Litterpicking Heroes which proved extremely popular with the local populace and raised a princely sum for the FOAW.
A number of Friends took the time to help on the FOAW stand and to litterpick around the recreation ground and their wonderful assistance was very much enjoyed and appreciated.
Looking beyond the FOAW stand, there were a wide range of interesting stalls and activities – of particular note, Alwoodley in Bloom, Walkabout (the walking group), the Alwoodley Community Association and the Parish Council.
The icing on the cake for FOAW was the arrival of Her Majesty in the afternoon to take part on this her Diamond Jubilee in entertaining and educating the local public on the wonders that are Adel Woods. Unfortunately, Prince Philip could not make it this afternoon but no doubt Her Majesty will tell him of a truly magical trip to Alwoodley. Long may she reign!
Two members of the committee hard at work!
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A big pat on the back for
all seventeen of us who braved a rather cold and damp morning to litterpick, clear saplings from the moor, and do some incidental work on paths.
Together we can!
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Steve Joul led a S.W.A.T team of five dedicated ecologists in carrying out a survey of flora and fauna in Adel Woods. Pictured here with three of the team, Steve is going to collate the results and share them with FOAW.
Despite recent torrential downpours, the heavens were kind and did not open upon our intrepid team – in fact it was a lovely day and everyone was chuffed with the outcome of their endeavours.
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Friends of Adel Woods 