A cool and damp day, but not enough to cool or dampen down the spirits of seven Friends of Adel Woods!
Today the plan was to litterpick and work with David Preston, Leeds City Council ranger, on Adel Bog.
We met up with David at the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods in Buck Stone Road. Two of us chose to litterpick, while five of us chose to work with David on Adel Bog.
The litter pickers made their way up to the village green, along Crag Lane to the Stairfoot Lane car park and then back along Crag Lane to the Slabbering Baby and back to Buck Stone Road. En route they collected two bags of litter.
The “bog team” transported tree poppers, mattocks, saws and loppers to Adel Bog where the plan was to remove saplings and brambles and create a “dead hedge” around the boundary of the bog.
The bog is a special habitat in Adel Woods. It is home to heath spotted orchids, bog asphodel , cotton grass, and other plants which are not found elsewhere in Adel Woods. Friends of Adel Woods have done a lot of work on the bog over the years to preserve it: if saplings and brambles are not removed, the bog will soon turn into woodland.
A dead hedge is what it says on the tin (or would do if it were in a tin!), a hedge but made with stakes, tree branches, uprooted saplings, brambles and the like. We started making a dead hedge last year and we were pleased to see that willow wands in the hedge had taken root to make the hedge even more effective.
The purpose of the dead hedge is to deter people from creating paths across the bog or picnicking there and to preserve this special spot in Adel Woods.
We removed many saplings with the use of our tree popper, and uprooted many brambles, all of which went into the construction of our dead hedge. Thank you David and team!
JOIN FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS!
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.
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.
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, just come along to one of our work parties or 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.
For further information, please have a look at our home page.
Friends of Adel Woods 