TCV Newton Abbot were reclaiming green spaces in the hot sun (and occasional rain shower) yesterday in Exeter at the urban nature reserve, Barley Valley. The work was a challenging combination of vegetation clearance, litter picking, dam building and pond dredging. We worked alongside the ranger for the area who assisted with the logistics and the removal of much fly tipping and rubbish we pulled out of the pond. The day started well with a brief walk to the site where we formed a plan of attack and volunteers choose which tasks they were comfortable performing. The happy hardworking team went straight to work in the pond pulling by hand and with Chromes the thick carpet of green grass and pond plants which were strangling the oxygen from the water and killing off the wildlife. Another issue was simply the natural spring could not flow and the rain water was running away to a drain leaving the pond at its lowest in years and in danger of completely disappearing. To loose this relatively untouched wildlife habitat which is ecologically important to the area as it is unique within its placing and low foot traffic would have been a sad loss for the community which surrounds it but TCV Newton Abbot were on hand to rescue, repair and reclaim! Splitting up into three teams we worked tirelessly up until our social tea break where we sat in the sun and relaxed. We resumed with vegetation clearance on dry land with gloves, helmets, bow saws, loppers and pruning saws (even telescopic ones for those high places!). Pond dredging with waders, pond gloves, spades and chromes. Dam building with wellies, wet gloves, spades and pruning saws. Each task was carried out by a volunteer who was either trained on site by our expert project officers or had previous experience in the task or a similar one from other TCV days. By lunchtime where Sloe berries were in abundance, everyone one was quite tired but after a break they were all ready for more. With in an hour the pond was cleared and had started to refill from the spring clearing the muddy water to show an abundance of invertebrate life forms and a frog or two. All teams now joined together to assist the now very muddy and exhausted dam builders to finish the wet but strong structure. The dam ensured that the water stayed and so for many years to come everyone and thing will benefit from this lovely wildlife area as long as the community which benefits also helps to maintain it and keep it unspoilt.....Great work TCV Volunteers!!! Contact us now to Learn Something New: ✉ Dan - [email protected] ✉ Matt - [email protected] ✆ Sacha - Newton Abbot Office: Tel. 01626 325 630 Our Twitter: https://twitter/TCV_NewtonAbbot TCV website: tcv.org.uk/ TCV Diplomas: tcv.org.uk/southeast/local-training/city-guilds-diplomas TCV Course list: courses.tcv.org.uk/shop/category?l=level3%3Blid%3D561
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 08:21:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015