Upcoming Events

September

To book or find more information about any events please call 01694 725001

The Wildflower course on Wednesday 19th  with Nick Robinson, is fully booked but keep an eye out for more sessions.

Saturday 22nd 10am-3.30pm

Walk and Wild Swim.

Starting from Carding Mill Valley going for a walk then ending with a relaxing swim in the reservoir.
Booking is preferred, £10 per person and meeting at the Chalet Pavillion.

Path maintenance on Dr Mott's Road

Members of the TTF Les and Mike, and the placement volunteers, Tom and Kate carried out maintenance work on Doctor Mott's Road earlier this week. The drainage ditches were cleared and dug out using mattocks and spades to allow the water to run away from the paths during heavy showers.

Tom and Mike digging out the ditches.



Les and Mike working hard.

 



The lovely view from Dr Mott's.





The new bridge

The bridge across the stream next to the bird hide has been improved, now it is wider and sturdier. It was altered and installed by volunteer rangers Will, Tom, Kate and Jordan. 

Will and Tom installing a post to support the new bridge.

 

Volunteer rangers working on the bridge.



Testing the finished bridge.



Swallow fledglings

The live streaming from the Swallow camera is showing fantastic viewings as the baby Swallows are preparing to fly the nest! To catch a glimpse of them before they leave next week or so, please feel free to pop in to the tea room and look on the big screen.

There is also an opportunity to see the mother feed its young via the link below;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UAnC5Wtgas

Two more finger posts!

 The last two finger posts from Dudmaston were modified by Tom and John before being installed in the top car park and the confluence by Tom, Matt and Kate. They will now help direct people to the tea room, waterfall and shooting box.

Tom chiseling the holes for the finger signs.

Tom and Kate installing a finger post at confluence.

Finished product!

Great views from confluence.

Finger post installed further down in top car park.

Time to put the kettle on...

New finger posts

The LTV rangers installed a new finger post at the beginning of the reservoir track. The posts were made at the Dudmaston estate out of Oak. There is a total of four posts going up around the valley, directing people to the waterfall, tea room and to Church Stretton.



Tom and Matt digging the hole for the new post



Finished finger post



Bracken Control

Bracken Spraying took place at Duckley Nap last week as part of the bracken control measures on the hill. A large area was sprayed by the rangers and volunteers in the hope of reducing the spread of the invasive species. If the weather holds out, we aim to do more over the coming weeks, especially targeting the fields in Batch Valley.

John, Kate, Tom, Matt, Dave and Will suited up for spraying.

Another method of control is to cut the bracken with the mower on the back of the tractor. With the help of the double wheels to stabilise the tractor, large areas have been cut on Plush Hill and in The Rings. Bracken has also been pulled out along the replanted hedge line at the Batch to help the young trees survive.

Area of cut bracken.

New signs in Carding Mill Valley

Last week, 3 new trail-head signs were installed throughout the valley. Members of the TTF spent Tuesday digging the holes before Richard Channing from Dudmaston came over to help assemble the first sign. They were built by Richard, using Oak sourced from the Dudmaston estate. The rangers then put up the remaining two signs during the rest of the week. The trail-head signs feature a map of the Long Mynd with the three walking routes to the reservoir, waterfall and on top of the hill highlighted. Underneath the map there are 4 leaflet dispensers with the orange, red and pink walks, and the newly launched activity trail which includes the bird hide, rope pull and iron age fort. In addition to these signs, new finger posts will be put up soon, directing visitors to Church Stretton, the Tea Room and the waterfall amongst others.

TTF digging the holes for the signs to drop in to.

Dave and John assembling the signs



Finishing off the sign situated just before the Pavilion.



Sign in the top car park.

Sign at bottom of valley with new leaflets.

Tractor and Tom pulling out the old signs.

The three metal signs that were situated up the valley have now been pulled out with the help of the tractor, and one of the new Placement Volunteer Rangers, Tom Llewellyn. Kate Price is the other new Placement Volunteer Ranger, and  along with Tom they will replace Matt and Rose.