New soil bunds

Those of you who have been out on the hill over the past week may have noticed new soil bunds have been placed along the side of the road. These are to reduce the extent of damage done by cars on the verges and will gradually allow the vegetation to recolonise on the grassy areas behind the bunds. These also have the added benefit of discouraging 4x4 vehicles to venture off-road.

The sheep seem to approve!

A foggy day in the valley!

On the 2nd November a dense fog descended on the valley, leaving the tops of the hills clear, this provided the perfect opportunity for some photos!

Burway

View of the valley from the Burway

Devil's Mouth

Carding Mill Valley

New Artwork

We have a new banner in Carding Mill valley that rangers and volunteers installed a frame for this week. The current banner being place in the frame says '2000 sheep and the Long Mynd Commoner's Association welcome responsible dog owners. Thank You.'. This relates to the issues we have had lately of a small number of dogs causing problems with other visitors and the sheep.

Countryside Manager, Pete Carty, stated on the issue of dogs on leads: 'Our current thinking on this issue is that EVERY owner should take responsibility for their own dog. If their dog is likely to chase sheep or interfere with other people then it should be kept on a lead, but if an owner is confident that their dog will not disturb wildlife, sheep or people and return to them on command then their dog can be off the lead,'

TTF take on Dr Motts

This Tuesday our Tuesday Task Force (TTF) went down Dr Motts road cleaning out drainage channels. It's important to keep these channels clear to keep water off the path which in turn prevents iceing over and erosion.

Shooting box

National trust, English Heritage, Natural England and Shropshire Council have finished work to protect The Shooting Box Disc Barrow and a nearby Bowl Barrow .The plan was to close the origional route and reinstate the bridleway (Definitive Line) that runs parallel, 50 metres to the East, outside the Scheduled Area. 

The new route runs 450 metres from Shooting Box car park in a North/Easterly direction to join the Portway.  The route is surfaced with crushed stone topped with dust, to about 2 metres in width.  A short stretch of drainage will be undertaken at a low point along the route to prevent water damage in the future.  The current surface material was scraped off and used to restore the existing route through the Barrows.

The original path.

First layer of stone on new path.

The finished project.

Sheep Counts

A couple of weeks ago National Trust staff and volunteers checked the whole of the Long Mynd in order to count the sheep. The Long Mynd is mostly common land where about 15 farmers have the rights to graze their sheep, however in the past the Mynd has suffered from over grazing so in order to protect the area grazing has to be controlled and the number of sheep limited. To monitor the numbers the National Trust undertakes a sheep count a few times every year.

Heather Management

Last week National Trust Rangers started heather burning again on the Long Mynd. Heather burning is a great way to help the heather regenerate quicker and creates the perfect habitat for Grouse. Grouse like to live in tall heather but scout for food in smaller heather, however they wont go to far from cover so heather burning has to be planned carefully. We only have til around the end of March to fit in burning as after that it is ground nesting bird season and burning will disrupt the nests and the birds.

Reverend Carr - 150 years later

On January 29^th commemorating 150years (to the day) when the Vicar of Woolstaston became benighted for 24 hours on The Long Mynd, National Trust Learning officer Chris Stratton led a walk in very similar conditions.

Photo courtesy of Pat Holbourn-Williams  

Reverend Edmund Donald Carr was caught up in one of the worst snowstorms to hit the Long Mynd the century before last.  In trying to return from his Church service in Ratlinghope to his home parish of Woolstaston he lost his way – the ferocity of the storm blowing him down time and again and preventing him from seeing where he went.  No one had seen so much snow fall for nigh on fifty years. Several others died on the hill that night. After a whole night and day of struggling in snowdrifts, and after losing his hat, boots, gloves and nearly his life he was eventually found by children playing in Carding Mill Valley.

Photo Courtesy of Malcolm Roddy

Pole Bank Topograph

Recently a mote has formed around the Topograph on Pole Bank, as much fun as it is for kids to run round and round in circles in, we felt it would be a lot nicer to look at if you weren't stood in a puddle, so Assistant Ranger Will and FTV Charis went to sort it out. A small drainage channel was dug out to drain some of the water and the hole filled in, over time this dirt will dry up a bit and grass will grow on top, it will look like new in no time. 

Way Marker and Dragons Teeth Repairs

Volunteers Rob, Izi and Emily enjoyed a beautiful day on the hill repairing dragons teeth and waymarkers over the hill. With numerous walks, access routes and challenging terrain, keeping up with the work can some times feel like a tough job. However, with such stunning views it's a job no one minds doing!!

Mountain Pansy

This beautiful little flower is a Mountain Pansy. We haven't seen one on the hill before, have you?

Bracken Cutting

The tractor has its double wheels on and is ready to start cutting bracken! Every year we cut over 40ha in our efforts to reduce bracken, and on High Park you can really see a difference! The bracken there is much shorter compared to the bracken on the rest of the hill. You also get a great view of North Shropshire!

Bracken Bashing!

Rangers and TTF tried a new technique this morning for beating back bracken: beating it! They used bamboo canes to hit the top off young bracken shoots. This forces the plant to put more energy into growing than spreading, and although the area will need further bashing, it will hopefully have a significant impact on the bracken (and it was good for anger management too!)



Muntjac on the Mynd

This lovely bit of footage shows a muntjac deer on the edge of the Long Mynd. These deer are native to China but were introduced to England, and are now a common sight here. Though they are often seen on Wenlock Edge, this is the first sighting of one on the Mynd! Thank you to Mags Cousins for the footage

Tree Planting at Callow

TTF and rangers braved the very wet conditions this morning to plant new hawthorn trees around Callow and in Grindle Hollow. The trees planted were to replace dead trees, and have been grown from seeds collected from the Long Mynd.

The trees were all planted in tree guards, to protect them from hungry sheep!

The work we do on the Long Mynd would not be possible without all our fantastic volunteers, so thank you all! 

New Path to Pole Bank

 Contractors have begun work to redo the path up to Pole Bank. Once completed it will be suitable for wheelchairs! Pole Bank is the highest point on the Long Mynd, and on good days you can get wonderful views of Wales.

Gorse Burning

Determined to catch up with the schedule, Dave, Nick, Darren and Isabel were south of Minton today to burn gorse. Gorse normally burns a lot better than heather, so they were confident they'd be able to make an impact. Sadly it was not to be: the wet weather triumphed once again with the gorse being too wet to burn. No burning can be done after the end of March due to ground nesting birds, so we are desperate to get it done soon, but its looking unlikely at the moment.

Heather Burning

Assistant ranger Nick and voluntary rangers Rich and Will made an attempt at burning heather today, as we have not had such dry weather in a long time! Sadly it did not take, as it was still that little bit too damp. Hopefully more days of sunshine are headed our way, so another attempt may be made in the near future.

Tree down on the Burway

On Sunday, the high winds took their toll and blew a tree down across the Burway road.

Assistant Ranger Nick, along with voluntary rangers Will and Bruce, went up to assist the Highways Authority in clearing the road. 

The tree was cut up and moved away from the road to allow access again.

At a Crossroads?

The photo below is taken just above Lightspout waterfall. Though the path to the left is the official right of way, and what will be shown on your map, we are asking people to take the right path. This is because erosion on the left path is causing damage to the wet flush system, which is one of the most important yet vulnerable habitats on the hill. If you head this way please follow the marked route!