The sun shines on the righteous, they say, but it also shone on us today!
I was at the work site at 8.45 am and took this photograph of the gorse and bramble growing in and alongside the leat where it runs across part of the Yelverton Golf Club …..
Gorse and bramble growing in the leat on the golf course - click image for a larger version
This was our 16th day of work and I want to thank: Barry & Tanya, Bill, Bob, Chris, Darren, Derek, Elaine & John, Ian, John & Rachel, Kathy, Roger, Stephanie, Sylvia, Tony and Val, who with myself, made 19 volunteers.
I must also thank Val, the bearer once more of that vital staple for a day on the leat, cake!
We actually had the triple whammy again today, of gorse, bramble and hawthorn – I had overlooked the thorn on my earlier visits. I had concentrated on the gorse because it was the only “run” on this leat project. This photograph gives a clue as to how it was …..
The photo above shows Barry with a brush cutter in among the hawthorn, gorse and bramble (click for a larger image). Actually, this is not such a dense patch, we had much thicker growth than this, but then you wouldn’t have been able to see Barry, would you!!
We also had a bonfire, after my advising Exeter Fire Control Room early this morning. This was managed for the most-part by Darren …..
Our first bonfire on the project, managed by Darren complete with fireproof safety gear - click image for a larger version
As usual, the whole team did a terrific job of conservation work, preserving the archaeology of Dartmoor for future generations. As a project co-ordinator I find it impossible to pick out any individual for putting in more effort than the others – they all work hard and constitute a super team – they have to be The A Team (and no clever hyperlink here!).
Perhaps, if I am allowed a moment of levity, maybe they should be called The Jail Team? Heaven knows that they all deserve their libation afterwards …..
The scene after a hard day's work - click for larger image
Above, the leat has been cleared, brash is being burned, loggable wood is left and the site is being tidied so that there is no cause for complaint from the golf club members!
In what is now a time-honoured tradition, the team retired once again to The Rock Inn, Yelverton, to test the local brews. We normally find them very satisfying and the “craic” (as they call it these days) is very good, too.
[…] By the way, I should say that, as before, I had telephoned the Fire Control Room at Exeeter to give notice of our fire, plus we had the usual water spray, beaters and fire protection gear in use as can be seen in the previous blog ‘post’ about Devonport Leat. […]