13th July 2008

This morning I spent a couple of hours volunteering at Westonbirt Arboretum. Having done the volunteer's induction course a couple of weeks ago, this was my first opportunity to get involved.

There were about 8 of us in the group, and our task for the day (well a couple of hours actually) was to sort out some coppice in Silkwood. The coppice had been harvested about 5 years ago, and the stools were regenerating nicely. However, the area was being overrun with Alder to the detriment of other species. Our task therefore was to take out all of the Alder, leaving the other species to prosper.

Alder is identified by the obvious lenticels of the bark, plus its leaf shape. The species being removed was either Red or Grey Alder. Ben, the team leader, wasn't sure which it was as he had been told it was Red Alder. However, Red Alder is native to North America and grown as a specimen species. Grey Alder on the other hand is native to Great Britain.

After an hour and a half we had made good progress, but we were all starting to flag in the heat. So we called it a day and returned to the Great Oak Hall (GOH).

Outside the GOH Jane (who helped on the Week In The Woods course last year) and Hazel Moy were bodging. Jane was making wands to accompany her book, and Hazel was making rustic chairs. Having seen her working, I decided it was something I should have a go at when I have some suitable material to hand.

Returned home feeling tired but contented.