Reports

Weather and attendance

The 7-day weather forecast was proved correct and it was as cold as it was bright with a chill factor from the light breeze. We had a turnout of 15 volunteers and we split into two groups as follows:

• Nature Reserve

• The Fernery

Tasks Completed

Nature Reserve

A group of 6 volunteers led by Andrew, and joined by Chris James (WHBC), started at the bottom of the track: cutting back scrub, tidying up around the ferns which are growing naturally on the bank there, and clearing leaves with the aid of a leaf blower.

The Fernery Garden

A second group of 9 volunteers led by John, gathered up fallen leaves and stored them in the compost cage, weeded the planted beds, planted more of Jenny’s cultivated wild flowers on the North Chalk Bank, and cleared grass and weeds away from the young tree whips around the perimeter.

Weather and attendance

The 7-day weather forecast was quite wrong and we met on a beautiful bright day but with a very cold wind blowing from the East, which picked up as the morning progressed.

We welcomed new member Andrew Moffatt, and had a turnout totalling 17 volunteers

We also welcomed Ann MacDonald and Chris James from WHBC.

Tasks Completed

Planting

On the North Chalk Bank we planted more of Jenny’s wild flowers, and this group worked hard weeding out various strains of the dandelion family.

Sarah and another small group worked on the edgings of the formal beds, planting Hearts-Tongue ferns (Phyllitis Scolopendrium) that Harry and Hilary had brought along.

Weeding

Small groups under Sarah’s direction carried out weeding on the Planting Beds and on pathways.

Gathering fallen leaves and tree detritus

Andrew and Colin ploughed their way through the pathways with leaf blowers, accompanied by a small fleet of volunteer rakers and leaf gatherers.

The leaf mulching cage was soon filled up and a second cage was immediately constructed, adjacent to the first, and this too began to rapidly fill.

Plant Protection

The Tree Fern (Dicksonia Antarctica) in the Central Bed had received Harry’s straw protection last month but this task was finished off with a total wrap for complete winter protection.

Publicity

• On Monday 3rd December Lucy gave a Presentation to the WGC WEA, who generously donated £50 to our funds.
• On Wedneday 12th December 2018,  the Welwyn Hatfield Times Magazine published a full article about the work of the volunteers at Danesbury Fernery.
• Ann Macdonald announced that the Organisers of the Anglia in Bloom Competition (the FODF won the 2018 Conservation Award) have expressed a direct wish to re-visit the Fernery in 2019.

Xmas Celebrations

We broke off at 11 am and enjoyed home-made hot sausage rolls and a selection of home-made cupcakes, minced pies, Stollen Cake and other traditional sweet things, washed down with piping hot Mulled Wine. This was an enjoyable break, well planned by Hilary with help from Sarah and contributions from many others.

Xmas Greetings

Eight volunteers who were not able to attend, sent their best wishes, and all the Friends of Danesbury Local Nature Reserve/Fernery join together in sending all readers of the website our best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Successful New Year.

We had a good turnout of 12 volunteers on a bright sunny day, firm underfoot, and following a very windy spell of weather.

Tasks Completed

Mulching the Parsons Bed

Clearing a fallen Hawthorn tree.

Planting Wild Flowers

Jenny brought trays of cultivated flowers which she and Lucy planted on the North Slope.

Sara planted 50 x Primrose plugs near the Team HQ

Replacing one more fencing panel, and measuring the entrance gate

A Donated Fern planted in the Entrance Bed    – Elevensies

We had an excellent turnout of 12 volunteers, plus Chris James from WHBC.

The winds were always high, at about 45 mph, but the dell provides good protection. Hilary was busy watering before the rain started in a short but heavy burst, conveniently at the moment we took our elevenses break. The volunteers were well protected by the oak tree at Fernery HQ and the rain stopped as soon as we were ready to continue.

The main activity on site was the re-profiling of the Parsons Bed, undertaken by Mark of Maydencroft with his mechanical digger, under Sarah’s watchful eye. Harry and Alan had to work to clear the branches of the Laurel Tree on the Southern path which had split in the high winds and were blocking the path that Mark needed to bring his digger round.

During the re-profiling of the Parsons Bed, it was decided to merge it into the lower drop of the Gorge, making one large bed. Sarah plans to plant up the Gorge with bluebells and other light coloured plants to give the effect of a water drop.

Record photographs were taken of the wall at the southern end of the original bed which has now been covered.

Harry, Alan and Colin worked to place rabbit wire around new plants that Sarah had brought to the site, including two specimen Hydrangeas that Hilary and Harry had been carefully storing at their home. Other plants around the site needed repair and improvements to the existing wire protection.

Branches from the fallen Laurel were cut and loaded into the composting bins, and plants brought along by Sarah were planted in the bank above the Top Path. This was hard work for Sara, Nina and Jenny, as the ground at that point had never previously been cultivated and was hard as the rock underneath.

These new bedding areas on the Top Path will require careful watering attention.

In the May Bed, Sarah has sown Hollyhock seeds, and these are beginning to show. Care will need to be taken by gardeners not to weed these new plants as they develop.

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On another day that started with light rain but quickly cleared up, it was decided to focus work in the Fernery Garden, and not to attempt to operate a second scrub-bashing group in the Park Field.

The following is based on a Report from Andrew Beattie who directed the work.

Fernery Gardening Group –  Tasks

We had an excellent turnout, which included one first time volunteer, and two expected visitors from the Hertfordshire Metal Detecting Society. Fortunately early-arriving volunteers managed to clear up some school-holiday litter before the arrival of visitors.

Composting – the prime purpose was to tidy up the composting site which included the cutting back of bramble trailers to allow access later this year when leaf collection starts in earnest.

Weeding – weeds that needed pulling, were pulled, and much of the scrub behind the grass banks was cleared.

The grass banks on the Southern side near the Entrance have greened up very well.

Watering – this task was not needed.

Tree Planting – a fine young Oak was planted in the North Eastern corner that in the years to come will provide welcome shade in the early summer months.

Metal Detecting – key to site Mapping and Recording 

We welcomed Cathy and Mike from the Hertfordshire Metal Detecting Society, who made a preliminary survey of the field to the West of the Entrance, up to the roadway. They were able to confirm the position of the irrigation pipes discovered by Maydencroft in May/June.  They also surveyed the course of the pipes within the Fernery itself that Harry had mapped out preparatory to the 2018 Open Day.

It is very much hoped that Cathy and Mike will join us on a regular basis so that an authoritative plan of the pipework in the Fernery can be plotted, and an accurate record maintained of any artifacts that are discovered along the way. It is being proposed that we open a Column on the website to record any such findings if these outline plans reach fruition.

Team Meetings

At Team Pre-Briefing Andrew advised members that the Friends Committee had decided that we should hold a meeting of all ‘working’ volunteers so that we can address and discuss issues that have arisen since we formally established our FOD Constitution in February 2017.

Secretary Harry Ward will circulate a Notice to working volunteers to establish the most popular time and place for a meeting, following which an Agenda will be produced.

Issues that need addressing include production of a Priority List for allocating funds which are accumulating quite healthily. Priorities will need to be set to cover, for example, the costs of further planting and garden maintenance, the purchase and replacement (where required) of tools and equipment, and production of short/medium, and long term plans for restoring and replacing site fixtures such as the Entrance Gateway, Fernery fencing, and the commissioning of the design and construction of a Bridge over the Gorge.

We will also have to address the developing need to establish our own banking arrangements as we are becoming more and more active, and Danesbury Residents Association’s generous offer to share their banking arrangements with us, are no longer appropriate, as will be explained.

Date of the next Working Party – Thursday 20th September

Maydencroft are currently scheduled to have a mechanical digger on site to start the process of re-profiling the Parson’s Bed.

This will need careful planning for obvious H&S reasons. But volunteers will be asked to help remove the weed suppressing membrane immediately in advance of 20th September, and to be on hand on the day to stack the topsoils as they are dumped at the North end of the site for later restoration of the Pulhamite Outcrop.

Ad Hoc Volunteer Meetings

It has once again been proposed that volunteers might wish to form ad hoc Thursday morning work parties, particularly when we are in ‘catch-up’ mode due to bad weather, or we have to prepare for major tasks such as the Big Plant Up, currently scheduled for October 18th.

The Borough Council have agreed to ad hoc meetings in the past, provided we go through the proper process of putting Chris James on Notice, preparing and agreeing a Risk Assessment in advance, and have an authorised Leader and First Aider present. However, Chris has agreed in principle that we should not need to go through this formality if we are undertaking straight gardening work in the Fernery, but that in all instances she must be told of our plans in advance. We are also to ensure that at all times at least 2 members are present to provide security.

WhatsApp Gardening Group

The WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group is providing a valuable tool for making informal planning arrangements, so if you are not already a member of this Group please contact John who is the administrator. Otherwise, please keep your eyes on the website Calendar even though this cannot be relied on to be up-to-date.