Yesterday we kicked off our winter maintenance works in
Tweedhope. We have a few jobs we’d like to get done in there over the next few
months and we started with the rather ambitious job of fence removal.
Before Tweedhope was a small planted woodland, it was grazed
with sheep. The planted area is now divided up internally by old fence lines
which no longer serve a purpose. Yesterday we began the rather ambitious task
of removing these.
What was needed? A healthy bunch of volunteers, some tools,
a good bit of fitness and a good sense of humour (this was more for the laughs
at tea break and lunch break than anything else).
There are some volunteers in there somewhere..... |
We started where the first fence line crosses the Annandale
Way and worked up the slope towards Cocklaw Knowe.
We divided the fence into
sections and cut the barbed wire and sheep netting so as to take the tension
out of the wire and stop it from pinging!
Cutting the wire |
We then removed the staples and
rolled up the wire and brought it down to the track side where we could remove
it by quad.
Removing the wire |
Volunteer Martin carrying down one of the many rolls - 3.5 quad trailer loads in total! |
Afterwards we removed the posts and filled in the holes left. This
was a good trick once pointed out to me by an old fencer. If you don’t fill
them in, little voles can fall in to them and not get out. Not a good situation
for the vole and not a good situation for the food chain for our growing raptor
population!
The posts we removed |
At the end of the day we achieved a LOT! Metres and metres
of fence line removed which will really help to open up the landscape of this
young woodland.
The thing is….. we’ve got plenty more to do. Interested in
volunteering? Email: corehead@bordersforesttrust.org
Lynn
Site Officer
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