Thursday 4th April 2024

Power Tools

Taking advantage of the poor weather conditions at the start of the day an impromptu training session was held in the classroom.

One initiative is to train willing volunteers on the safe and effective use of some of the power tools in use at the arboretum.

An important piece of machinery is the Honda HRX537 petrol lawnmower.

An indoor show and tell session explained the different controls and the basics of operations. This was followed by a practical outside where each volunteer practiced starting, using and stopping the mower.

The Bird Hide

A few weeks our bird man, Phil Taylor, pointed out an area of the arboretum that was the ideal location for some sort of bird hide.

Today we started clearing this first area in preparation for the building of the hide, which will be made from the natural materials found in the arboretum.

The hide will be approached from behind through the story telling circle.

Once this first area was completed a second semi-circular area was also cleared.

This was directly opposite to the proposed bird hide site, on the other side of the grassy path leading to the ponds.

This second area will be furnished with some bird feeders, the aim being to attract birds to the viewing area.

As usual the volunteers made very quick work of these two tasks. They have become somewhat expert at bramble clearing.