A dreary drizzly day couldn’t dampen the spirits of volunteers excited by their find! The Dormouse Nut Hunt was just one of many tasks taking place during Friends of the Lake District’s Rusland Fell Care Day hosted with the Rusland Horizons Programme on Thursday 3^rd November. The results from the day were impressive: 

• 188 volunteers, task leaders, Friends of the Lake District and Rusland Horizons staff.
• 6m of dry stone wall rebuilt at Dodgson Wood.
• 12-15 tonnes of aggregate used to resurface 100m of path at Sales Bank Wood.
• 300m of deer fence removed at Sales Bank Wood.
• 40m of hedge laid at Dodgson Wood.
• 100m of vegetation cut back at Rusland Moss.
• 53m of boardwalk built and 30m wiring done at Rusland Moss.
• 12-15 nuts potentially chewed by Dormice and one possible nest found on the Nut Hunt!
• Grassy Knott Wood archaeologically surveyed and 10 new sites identified.
• 15m path dug at Stott Park Bobbin Mill.
• 10ft of archeologically significant wall uncovered at Stott Park Bobbin Mill.
• 200m of coppicing completed along Coniston East Lake Road.
• 250m of deer fencing and 60 posts erected at Crab Haws Wood.
• 12 bags of litter picked from the Eastern Lakeshore of Coniston.
• 639 hours of work completed = 91 days
• 350 pieces of cake eaten!

Ruth Kirk, Fell Care Project officer said, 

This was our final Fell Care Day of 2016 and our largest turn out this year. It’s exciting and heart-warming to see just how much the collective effort and good will of so many volunteers can achieve in just one day. Fell Care Days allow people’s love of the Lake District and Cumbria to translate into direct, practical action to protect and care for these outstanding but surprisingly fragile landscapes. 

Fell Care Days will return in 2017. Keep an eye out for dates on our website or contact [email protected] for more information.

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