Fixing and fettling

It may have been the Easter holidays and some of us may have consumed the odd Easter egg or three, but that didn’t stop our trusty volunteers being out and about on our land helping us look after and maintain it for everyone to enjoy. The Hole in the Wall emergency gang have been back out for round two at Mike’s Wood and done a fantastic job on a budding wall gap. There are more fixes to do on the scheduled workparty on Monday 27 April, so if you fancy it, sign up via the website here.

Meanwhile at Mazonwath

Over at Mazonwath, Charles was out with his chainsaw and winch tackling a snapped branch that threatened to come off and wreck our wall in the process. He has kindly removed it and chopped it up for firewood with only a small amount of repair work to do. Thanks to all of them for helping us out again.

We were also over at Mazonwath doing some more dry stone wall repairs on Wednesday. We found a big wall gap on a slope that needed urgent attention. For about the first time ever we seemed to split into a boys/chaps gang and a girls/lasses gang quite by chance, but no one seemed to complain. The boys took the big slopey wall, notable by their high vis trouser presence. The girls went back to the ongoing wall rebuild and getting a whole section levelled up.

It is amazing how much the walling stone can change just across a few metres. The boys’ stone was big and blocky. The girls were dealing with much flatter stone and had a choice of either small stones or huge flat through stones, usually put in to tie the wall together. We had so many through stones that we managed a whole course or layer right along the wall. Perfect spot for sitting and eating lunch or looking at the view, but it won’t be long until we build on top of it. The weather held off for us all morning with shafts of sunlight crossing the common and hitting the majestic Sunbiggin Tarn. Our luck ran out after lunch though and we were back to being blasted with rain and mud. Hey ho, summer must be coming soon!

Photos: Dry stone wallers at Mike’s Wood and Mazonwath, a view across Sunbiggin and a natterjack toadlet on the beach at Roanhead

Listen for the natterjacks

With the stresses of modern life it is often easy to just stand and watch or listen or appreciate our surroundings. Those of us lucky enough to live in Lakeland and Cumbria not only have stunning landscapes but also some great wildlife. The Solway Coast and our western coast are home to the rare natterjack toad. This is Scotland’s rarest amphibian and all the locations it is found in Scotland are along the Solway coast. Natterjack numbers have declined dramatically in recent years, largely due to habitat loss caused by sea level rise, coastal erosion, agricultural intensification, urban expansion and commercial forestry. Natterjack breeding habitat – shallow, seasonal pools found near the coast – is especially susceptible to extreme weather events such as prolonged periods of drought or severe winter storms, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change. So a partnership of organisations are asking locals and visitors to listen out for this rare species to help monitor it. So next time you visit our wonderful coast, just take a bit of time to stop and listen, and you never know what wonderful sounds you may hear.

Earth Raise for rainforests

And finally, it’s a big and very exciting week for us next week. We are part of the Big Give Earth Raise campaign and from 22 – 29 April we are hoping to raise £20,000 to help us restore the rare rainforest habitats in Rusland. This is a fantastic opportunity for us – for every £1 donated, Earth Raise will match it, so each £1 generates £2!

Every little bit helps and if we raise some money we can crack on with our plans to make our rainforests more diverse and resilient. We have big plans and a once in a lifetime opportunity to restore these rare habitats before they are lost for good. So if you have a spare pound or two, we would love it if you would help us out. The details are at https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS00000C0OufYAF

Next week we are in another rainforest, our wonderful Hows Wood in Eskdale. Join us if you can via https://www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/event/hows-wood-workparty/