A Morning with the National Trust Volunteers.
A Morning with the National Trust Volunteers.
Landbarn Farm. NT Headquarters for Denbies Hillside. Set at the foot of the Hillside. Once the farm for the Victorian estate of Denbies. Now where the volunteers are based.
The volunteers cover two groups. The outdoor staff, of which Bobby is one, and the carpenters, who do remarkable things with wood. Including Ian, who is also a sculptor and made this.
Here’s Amanda’s truck.
And Amanda herself. Big cheese. National Trust warden in charge of the volunteers.
Bobby: “What are we doing today, Amanda?”
Amanda: “If you shut up talking, Bob, and listened – you would know!”
Roger: “Yes Bob. Shut up and listen.”
Bertie: “I thought it was only me!”
Amanda: (sighing). “We are tidying up the Ranmore car park for our visitors. Strimming the picnic areas. Cleaning the signs. Filling in pot holes. And, a little bit of … HIMALAYAN BALSAM to attack.”
The National Trust volunteers have all been at it for years. They know what tools are needed. But Amanda reminds them anyway. A trailer of road shavings too, to fill the pot holes. And off we went. Ranmore car park is high on Denbies Hillside set in woodland. The sun shone and it’s a lovely place. The volunteers split into groups for each task. Bobby is banned from power tools due to his accident prone nature. This inevitably means working with the ladies. That suits him fine.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/denbies-hillside.
Mark and Roger strimming.
Rosie and Yasmin cleaning up the signs. While many volunteers are retired kindred spirits, we do occasionally have volunteers like Yasmin on holiday (from the Royal Horticultural College in her case) always keen to help.
Ollie and Neal having a great time digging a hole.
Himalayan Balsam is a pain in the neck. Introduced in 1839 as a splendid ornamental plant, Bobby remembers quite liking it growing on the river bank. Attractive flowers. Nice smell. Lovely. An “Impatiens” species, presumably related to Busy Lizzies, the name means “impatient” in its method of seed dispersal. Basically invasive and having a detrimental affect on all other plants where it grows and dominates. Many organisations like the National Trust have balsam bashing sessions to try to control it. It pulls up very easily, but this needs to be done before the seeds appear.
Amanda with a long one. Hundreds of thousands of them.
Barbara gets stuck in.
Maurice lurking in a shady nook.
And Bobby. Scratching. The balsam was sharing this shady corner with stinging nettles! Long sleeves next time.
Ollie of all trades.
“Ere Amanda. What’s that big orange butterfly?”
“Silver Washed Fritillary.”
A beautiful butterfly that likes shady woodland margins.
Tea break, National Trust style. Who made the cake this week?
“Not Bobby. You had better buy some one week.”
Mod Maurice loves his new scooter.
Mending the potholes. Using Ollie’s motor as a steam roller. Mark and Neil.
Lunchtime.
Maurice comatose. Roger thoughtful.
By lunchtime the stinging nettles had won and Bobby’s invite to meet friends at Mayfield Lavender Farm that afternoon seemed very attractive.
This was high summer volunteering. We work every Thursday throughout the year. In all weathers. All sorts of jobs, from skilful hedge laying to cleaning cow troughs. It’s a wonderful thing to belong to. Even in the rain. True kindred spirits and plenty of good hearted banter. Some of our stalwarts were on holiday on this day and will be featured next time.
Come the winter, we will do another story of winter volunteering. Also one featuring the carpenters and the important work they do for the Trust.
Lighting a Candle for Diddley.
Diddley loved the lavender fields at Mayfield.
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