Some pictures of the day's activities are below.

Rob gets to grip with tree guards.	Dave putting tree guard in place.
Steve prepares saplings for planting.	A new hedge is born ...

Here are some photographs from Neil taken during this fencing task.

Barry with James, Steve and Dave.	Paul getting on with the most important job of the day!
Dave and Stuart take a well earned break.	The finished fence with the coppice beyond.

Here are some photographs from Tina taken on various events.

Walk in January 2011 in the Loddon Valley near to Sherfield-on-Loddon.	Photo time during Loddon Valley walk.
Coppicing task in the snow in Pamber Forest.	Dave at work ...
Barry pointing-up a fencing post at Pamber Forest.	Peter and Stuart gets to grips with the wire fencing.
Another post is driven into the ground.	Stuart and Dave L roll out another length of wire fence.

Maybe it was something to do with the offer of free food (soup and hot-dogs), but a goodly crowd of BCV volunteers came to Ecchinswell to help in the annual pond clearance day. The pond is of good wildlife quality, playing host, amongst other things, to a colony of Great Crested Newts. Some work is done annually by the Parish Council to prevent marginal vegetation encroaching too far into the open water. The time of year is chosen to cause least disturbance to the newts.
Owing to the dry weather in September, the pond level was particularly low, making a muddy time for all concerned.
Some pictures of the day's activities are below.

Steve, Martin, Dave, Dave and Barry enjoying the mud exposed by the low water level.	Martin and Anna on wheelbarrow duty
Getting stuck into the last bits.	The end result!

Postscript: By December, the pond was full once more and looking really good!

What a start we've had to the coppicing season at Pamber Forest!
After an excellent turn on Sunday 13th, even better was to follow on Sunday 20th, when 20 keen workers were on site during the day to tackle the coppicing task in Heath Copse alongside Bowmont's Brook.
Perhaps the fine late summer weather has helped, but whatever the reason, with such great support from our volunteers, the coppicing programme is well ahead of schedule and thoughts are already turning to what extra work we can squeeze later in the season.
Below are some pictures from the task on September 13th, lead by Martin Heath. Pictures are courtesy of Dave Jewsbury. The trip to the pub after the task was well deserved!

Elizabeth and Tina work together to remove a hazel stool.	It's hot work as Graham loads more brash onto the bonfire.
Everyone is hard at work, clearing back the hazel and alder under-storey.	Time for a well earned drink and a chance that Jason, Graham, Keith, Martin and Dave were not going to miss!

After all the cold weather and the cancellation of the Noar Hill task due to the snow, the BCVers were obviously desperate to get out into the fresh air today, as 18 volunteers assembled at the Honeymill Brook entrance to the forest.
We were very pleased to welcome some new volunteers, so we spent some time introducing everyone, talking a little about the forest and then why we were coppicing.
The plan was to continue the coppicing on the same plot that we'd started in January. With 18 eager volunteers, we made great progress. In fact, the day was so successful that Graham (the forest warden) changed his goals for the area so that an additional area of the plot will now be coppiced this winter.
Here are a few pictures of a really successful, enjoyable day ...

Elizabeth cutting a hazel stool next to the brook.	Lynn cutting up a felled birch (to stack in a habitat pile) and Dave with some smaller branches destined for the bonfire.
Jason adds to the bonfire.	The volunteer team!

Despite a dismal weather forecast and unpromising conditions first thing in the morning, five BCV volunteers made it out to the Countryside Workshop for 10 am. As conditions were looking up, we turned down the offer of work under cover and headed out to Fugelmere Marsh accompanied by Colin Gray and David Buckler. The original plan to brushcut Bog Myrtle had already been abandoned due to high water levels, so the work was to continue extending the 'scallop' in the marsh-side woodland to let in more light. Due to the relatively small numbers, we concentrated on the smaller trees and underbrush (chiefly holly), mostly leaving the larger trees for chainsaws. Defying the wet, we managed to light a bonfire to burn most of the brash, while stacking the larger timbers. By mid afternoon we had cleared a good section of the marsh edge of saplings and brush and, having ensured the bonfire was fully extinguished, were able to head off home for a nice warm bath!

Cutting underbrush to put on the bonfire	The workers may be wet, but they're still smiling!

10 people braved the cold weather to join Mike's walk on January 4th. We met up at Mike's house at 10am, and then headed off into the fields to the north-west of Ecchinswell. The countryside looked wonderful, with a white sheen from the hard frost and some watery sunshine picking out the winter colours.

The view across the fields as we headed off	The walkers

A highlight along the way for those interested in birds, was the sighting of a female/immature hen harrier, quartering in the air above the old railway line near Burghclere, very close to the area where we hold tasks. After a couple of hours or so, having barely seen another person, we fetched up at the Carpenter's Arms in Burghclere for a very welcome Sunday lunch, followed by some old-fashioned hot-puds to fuel us up for the walk back.
The return journey was once again through fine, gently-rolling countryside, with a mixture of arable, pasture and woodland. All too soon we were back at Mike's house, with the healthy glow that only a walk in the cold can bring.