Not strictly tree related but countryside related

[mendiplogs]

Nice stile replacement this morning on the side of a main road. All in preparation for the new stretch of trailway currently being constructed.

 

HI MATT nice one there mate jon

[Matthew Arnold]

Had a bad start to the morning as the BCS decided it didnt like the flail head and woulldnt engage, but at the same time it didnt move under its own power if the PTO was engaged. Spent the afternoon cutting and chipping on a town centre site. Got a fair bit done, back there on monday afternoon to knock out a large torn willow limb.

[Dingy Skipper]

Hello Matt

 

Recently read the whole thread. It's a good read. Written in an informative and entertaining style. Well done mate, keep up the good work.

 

Have you thought about writing your own blog. There seems to be all manner of interesting stuff in your posts, and I dare say you could add a shed load more, like maps of locations and stuff about the kit you use. There must be all sorts of other conservation and wildlife groups that would find your work interesting.

 

One thing that strikes me as odd though, I thought that from a ROW point of view if you have, for example, a footpath across your land then it's your responsiblity as the land owner to maintain the path and make sure it's accessible to the public. I didn't see anything about funding in your posts but I get the impression that the county council is shouldering the cost of clearing paths and erecting styles and suchlike on private land. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

[Matthew Arnold]

Hello Matt

 

Recently read the whole thread. It's a good read. Written in an informative and entertaining style. Well done mate, keep up the good work.

 

Have you thought about writing your own blog. There seems to be all manner of interesting stuff in your posts, and I dare say you could add a shed load more, like maps of locations and stuff about the kit you use. There must be all sorts of other conservation and wildlife groups that would find your work interesting.

 

One thing that strikes me as odd though, I thought that from a ROW point of view if you have, for example, a footpath across your land then it's your responsiblity as the land owner to maintain the path and make sure it's accessible to the public. I didn't see anything about funding in your posts but I get the impression that the county council is shouldering the cost of clearing paths and erecting styles and suchlike on private land. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

 

I have thought about doing a blog just havent got round to doing it yet. Stile repairs/replacements, bridge repairs/replacements and sleeper bridge repairs/replacements are free to the landowner as is the way marking. If gates need to be installed then we ask the landowner to either cover the cost of the installment or the cost of the gates. If there is a bridleway or footpath which goes across a farmers land (i.e between two hedgerows) and the landowner doesnt keep it clear to the minimum width then generally we go and do the work quickly. But if the farmer is asked to do it numerous times as it is on his/hger land then we do the work but charge them the hourly rate and depending how long the job takes and how many people are there on the job depends on how much we charge.

[Matthew Arnold]

Todays job. Install a new sleeper bridge as old one was very rotten and needed to be brought up to spec. Not a bad hour and halfs work just very very cold as wind was whistling through.

[Matthew Arnold]

Out with the dogs and dad today was looking for flood damage to the banks and found atleast 8 different slips that i spotted. The biggest bank slip is in the two pics.

[Matthew Arnold]

Some pics ive taken this weekend.

[Gardenmac]

Great posts Matt, I spent 28 years managing urban fringe countryside, parks, play areas etc so I know how bad it can get.

Love the good work you and your team are doing, well done mate.

[Matthew Arnold]

Great posts Matt, I spent 28 years managing urban fringe countryside, parks, play areas etc so I know how bad it can get.

Love the good work you and your team are doing, well done mate.

 

Cheers. Its hard graft but we get there in the end. We are a relatively small team in comparison to other councils managing the same number of sites and miles of rights way. We only have a Senior Ranger managing 1 big team split into 2 (north and west). Those teams have 1 sites ranger, 2 assistant rangers and 1 rights of way ranger and 3 apprentices between them. We have a large group of volunteers which are college students, special needs (aspergers syndrome, PTSD sufferers,etc) and long term volunteers such as myself.

[Gardenmac]

Good for you. For me it was a way of life and the best bit was working with like minded people and everyday being different. The real challenge was not letting the destruction and abuse the sites took overshadow the good bits.