Matthew Arnold

How large is large? Whats it diametre? Any fungi growing at base or anywhere on tree? Spalted timber is always worth more than standard timber.

Had a good day until some little sod on a push bike knocked me down. I was well off the footpath and was hit by him. I did explain that he should be on the tarmac path but he wanted to play in the mud. The lens will come out but wont go back in so it shall be going back to where we bought it from as it is still under warranty. Still had a good day watching the England V India ODI and Birmingham beat Arsenal 2 -1.

Here are some more pics of the dodgy Oak Limb on Milldown. Sadly my camera is now broken after i was knocked down by some little so n so on a mountain bike. I was well off the footpath as i could hear him racing round the footpath. Lens is now bust and will be going to the repairers tomorrow morning for a new lens. Just as well its still under warranty.

Got plenty of those. Got bout 20 floaters, 30 full body and 40 half shell "bobbers". We have a flapper and a wirly each. If its blowing a gooden we dont use the whirly or flapper as it makes the birds flare off but the floaters on a windy day work very very well. We sometimes use some real dead ones as well.

My dad and i decoy and roost as soon as the season finishes. The best we've had between us was 428. I was shooting on bean stubble and my dad was on rape stubble. No pics sadly as camera broke

As the title suggests pic whilst out with my trio of spaniels (and in a few months 4 spaniels). All pics taken on Milldown our flagship site (Green Flag, SNCI,SAC, LNR and in local AONB area). Pic 1 - Beech Avenue (Would have been entrance to old Victorian Arboretum and Garden) Pics 2 and 3 - Tight forks on pair of Beech trees (No cable bracing yet but is in the pipe line) Pic 4 - Leaning Beech showing nice compensatory root on tension side Pics 5 and 6 - Old H Chestnut Pollard Pics 7 and 8 - Another tight fork ( Same as before no bracing yet) Pics 9,10 and 11 - Beech infected with suspected Merip. No fruiting bodies in Summer but is showing signs of Merip. Pics 12 and 13 - Beech with partial lean and flared butresses and tight fork. Pic 14 - Root growing over other roots on Beech. Pics 15,16,17, 18,19, 20 and 21 - Beech with very very slight rippling in limbs and roots with signs on Merip. Pic 22 - Hole used by Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Will try and get pics of it in June) Pics 23, 24 and 25 - Odd deflection in Broad-leaved Lime limb. Pic 26 - Jelly Ear on Sycamore Pic 27 and 28 - Big Oak on access track called "Amfax Lane" Pic 29 - Oak soon to be mono'd Pic 30 - Hazel catkins taken on Macro Pics 31 and 32 - Split in base of Oak limb. Footpath now closed off as it is currently sat in a Rowan on other side of path. Wasnt noticed in last pre-winter tree check (3 months ago) but signs of bat activity and no sign of the tree trying to seal up wound. P.S Sorry for massive amount of pics.

Sounds like it might be Cobalt Crust fungus (Terena caerulea). But ive only ever seen it growing above ground and on Hazel and Elm.

The root would regenerate in the winter if flailed into a million little pieces. But dont flail it in the summer as everything will regenerate (stems, roots, leaves, etc). In the summer best way to get rid is spray it (Strong Round-up mix normally works).

First 4 pics are of a Holly, Silver birch and Oak fire on a piece of heathland we are slowly restoring. Next 2 pics are of a Sycamore and Elder fire on an access ramp that is now surfaced. The last 4 pics are of the monster we had today. P.S Is my colleague doin the lunge correctly?

Was it underground or just poking above the surface?

L200's are just a bit smaller than a transit but you have more flexibility. You can carry and tow more than a transit and if you go for the 4x4 version you have the added security of low range and the possibilty of a winch on the front. The 2 seater version sound like the best one to go for.

Depends what style. If its a single cab (2 seater) you'll have loads of room for a tipper on the back. If its the super cab ("coupe" 4 seater) you'll have less space than the single but still have plenty of room. With the double cab you would have only a very small tipper on the back and would be very back heavy.

Caviar is normally sturgeon eggs but some people use frog spawn as very cheap caviar. As it has the same sort of consitency.

Chip Chap Chop - Pre- winter work meeting Crash and Burn - Nice easy felling and burning job

As much use as tits on a fish. Well done dingus. When tennis balls are accidentally put thru the chipper and they go miles before falling apart " And he has smashed that for 6"

We had a bit of an odds n sods day today as the boss was in the office and we had a few jobs to finish off. We first did a bit of bramble bashing and limb removal at a site called Addison Close in Gillingham. It was put down on the sheet that it would take us 2 hours to do. It only took us an hour. We then went to Butts Pond and finished of some hedgelaying that we started two weeks ago with some volunteers. The frog spawn is all at Butts Pond in the ditches. We have sadly put posters up in English, Polish, Dutch, German and Czech asking them not to remove the frog spawn as last year we had lots of it taken and used for cheap caviar. Here are the pics

On the roof of Landy n work trucks - If you can read this. Please turn me over.

Stickers on our 110 "4x4 theives will be shot, survivors will be shot again" - Drivers side back window "Prepare to meet your airbag" - Front bumper "My brakes are good. How good is your insurance?" - Rear Bumper "My other toy has tits" - Rear door window

Delete if inapropriate. When in doubt ....... lubricate. More wrinkles than a desicated prune. And a saying that one of my colleagues came up with during a lunchtime in the middle of the summer "I'd give her one, two if i could manage, three if i was getting paid and four with a bottle of lucozade"

That is almost word for word what our LA Tree officer said lol. Not going to fell it for no reason. The deadwood alders we have "debranched" so they are a pole as its looks more inviting for the woodpeckers on the site.

This one has quite a bit of basal decay (its sounds like a drum when you hit the bits between the butresses). The top has die back as you can see in picture 6. Still its a nice example of butressing.

Here are the pics of the Gillingham Lombardy Poplar. You can see what i mean by extreme butressing. The fifth pic isnt particularly clear but it shows the height of the tree. As we are in the area again tomorrow i shall get a picture of the whole tree with my colleague stood in front of it.

A John Deere 7030. It is 3 point linkage mounted. We have only used it once on full throttle and it scared us. Its a beautiful bit of kit. The normally have the winch on the back and a big PTO Jensen on the front. When we next have it on any of our riverside sites i shall get some pics of it.

5000lb superwinch on front of the ranger. We can borrow our local EA river teams tractor mounted winch. PTO driven and has 450 bhp behind it. Will happily pull an 80 ft tall ash up a steep old railway slope.

DR Mower - Whippersnapper Honda (deceased) - The veteran (8 year old Honda UM516 Rough mower died today. Engine seized solid even tho full sump of fresh oil) Blower - SuckyBlowy