Matthew Arnold

The garage (county council garage) we use to service our trucks at will fail them on such silly things. Although i will admit they were on the ball when they said that we needed set of "boots" for the truck as all 4 had large slices in the grips. The tyres had only done 5,000 miles but you can only repair punctures not flint slices. We now have a nice new set of Cooper Discoverer STT mud terrains. The boss isnt too keen on them as they are a bit noisy on paved roads but like my colleagues and i have said to the boss , "Its better to get to the site, than no site at all."

Wtf???????

These songs remind me of when my granny died.She died on 22nd December 2009 from a secondary stroke with her first being in July 2009. I was the unfortunate one to find her collapsed on the floor. It still makes me get a big lump in my throat every time i hear these songs. R.I.P BETTY. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCZXjB9DPl4&feature=related]YouTube - Staind - So Far Away (Album Version) Promo Video[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVQpfoqsY8Q&feature=channel]YouTube - Staind - Outside (Video)[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=araU0fZj6oQ&feature=channel]YouTube - Staind - It's Been Awhile (Video)[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8cEzdjLn60&feature=related]YouTube - Staind - Epiphany (Video)[/ame]

We had the same problem is our 110. We used clear bathroom sealant. It has worked very well as no water gets in. You just have to make sure that it is pressed in well and then run a finger hard down along the angle to get the excess out.

We are working in an even more remote place than where i took the pictures tomorrow. It is 30 mins drive (on a good day) from the nearest town (Dorchester) and 45 mins from our base in Blandford. The roads to the site are single track roads with few passing places and high blind banks. Great fun in the winter. Not so much fun when tractors use it on a regular basis. When we did the Autumn check for wasp nests, etc. On the way back we met a combine coming around the corner. Luckily we stopped and shot into a gateway about 20 metres back.

QUOTE=APC;380900]Dogging.

Bit like this one i spose.

Weve got lots n lots of safe hazard beams where the limb has snapped but landed on its much stronger brother below.

Funnily enough i just did a Bats and their relationship with Trees course. And any tree with a defect no matter how low to the ground it is they can still use it as a roost. They can crawl into tiny little gaps between bark and even the splits of a torn limb. We have a couple of trees on our site of which i shall try and get pictures of that are known bat roosts. We have a couple of structures on our sites which are also used by bats.

We leave a 5 metre gap between the lower branches and the fence post becuase we don't want to repair or replace the rails everytime it drops a piece of deadwood or a branch.

Nope. If it is a confirmed roost no work can be done at all. Not even with a crane and a mewp. As there would be too much disturbance.

If we are going to do any work on a tree with a cavity no matter how big or small. We get a little endoscopy camera to check for bats. If there are bats in there we leave the tree to its own devices and put a nice little post and rail fence about 5 metres out from the crown base incase of falling branches.

Leave to do what it like i would say. If it drops a limb or two in strong winds them so be it. It would provide habitat for lots of bats.

I was thinking more of the burring/canker causing bateria that would create spalting. Or the fungi that get into those little cracks and crevices you dont see.

Should be fine. The condensation would be minimal. We store ours in a ventilated shipping container but there is no insulation at all so during the summer it becomes a furnace and during the winter it becomes a bloody tomb.

Rather a nice bit of burring on the snapped limb. Would be good for turning with all the spalting in there.

One of the 5 monuments i am working on this winter. It is called Nettlecombe Tout and is in the "sticks". 30-40 min drive from base to site depending on traffic n weather conditions. Mainly Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Spindle and Field Maple regen all to be brushcut and high stumps reduced. Planning on having massive fire there next week. Got some very fun off roading to do to get to the site. nettlecombe tout work..doc

Ye it is an ass when we advertise it and no sod turns up. We decided to make a morning of it so we went and cleared a blocked culvert as the water was on the verge of coming over the old railway path which is about 4 foot above the base of the ditch.

Im Blandford born and bred. Lived in the town for 21 years so i know the area very well. And all of the little cut through lanes that we have access to as we drive around in marked up council vehicles.

Its better on a clear day with blue skies. We can see 5 counties from a site just round the corner from where we were.

Whilst waiting for volunteers to turn up (none did) we took some pictures of the Blackmore Vale. It was taken at about 10 am just before we left. I've seen the whole vale covered in a vale of mist from Bulbarrow. But i found these particularly atmospheric as you can see the tops of trees just poking above the veil and the top of Duncliffe Wood rising like a mountain above the surrounding floodplains.

We use Glyphosate 360 and 480. The 360 for path edges and the 480 for shrub and tree growth and the old friend Jap Knotweed. We also use a herbicide known as Timbrel. We only use it for Japanese Knotweed even though it says it can kill shrubs and trees. Glyphosate is the "nicest" chemical we use as it is safe to use where pets and children are. And we generally use a 300ml of chemical to 15 litres of water mix with the glyphosate. And the max dosage for timbrel. 250ml chem to 15 litres water

We had an incident on a site i manage. We had told some volunteers working on a station restoration project to leave the trees alone as we would fell them because we are covered under the insurance as we have the tickets. One of the guys there didnt listen and took down 20 trees. Sadly the 20th one was a very heavy leaner and he just cut in from the back. It barbers chaired to about 25 ft high and the tree flung him back 15 ft. He is now in a wheelchair but whats worse is he was trying to sue us for allowing him to do the tree work. Even though we put a massive poster up saying leave marked trees alone for professionals.

Because i work for a council we have the same problems. We had a big argument with a member of the public last year. Why are you felling those trees? What is wrong with them? We are felling them to reduce the lead litter and to prevent the surface being damaged by the leaves and large water drops. Most of the trees are leaning heavily towards the centre of the path. They are squirrel damaged and as they are coppice stools they can become very weak in the base. Ok thats fine. But why are you having a bonfire and not chipping the material?. Its not very environmentally friendly We are having a bonfire as it is the most efficient way of removing the material and it is carbon neutral. If we chipped the material, we would be using diesel to power the chipper. Ok. But can i have the logs? Sorry sir but these logs have been already assigned a home, hence why they are 2 metres long. Well screw you then!! 6 months Later we saw the same man. What a difference you guys have made. You can see lots more wildife and more wildflowers Thank you very much. The surface has recovered very well from not having leaves on it.