‘It’s CHRIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAAASS!!!, said Norman discreetly. It’s the season for mince pies and wine, must be the reason he’s feeling so fine. Apart from the chance to parody famous songs Norman love this time of year because he gets to say thank you to loads of people who have made such a difference and give them a big cheer. So, it’s jingle all the way for Caroline and Tom for running the show for another year, and all of the stuff they do in the background (CHEER); Nathan for steppinging to Christmas.. er.. stepping in to run tasks when T&C aren’t around(CHEER); Chris and Jeff for ferrying waifs and strays to the task (CHEER); Colin for scribing and illuminating the exploits of BCV on the website’s digital parchment; Lynn and Trish for catering the resi (CHEER). The BIGGEST CHEER goes to all of our volunteers who give up their time to try to make the world a better place for wildlife and humans. BIG CHEEEEEER!!!
So with no more ado, here’s some songs for you.
BCV is Going on Task
You better dress warm, You better stay dry, Better wear hats, I’m telling you why: BCV is goin’ on task, BCV is goin’ on task, B-C-V is go-in’ on ta-sk.
Tom’s got us some work, We’re doing it twice, Out in the snow, The day will be nice. BCV is goin’ on task, BCV is goin’ on task, B-C-V is go-in’ on task.
He sees you when you’re working, He knows where there’s a task, He knows if you’ve done bad or good, So be good for goodness sake.
You better wear boots, You better dress dry, Better wear gloves, I’m telling you why: BCV is goin’ on task, BCV is goin’ on task, B-C-V is go-in’ on task.
Norman’s Christmas Jingle
Dashing through the snow, Trying to ‘walk this way’ O’er the fields we go, Skipping all the day.
Shiny bill hooks ring, Making pleaches right.. Oh! What fun it is to sing, A hedgerow song aw’right!
Jingle newts, jingle newts, Jingle all Sunday. Oh! what fun it is to lay, A hedge on New Year’s Day.
Oh Jingle newts, jingle newts, Jingle all the day. Oh! what fun it is to plant, A hedge the Bolton way.
Walking ‘cross the mud, Rain is in the sky. Looking for the pub, Six miles till we’re dry.
Wellies, hats and gloves, Keeping workers warm. Oh! What fun it is to sing, A task day song de-dum!
Oh Jingle newts, jingle newts, Jingle all the day. Oh! what fun it is to plant, A hedge the Bolton way.
The BCV Christmas Song
Rhodys burning on an open fire, Cold mud dripping from your nose, Tom & Caroline working without tire, And Andrew dressed in Sunday clothes.
Everybody knows a bow saw and a bill hook so, Help to make the task day right. Craig with his cheeks all aglow, Won’t find it hard to sleep tonight.
Hedge laying season’s on its way; Tom has saws and loppers in his ‘sleigh’. And every volunteer will try, To see if wildlife they can spy.
And so we’re offering these outdoor days, To kids from eight to eighty-two, Although its been said many times, many ways, A very BCV Christmas to you.
Unusual task this time around which highlights how some conservation activities aren’t actual conservation but are still necessary to looking after a site. By this I mean making the site safe for visitors, and in this case the danger comes from a sheer drop of the edge of a cliff.
Some years ago a fence had been put up to stop people inadvertently walking off the edge of the quarry, the edge of the quarry being next to the car park. Over the years the wooden fence posts have rotted and the fence had fallen over; Bolton Council asked us to if we could do something to fix it.
Our solution was to use some of the naturally occurring features present. We cut down the rhododendron that had grown up near the cliff edge and created a deadhedge set back from the cliff edge. Second we began restoration of a hedge that had been planted previously, partly by laying the hedge but also planting new hawthorn/blackthorn to fill in the gaps and extend the hedge line where needed. And finally replacing the fence posts, and recovering and reusing the metal sheep fencing that had become buried under years of fallen leaves.
It’s not a job that can be finished in a single day, but we have made a significant start. Thanks to everyone involved.
It was a grim day, the sky was overcast, the water around Doffcocker Lodge’s island was grey, cold, and choppy. On the shore opposite the island, beneath a gnarled willow, stood 15 volunteers braving the autumnal weather and waiting their turn to be ferried across the few dozen metres to the island. Two by two with tools and bags the volunteers crossed the water with James acting as ferryman, until all had passed over and stood surveying their world for the next few hours.
“The task today,” said Tom, “Is to cut back the vegetation, pull up any self-seeding regrowth, and harvest the willow. We’ll use the willow to reinforce the hurdles around the edge of the island to stop erosion. Put the brash behind the hurdles, this will help with the erosion control.” “And if there’s any left we’ll build a wicker man for Francis,” said Colin, but nobody was listening.
Everybody began to pick up their tool of choice, bow saws, loppers, or slashers, then got to work on the island’s annual tidy up. After a couple of hours some areas were cleared and a nice pile of willow stems began to pile up ready for use.
“Tom what are these?” asked Craig, pointing at dozens of eggs sitting in hollows. “They are Canada geese eggs,” said Tom. “Doffcocker used to be full of Canada geese, they’re not native and damage to the lodge. They graze the shoreline and dump [phosphates] in the water.” “The eggs were treated with paraffin so they wouldn’t hatch. If they don’t hatch then there are no new geese, so over time the goose numbers dropped. This was something that happened years ago.” “Did we do that?”asked Craig. “No,” replied Tom “We weren’t involved, it was work done by other groups. These eggs are old so whatever you do don’t break them.” “Are they full of dead birds?” gasped Craig, “Jane, come here I’ve something to show you.”
And so the day went on. Just after dinnertime something strange began to happen. In the sky, glowing through the clouds, pale green flashes appeared, bursting silently like eerie flares. “What is that?” asked Jeff. No one knew, not even Chris, who usually would. The flashes continued for several minutes, then died away leaving a sense of unease in their wake. Shortly after, a dull cracking sound could be heard coming from nearby. “Nathan, stop cracking your knuckles,” chided Katrina “It’s not me…. it’s the eggs,” remarked Nathan.
Everybody stopped and stare at the pits full of eggs, each glowing the same green as the lights in the sky. One by one the eggs cracked open releasing small rotting goslings, and a foul stench. As each of the hatchlings caught sight of the volunteers they started to drag themselves forward, black fluid dripping from their twisted beaks and malformed wings. “They’re hideous,” gasped Andrew, “It’s like a nightmare, a badly written nightmare,” and then ran behind a tree for a quick vape.
“We need to get off the island,” said someone sensible, but no one was listening. “We need to get off the island,” said Tom, everyone agreed. “We’ve got time, they’re not moving very fast,” said Jane bravely walking backwards. Caroline took charge of the situation, “Everyone to the dinghy, women and children first…. Mark, get out of the dinghy.” “It was worth a try,” groaned Mark climbing back on to the island. “Joanne, Eve, you go first,” “I’m not a kid,” complained Eve. “Sshh, get in the boat, Ellie.. I mean Evie” said Joanne.
At that point the ground began to quake, the earth broke open and adult zombie Canada geese erupted from their graves. They staggered and croaked, as they tried to find their legs.. some literally. Then suddenly some of them rushed forward. “Stop it, I’m a vegetarian,” screamed Francis as one of the undead birds tried to bite him. “I don’t think they care,” quipped James. “We’ll never get everyone off the island while they are attacking. Someone has to stay and fight them off while we escape,” suggested James. Everybody shuffled around, looked at their phones, hummed, or pretended to be trying to remember something important. “Looks like nobody’s nobody is gonna do it, so might as well be me,” sighed Caroline. “Tom, get everybody off the island. I’ll meet you in the pub.” “But…,” garbled Tom “Do as your told!” shouted Caroline picking up a slasher, walking towards the birds with purpose, and swinging the slasher at the putrid poultry like she was born to it.
The dinghy was built for 3 but that day it carried 14 across the few tens of yards to the shore. The group stood and stared across at the island. The decaying remains of the reanimated geese still quivered and crawled, their terrible cries echoing across the water. But of Caroline there was no sign. An evil wind blew from the island beneath a grim sky. “So, which pub are we going to?” asked Francis.
Sitting in the Doffcocker Inn the group sat and pondered their loss. “She’ll be here soon Tom, I know she will,” said Jane optimistically. “I hope so, I’ve bought her a pint,” replied Tom.
At that moment the door crashed open and in staggered Caroline, dripping lodge water and mud on the pubs newly refurbished flooring. She raised her hand and reached out to the group. “You’ve earned this pint,” Tom said, “here,” and handed it towards her. Caroline’s hand dropped from her wrist, dangling by a shred of flesh, black fluid dripping from the wound. “Food,” she zombie groaned, “pub food”. More zombies burst through the door, some still carrying their smartphones. “Maybe I should have got her a half instead,” said Tom as the planet’s new rulers lurched forward.
And the screams of the living soon became the snarls of the undead.
And now what really happened. The weather was too bad to work on the island so we cut back willow along the edge of the reedbed instead. No one was eaten or turned in to a zombie, and the pub’s carpet wasn’t soiled in any way.
20th April 2025 – Grimeford Village, Dry Stone Walling
This years hard boiled Easter task was actually on the day itself – Easter Sunday. Because it’s a popular day for family stuff etc our numbers were a bit down on usual task numbers, but we did get half a dozen or so egg-ceptional wallers turning up to continue the wall along side Lower Rivington Reservoir.
For those who don’t know much about walling it’s a bit like a 3D jigsaw, or Tetris, and involves putting one stone on top of another to build a stable non-wobbly wall. First we took down anything unstable and made lines (or piles) of stones of similar size, then we started building. The wall has two tapering outer skins, with big stones generally at the bottom, smaller ones as you build up. Every so often adding a through stone which acts as a wall tie, any gaps are filled with smaller bits which is called hearting. The top of the wall is finished with coping stone.
With it being Easter we had the traditional BCV Egg Hunt, 14 mini eggs were hidden by Craig, and just after lunch time we we all set out to find them.
Thanks to Caroline and Tom for organising, Jane for shelling out for the eggs, and everyone you made it a cracking task.
Our first task of April and we’re back at Moses Gate Country Park planting trees. We’ve planted nearby areas on Halloween 2022 and Easter 2023 and today’s session extends the planted area and also replaces some of the previously planted trees that have failed.
There’s no mystery to planting trees: you dig a hole, put the tree in it, put in a small stake for support and a tree shelter to stop deer and shrews nibbling it to death. Trees are planted a few feet apart and then grow as nature intended. There’s a bit more about tree planting on a previous post which you can read on this link.
Thanks to Tom and Caroline for organising (thank you for your leadership, as they say) and every one else who turned up.
This task was carried out with the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, as it’s a bit of a long name we’ll just call them Wildlife Trust for short. We’ve work with the Trust previously on willow tit conservation, that time it was Darcy Lever Gravel Pits using techniques devised by the Trust’s Dr Mark Champion. We also used the same methods at Moses Gate Country Park. This time we’re at Doffcocker Lodge Country Park.
Willow tits have been present at Doffcocker, to some degree, for a number of years but not in any significant numbers. Willow tit’s, including sub-species, have an extensive range covering Europe and other sub-arctic areas with estimated numbers of 175-253 million. However, since the 1970s the population sizes of these birds in the UK has fallen by around 83% and were Red-listed in in 2022. Habitat deterioration is thought to be the main cause of these changes; competition from other similar species and predation could also be a factor.
A couple of months ago we began prepping at area of the lodge in anticipation of the project getting underway, but unfortunately other circumstances meant the main part of the work had to be delayed.
So, what does willow tit conservation involve? Willow tit’s like to create nest holes in rotten trees in wet willow carr and fen like habitats. But there aren’t enough rotten trees around for them. To give them a hand we took some old, dead branches and attached them to living trees, partly burying the ends of the branches in the ground. Over time the attached branches will rot and soften and the willow tits will be able to excavate nest holes in them. The photo at the top of the page shows a willow tit and the nest it created at Doffcocker a few years ago.
We also did some dead hedgeing, and some tree planting on this task.
Thanks to Emma and Phil of the Wildlife Trust and to everyone who took part.
