Friday 27th November 2009: Rodley Nature Reserve, Rodley, Leeds

Friday 27th November 2009: Rodley Nature Reserve, Rodley, LeedsCoppicing Willow trees

Today we made a return visit to Rodley Natrure Reserve. At the start of the day we were delighted so see so many people and had to take two minibuses to site. After an initial introduction to the site and the work, we split into two groups. One was able to visit the Reserve and use the bird hides while the other started to clear the wooded area in preparation for the coppicing. After a demonstration of felling techniques the coppicing could begin and we soon got into a good team routine with some clearing, some felling and others removing the timber. At the end of the day we were able to bring back a good amount of timber ready to go to St Ives to make more charcoal next season. And we were ablt to complete the cycle by taking several bags of charcoal to Rodley for them to distribute, about a year after taking taking the raw timber away.

Today there were 19 volunteers.

Click here to see more photos of the day.