Upcoming work:

July 2026: Himalyan Balsam bashing on the banks of the River Mint with South Cumbria Rivers Trust

Recently we have:

April 2026: Repaired the Alphabet Trail sign at the entrance to Serpentine Wood.

The sign is made of metal, about 60 cm high, and displays the whole alphabet for the confused. It had been attached to a tree which was unsafe and was felled. Since there were no longer any suitable trees at the entrance, we begged a telegraph pole from a friendly supplier and erected it (with some difficulty!) at the gate into the wood. Digging a deep enough hole was the first challenge, as a lot of Serpentine Wood is right on the bedrock. Also the pole was very heavy and had to be moved into place with slings and many hands.

March 2026: Rebuilt the poly tunnel at Dog Kennel Wood

This was badly needed – the old poly tunnel was 20 years old and in poor condition with a lot of patches. We kept the old metal frame, but replaced the wooden door frames both ends and the plastic sheeting. This comes as a single sheet and needed all hands to unroll it evenly across the frame. Then the plastic was secured at the sides by a trench lined with stones and earth.

February 2026: Repaired a semi-collapsed drystone wall at the back of Dog Kennel Wood

This work was needed after several small dead ash trees had to be felled in the area, and the wall got damaged. It’s slow painstaking work.

January 2026: Hedgelaying at Jubilee Field in Kendal

This was an old hedge that had got a bit out of hand. Westmorland and Funess Council were happy for us to give it a trim.