 | Fri 3rd Jul 09 | Clara Vale: Grassland Management (Fri 3rd July 2009) (17 images) 
A day out from the County of Durham to visit one of ex VRO Becky's sites at Clara Vale near Gateshead where the volunteers helped strim and rake a large patch of rosebay willowherb
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 | Thu 2nd Jul 09 | Low Barns: Grassland Management (Thurs 2nd July 2009) (8 images)
Another warm and sunny day, today spent at Low Barns cutting and raking the grass from the reserve's path side edges.
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 | Wed 1st Jul 09 | Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009) (20 images)
The second session of battering the bracken on Hedleyhope Fell. A very, very hot and clammy day resulting in some very worn out volunteers!
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 | Fri 26th Jun 09 | Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken control (fri 26 June 2009) (14 images)
The first of a series of bracken bashing at Hedleyhope Fell. This invasive species requires a lot of effort to keep it under control.
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 | Wed 24th Jun 09 | Low Barns: Balsam Bashing (Wed 24Jun2009) (20 images)
The balsam took heavy losses today. Victory shall be ours!
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 | Fri 19th Jun 09 | LowBarns: Balsam Bashing (19th June 2009) (30 images)
A determined team, armed with slashers once again set to in the Alder woodland. Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) was introduced to Kew Gardens in 1839. Unfortunately it escaped and now this invasive plant presents a problem for wildlife across much of the country. At the end of the day the team visited an area of the reserve that was tackled last year to see proof that the battle can be won!
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 | Thu 18th Jun 09 | Low Barns & Hedleyhope Fell: Footpath maintenance & litter collection (18th June 2009) (13 images)
Hit squad day but only VRO's & Low Barns star Lisa out doing a bit more footpath maintenance around the Northumbrian Water Hide and bin collection on the fell in the afternoon.
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 | Wed 17th Jun 09 | Rainton Meadows: GPS Training Day (17th June 2009) (18 images)
A good, but damp, day out for the volunteers visiting Rainton Meadows for a GPS training day. A classroom session in the morning was followed by a practical session in the afternoon where newly learnt skills were put into practice in the field mapping some of the habitats at Rainton Meadows.
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 | Fri 12th Jun 09 | Low Barns: Balsam Bashing (12th June 2009) (13 images)
The Balsam bashing season began today in the Alder Woodland. This year there will be no escape. Balsam is a invasive species and without management large areas of the woodland ground flora would be shaded out! Have a look at the pics to see what we mean.
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 | Wed 10th Jun 09 | Baal Hill: Charcoal Training Day (Wed 10th June 2009) (47 images)
An interesting day was spent at Baal Hill, learning about and filling a charcoal kiln. A select few also spent the night camping in the rain rotating the chimneys.
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 | Fri 5th Jun 09 | Low Barns: Footpath resurfacing (Fri 5th June 2009) (28 images)
The final stages of work to improve access for people at Low Barns Nature Reserve. Two teams, one finishing the vegetation removal and the second resurfacing with subbase and dust.
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 | Thu 4th Jun 09 | Low Barns: Kiln Rolling (Thu 4th June 2009) (4 images)
Today's jobs included digging out and rolling a charcoal kiln onto the trailer for a trip to Rainton Meadows.
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 | Wed 3rd Jun 09 | Low Barns: Footpath Improvements (Wed 3rd June 2009) (14 images)
Two teams on the ambitious project to check, clear, improve and resurface the footpath network at Low Barns.
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 | Sat 30th May 09 | Low Barns: Footpath upgrading (Sat 30th May 2009) (15 images)
A small Sat team carried out a load of work to upgrade the footpath network at Low Barns. The team spent the VERY HOT day removing encroaching vegetation from the path edges.
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 | Fri 29th May 09 | Low Barns: Footpath resurfacing (Fri 29th May 2009) (25 images)
Most of the vegetation has been scraped from the footpath network. One team spent the day resurfacing with stone and dust whilst another continued working on the visitor car park.
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 | Wed 27th May 09 | Low Barns: Footpath and Car Park Freshen-Up (Wed 27th May 2009) (39 images)
One task became many today as two teams continued sprucing up the footpaths and car park. There was an aromatic diversion when manhole covers were lifted and contents inspected.
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 | Fri 22nd May 09 | Low Barns: Footpath rejuvenation (Fri 22nd May 2009) (33 images)
Hard Work but rewarding. Three teams out today at Low Barns scraping, digging, weeding and widening the footpaths so that easy access is available to all. Still a bit to do, but you can certainly tell where we've been!
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 | Wed 20th May 09 | Low Barns: Bat Ecology Training Day (Wed 20th May 2009) (49 images)
Another great training day for the volunteers, and luckily the rain held off. In the afternoon the teams checked some of the bat boxes located around Low Barns and saw two soprano pipistrelles and a brown long-eared bat. In the evening the teams learnt about bat ecology then performed a bat survey around the Low Barns buildings followed by a bat walk down to the river.
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 | Sun 17th May 09 | Emma's Best Bits (almost a year!) (17 images)
Once again a difficult task but here are 17 Emster moments! We will miss you very very much! Goodbye Emster!
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 | Fri 15th May 09 | Longburnford Quarry & Emma's BBQ (Fri 15th May 2009) (46 images)
A soggy and slightly sad day as we say Goodbye to Emma. In the morning we planted marsh violets at Longburnford Quarry for the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly. Then (slightly damp) we returned to Low Barns for a variety of jobs, the most important one being the leaving Barbie for Emma.
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