The Low Barns Volunteer Task Force
Welcome

Durham Wildlife Trust

Welcome to the Low Barns Volunteer Task Force photo gallery.

This gallery contains photos taken during tasks carried out by the Durham Wildlife Trust volunteers, staff, and VROs based at Low Barns.

We hope the photos in this gallery will give you a flavour of what's involved in volunteering with the Durham Wildlife Trust.

Tasks run every Wednesday, Friday and most Saturdays. Also, watch out for the Thursday 'Hit Squad' opportunity.

We meet at Low Barns but pick ups are available depending on the task location.

If you're interested in finding out more then contact Craig Best on 01388 488728 or email Craig at cbest@durhamwt.co.uk

Gallery Stats
Hits (today):22
Hits (this week):474
Hits (this month):474
Hits (this year):35663
Hits (all-time):52124
Collections:131
Training Days
The Durham Wildlife Trust run regular training days to allow volunteers to understand the management principles underlying many of the practical tasks.

Wednesday 8th July
Morecambe Bay area
Butterfly identification

Wednesday TBC July
TBC
Small mammal trapping

Wednesday 5th August
Northumberland
Blanket bog communities

Wednesday 21st October
Rainton Meadows
Bird ringing
Top Photo

Lunch on a spoil heap
(13 hits)
Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken control (fri 26 June 2009)
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    Top Photographs This Week
    Lunch on a spoil heap  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken control (fri 26 June 2009)  (13)
    The gang  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (11)
    Thunder clouds were drawing in fast!  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (11)
    Mick looking worn out and we'd only just started!  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (10)
    Annie and Carl  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (10)
    Back to it  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (10)
    Ahhhhh, lunch time at last!  Low Barns: Grassland Management (Thurs 2nd July 2009)  (10)
    Annie's four leafed clover - her lucky day  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (10)
    Colin doing his version of the birdy song!  Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009)  (9)
    10 Helen  Low Barns: Grassland Management (Thurs 2nd July 2009)  (8)
    Most Recent Collections
    Fri 3rd Jul 09Clara Vale: Grassland Management (Fri 3rd July 2009) (17 images) New
    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
    Thu 2nd Jul 09Low Barns: Grassland Management (Thurs 2nd July 2009) (8 images) New
    Another warm and sunny day, today spent at Low Barns cutting and raking the grass from the reserve's path side edges.
    Wed 1st Jul 09Hedleyhope Fell: Bracken Control (Wed 1st July 2009) (20 images) New
    The second session of battering the bracken on Hedleyhope Fell. A very, very hot and clammy day resulting in some very worn out volunteers!
    Fri 26th Jun 09Hedleyhope 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.
    Wed 24th Jun 09Low Barns: Balsam Bashing (Wed 24Jun2009) (20 images)
    The balsam took heavy losses today. Victory shall be ours!
    Fri 19th Jun 09LowBarns: 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!
    Thu 18th Jun 09Low 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.
    Wed 17th Jun 09Rainton 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.
    Fri 12th Jun 09Low 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.
    Wed 10th Jun 09Baal 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.
    Fri 5th Jun 09Low 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.
    Thu 4th Jun 09Low 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.
    Wed 3rd Jun 09Low 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.
    Sat 30th May 09Low 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.
    Fri 29th May 09Low 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.
    Wed 27th May 09Low 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.
    Fri 22nd May 09Low 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!
    Wed 20th May 09Low 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.
    Sun 17th May 09Emma'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!
    Fri 15th May 09Longburnford 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.
    [ More collections ]
    Tasks This Week
    There are more patches of bracken to slash on Wednesday and the VRO’s need your help to cut and rake all the path sides at Low Barns on Thursday (note the Thursday pick up from Crook Market Place).

    Becky has asked for help to help manage one of her sites on Friday! There will be a slightly later return time due to the travel back from Gateshead.

    Wednesday 1st July
    Hedleyhope Fell
    Bracken control

    Thursday 2nd July
    Low Barns
    Access works

    Friday 3rd July
    Gateshead (Beckys site)
    Grassland management

    Saturday 4th July
    NO TASK

    Pick up info
    For Wednesday Hedleyhope Fell task: 9.20am at Low Barns or 9.45am at Crook Market Place, 9.55am at bus shelter in Tow Law (near Batsons) or top car park on the Fell at 10am.

    For Thursday Low Barns task: 9.45am at Crook Market Place or 10am at Low Barns.

    For Friday Gateshead task at Beckys site: 9.20am at Low Barns or 9.45am at Crook Market Place or 9.55am at bus shelter in Tow Law (near Batsons).
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    Latest News From Craig
    Durham Wildlife Trust

    Spring

    Spring is usually a quieter time for the task force. However, not this Spring! We have loads of access works to undertake at Hedleyhope Fell and Low Barns together with a couple of miles of fence removal on the Fell.
    We will be also carrying out some management for the small pearled butterfly and mulching the new hedgerow on the Fell. Finally, ...well loads of stuff!

    Also, we’ve made a big effort to extend the number of weekend volunteering opportunities (excluding Bank Holiday weekends). Staff and VROs will continue to run Saturday tasks and together with support from John Hutchinson and utilising the Sunday opportunity based at Rainton Meadows, there is now a task available every weekend over the Spring period.

    If you are thinking about joining the Task Force – then please contact me on 01388 488728 or cbest@durhamwt.co.uk
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