Sharon aka Shazza is off to work on the dark side - a consultancy! However, by the looks of it she will be doing the same stuff (burning, cutting, pulling, loppering and generally more of the fun stuff!)...just this time she will be getting paid. Farewell Shazza and see you next at the volunteer xmas BBQ at Low Barns!

A small Sat Team out today felling small trees on an important grassland site. Small is the appropriate word today! Come on Sat Team where have you all gone?   

A brief session on scrub control around the margins of the reedbeds at Low Barns then BBQ time for Shazza's send off! We then finished the day off with sparklers!

Another trip up to Derwent Reservoir to help Sue with some wetland management, on a beautiful November day.

Today we once again returned to the Wild Wetlands reed beds to continue removing Typha. We concentrated on three areas and managed to remove loads with the compact but hard working team. At times we were not sure if it was wetter in the water or on dry land due to the changeable weather.

Today the Tuesday task force drove off into the unknown to Hylton Castle and Dene. We were helping Morris to litter pick various sites, then we had a wonderful private tour in the castle. Hylton castle belonged to the Hilton/Hylton family up untill 350yrs ago. It then had various occupiers including the National Coal Board who used it for storage until 1950. English Heritage is now responsable for the castle.

Todays team of volunteers visited Hedleyhope Fell to remove and burn the previously felled trees. With the help of Shazza on the quad they made good progress.

Work continued today on the Fell cutting and BURNING the scattered trees. The team made fantastic progress and got a load of the backlog burnt.

Both the Rainton and Low Barns teams met today at Rainton Meadows to learn about the value of bird ringing for ornithological conservation. A big thank you to Martin Hughes for leading the day.

A small Tuesday team started work on one of the areas identified for reintroducing the SPBF butterfly. In the fog and murkiness we managed to strim and rake an area of rushes to improve habitat conditions for the butterfly.

On a very wet and yucky day Durham ConSoc joined the regular volunteers to remove willow from in front of the North hide at Low Barns.

Today a small but perfectly formed team visited Malton to remove birch which had seeded in the grassland and heathland habitats on site.

From time to time I do this. A small selection of some of the best pics (that I could find!).

The team continued the felling trees on Hedleyhope Fell. The team made fantastic progress on this rather large task!

Today was the second day of tree removal on the fell. We also had a fire which took some getting away but when it did plenty of material was burned.

The first day of scattered tree removal at Hedleyhope Fell. We will be spending many days over the winter on the Fell cutting and treating scattered trees and gorse patches to make sure the Fell remains open for the range of important species that currently live there!

Colin and Sharon were on their chainsaws today felling sycamore and beech as part of the ongoing management to remove these undesirable species. The wider team also made amazing progress felling 'smaller' trees with bowsaws!

Emma and the VROs got their chainsaws out and felled sycamore and larch at Low Barns whilst the wider team felled and treated small sycamore with bowsaws.

Round two of Typha and Sweet-grass removal. An incredibly large team of vols descended upon the Wild Wetlands reedbed and made maasive inroads into the invasive species.

Today we put into practice some of the the things we learned at Leighton Moss. We removed Typha from Toad Beck and then Typha and Sweet-grass from the Wild Wetlands reedbed. It was a very wet (for some) and mucky day. We had two new vols and some students from Bishop Auckland college helping today.

The Sat team came out and carried out scrub management in the West Pasture - cutting and treating alder and gorse. The team then moved on to cut and treat willow and alder on the fen habitat in front of the North Hide.

The first volunteer day for the Heart of Durham project and Sue led the team up to Woodburn to strim and rake an area of wet grassland which is to become a habitat for the small pearl bordered fritillery butterfly. A seperate task was carried out to hang a new gate, led by Dave Liddle, a ranger with Durham County Council.

Today’s Task Force descended on Stanley Moss to remove a young hawthorn hedge before moving on to Baal Hill to mark sycamore in preparation for future felling works.

Both the Rainton Team and Low Barns team travelled down to Leighton Moss in Lancashire (a RSPB nature reserve) to learn about reedbed management. A big thank you to the staff and volunteers from the RSBP who lead the day!

Todays task included fen management in very swampy conditions made worse by the steadily falling rain! Emma also lead a small team (no pics!) felling and treating sycamore and beech in the woodland.

With rainy showers putting a stop to the scrub management in West Pasture, we decided to get wet and muddy in the reed bed and clear the boardwalk of typha. After lunch the rain had stopped and the assault on alder scrub continued.

The Hit Squad today made a start on the flood damaged footpaths on windswept but sunny Hedleyhope Fell

A good team out today as we headed up to Derwent Reservoir to help Sue with some Meadow Management

We returned to Baal hill to remove more Sycamore and treat the stumps.

Autumn is supposed to have arrived, but on a blazing hot day the saturday task removed alder and some gorse from the west pasture. A big area was cleared and treated.

Armed with bow saws we started our winter programme in Baal Hill. Baal Hill is an upland Oak Birch woodland and we need to remove as much of the Sycamore and Beech as possible to make way for the growth and regeneration of trees such as Oak and Birch.

Today Sue led a team planting violet seeds for the Heart of Durham Project. Peter also dug a trench for the camera cable leading to the bird feeding area.

Today it was the Dragonflies turn for some help. We clambered through the tree's to the overgrown Dragonfly scrape to remove scrub which mainly consisted of Alder and Willow. Before lunch was over we could see the benefit of our efforts with the Dragonflies whizzing all around us. We then moved on to the west pasture to remove scrub there.

Today we repaired steps on the long distance footpath on the fell, removed old fencing and repaired a surfaced footpath.

The team cut and raked three areas of grassland at Tudhoe and Cleared a patch of snowberry.

The Hit Squad went to Tudhoe Mill Wood and Baal Hill to treat Knotweed with Herbicide. Marking sycamore in Baal Hill for future removal plans and then back to Low Barns to strim the drive plus a few other areas.

Today we strimmed and raked the meadow in front of the North hide. Nearly a year to the day since it was done last. We had a small but brilliant team, who worked extremely hard.

Another day of meadow management at Low Barns saw three new vols and the return of another. The sun shone down as we finished off the event field and around the charcoal kilns.

The Sat team came out in force to continue the rather large task of cutting and raking the meadows at Low Barns. This job should be finished by next week with a bit of luck!

Fantastic progress today cutting and raking the meadows at Low Barns. With a bit of luck the Sat team (tomorrow) will do a load more!

The third and final day repairing bridges after the great flood.

Sue led a team of volunteers cutting the meadow by Carrick Picnic Area at Derwent Reservoir followed by a spot of fence maintenance at the nearby Millshields Picnic Area. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The second day tackling the bridge repairs on Hedleyhope fell. We managed with our team of 5 to replace two of the swept away bridges. One of the bridges had managed to safely wedge its self in a tree which overhangs the stream and the other took about 15 minutes to find as it had sailed a fair old distance. Thankfully both were undamaged!

A great effort by the volunteers today despite the awful weather conditions in the morning as two of the Low Barns meadow areas were cut, strimmed and raked. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Good work by the Hit Squad today as they managed to reinstate three of the bridges that had been swept away by the July floods. They first had to 'rescue' them from down stream and then load them onto the trailer so they could be taken back to their true locations!

Our annual Ragpath Heath meadow management task to cut and rake the small areas there. They may have been small areas but it was hard work for the team due to the very wet rushes and long grass! On the way back to Low Barns the team stopped off at Hedleyhope Fell to weed a couple of small Juniper patches to complete the day. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The team finished weeding the hedge in the morning then they hand weeded and checked the blocks of juniper across the Fell.

Sue drove the team to Hisehope Reservoir for the second and final instalment of bracken bashing (well for this year at least!). I believe they even had time to go to another site to do some more! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The Hit Squad came out in force to clear out the back yard and create an area of hard standing. Over the next few weeks Nick and Janice will be building a roof and work benches so we can maintain tools and equipment out of the rain! The team also filled a skip with rubbish - where does it all come from!!??

The Rainton Team and Low Barns Team spent the day up in the Border Mires near Kielder learning about bogs and their management! A big thank you to Duncan Hutt from Northumberland Wildlife Trust for leading the day! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The final day of works to improve access at Low Barns after the floods! We even had time to create an area for the growing of violets for the SPBF butterfly!

Another day repairing the paths, a very small team today but we did the best we could and we're believing the end is finally in sight!Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Another footpath repair day! Almost there and with a bit of luck Sharon will do another length tomorrow with the Sat Team. Mike started work on the Marsh violet nursery area.

Ok so there are only 2 pics but it’s important to recognise the hard work of today’s hit squad! Two teams, one strimming scrub in the blue butterfly meadow (sorry no pics) and Colin lead a second squad on the footpath repairs (sorry only 2 pics!). Ooh Dougie came out today to help with the original plan of spraying bracken up the Fell - but it rained so he strimmed instead! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Dave Wainwright from Butterfly Conservation lead a moth evening at Low Barns. We of course had a BBQ first!

The second day of footpath repairs at Low Barns. The Ride to the Northumbria Water Hide is about done as is the South Ride! The team made fantastic progress and Mike turned up towards the end of the day with his machine!

The first Tuesday Task went with a bang! The team made a fantastic start on repairing the footpaths. We must have shifted 10 tonnes of dust! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Today we continued the scrub management in the blue butterfly meadow. It was hard going but eventually the strimmers and rakes prevailed.

A split hit squad today. One team up the Fell spraying bracken and the second out with Sue up the Derwent thistle bashing.

We had a great day in the wonderful August sunshine, cutting and raking the meadows at Malton. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The Sat team came out to make a start repairing the footpaths at Low Barns. They made great progress and done a load more than we thought possible in one day! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

A good turn out of volunteers helped to weed the Inkerman Road hedgerow that was planted at the beginning of the year. It was found that we had an excellent success rate for the survival of the trees that were planted, a very pleasant surprise for all that were involved in the planting task. Lots of tall thistles and nettles made it a rather painful task though!! On return to Low Barns our die hard vols Nick and Janice started on another task at the centre, not even dozens of nettle stings stop Nick! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The Hit Squad braved the heat and adorned protection suits, gloves and plastic face shields to make a start spraying bracken at Hedleyhope Fell. Dave and Peter spent the day checking and maintaining the trees planted in the plantations. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

On a warm and humid day the team strimmed and raked the blue butterfly meadow at Low Barns. The plan of attack is to chemically treat the regrowth with a weed wiper later this year. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Becky, Jane and Chris (Gateshead Cooncil workers) brought their volunteers to Low Barns and Hedleyhope Fell for a trip out and to see how the professionals do it! We of course had a BBQ for lunch! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The team travelled to Burnhope Reservoir to carry out the very first meadow management task of the year. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The Hit Squad strimmed and raked the footpaths at Malton near Lanchester. On the way back they emptied the bins on the Fell and did a spot check to see how many more gates have been nicked! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

A brilliant group of volunteers set too on the last day of Balsam bashing. A BIG welcome back to Rob! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

A day of bracken control at Hisehope Reservoir owned and managed by Northumbria Water. Over the coming months and years we will be helping Sue manage Derwent Reservoir and other Northumbria Water sites. A tough old day bashing bracken on the dam face! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The VROs, Emma, Lisa and Mazza and Becky (will we ever get rid of them?) and a load of other conservation professionals went on a chalk carpet moth training day (a UK BAP Priority Species) in the Yorkshire Wolds. The focus of the day was to promote the recording of moths and to take them into consideration when managing sites. Hopefully the team will come back with a load of ideas and new ID skills. Dave from Butterfly Conservation lead the day first at the Middleton Arms and then out in the field at Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts Wharram Quarry in North Grimston. Guess what...they didn’t see any carpet moths! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

A massive team of 9 volunteers turned out to wage war on the advancing bracken at Longburnford Quarry. The team moved sites to Hedleyhope Fell to finish the day once all bracken had been destroyed at Longburnford Quarry! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

The waters have started to recede leaving behind a multitude of footpath repairs! Craig saved a trapped trout from a drying out puddle on the 'path' of the South Ride up towards the Northumbria Water Hide! Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

Craig and the Beckster braved the elements to check on the reserve and the building. The ponies have already been moved off site earlier to higher ground! P.S. Do expect to be repairing the footpaths for several weeks to come!

No surprise but due to the weather the trip to Tudoe Mill was cancelled and instead the die hard vols that arrived helped bag the remaining charcoal from the Baal Hill burn then helped clean two of the Low Barns Hides. By lunch time the reserve had to be closed to the public due to the River Wear flooding so again the footpaths will have been destroyed, expect more footpath maintenace task days everyone!

The annual trip to Hannah's Meadow in Baldersdale to strim and rake the area around the boardwalk leading across to Hannah's barn. Not the best quality photos unfortunately as we all forgot the camera so we used Sharon's phone camera instead !

Of course you have to remember Dougie spent most of his early months behind the camera. However, here are a few pics of Dougie in action! Farewell Dougie and quote 'i'll be back'.

Thanks everyone today for a lovely send-off. I've had a great year at the Trust and loved making lots of new friends. Here are some of my favourite moments from the year.

Today was the last day of raking at Low Barns and also Dougie's last day. We worked hard all morning and then enjoyed a BBQ and chocolate cake in the afternoon.

A small but dedicated hit squad continued to rake the paths around Low Barns.

A great day delivered by Dave Wainwright from Butterfly Conservation. We visited a site (Arnside, National Trust site), with areas of coppice woodland and limestone grassland together with some interesting butterflies, some of which we dont get in Durham!

Durham Wildlife Trust played host to fellow colleagues from Watchtree and Rhydymwyn Valley. The theme of the day was landscape scale conservation. Click on the first picture and try using the slide show option for best viewing results!

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

Another warm and sunny day, today spent at Low Barns cutting and raking the grass from the reserve's path side edges.

The second session of battering the bracken on Hedleyhope Fell. A very, very hot and clammy day resulting in some very worn out volunteers!

The first of a series of bracken bashing at Hedleyhope Fell. This invasive species requires a lot of effort to keep it under control.

The balsam took heavy losses today. Victory shall be ours!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Today's jobs included digging out and rolling a charcoal kiln onto the trailer for a trip to Rainton Meadows.

Two teams on the ambitious project to check, clear, improve and resurface the footpath network at Low Barns.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Once again a difficult task but here are 17 Emster moments! We will miss you very very much! Goodbye Emster!

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.

The final day of fence removal on Stanley Moss, and to finish off the team removed some of the conifer saplings from the cleared plantation area.

On a blustery day some of the team moved 2 year old felled timber from the wood to the charcoal kiln area ready for processing, while the others looked for regeneration of oak and ash and tubed them for protection.

Today the team continued removing fences at Stanley Moss. A hard day for everybody but we managed it, despite nearly losing Craig Oxley in a bog!!

The first task at this new site. The team spent the day removing unwanted fences. The posts, barb and stock net will be used again for another project.

Sue led the Hit Squad on a mission in Baal Hill. The small team spent the day chainsawing sycamore and beech stumps and treating them with a chemical to prevent the trees from re-growing.

We had a great day in Baal Hill and Hawthorn Dene but now see if you can identify some of the woodland plants we discovered. Open a pic and click on the comments icon to 'post a comment'. The fantastic pics in this collection are from Sharon!

The Rainton Meadows and Low Barns Team joined forces for the woodland training day. We visited Hawthorn Dene and Baal Hill contrasting the different habitats, improving identification of woodland plants, examining the effects of our management works and quite frankly we mainly just enjoyed these two great places!

So many pics to choose from but a handful for you to view.

The Sat team spent the day maintaining the last two patches of juniper on the Fell. A hot sunny day interrupted by some strange turbine noises!

The team spent the morning installing piles and raking an area of cut rushes for the SPBF butterfly. Then we all travelled back for a BBQ at Low Barns to give Becky a good sending off! Becky has left us for pastures new as a Countryside Warden for Gateshead Council. Goodbye Beckster we will miss you very very much!

Even when the Thursday hit squad is not advertised there is always something happening on one of our reserves! The small hit squad spend almost the whole day nailing way marking discs to the posts across the Fell.

The team spent the day planting over 800 heather plants as part of a programme of heathland restoration. To finish off we all cut and removed gorse stumps which will make future bracken control a lot easier.

Three teams out on the Fell, one installing plastic piling to wet an area to improve conditions for the small pearled bordered fritillary butterfly, the second team cut and raked a rushy area for the SPBF and the third (no pics!) maintained a patch of juniper trees.

A smaller team today but a load of work carried out! The team spent the day melling a second stake, hand weeding and securing the tubes to stakes with tree belt ties. The juniper that was planted across the Fell has been used by sheep for scratching posts! The new measures will help reduce this damage. And yes it was a liitle foggy ALL DAY!

Becky has led a team (sometimes a small one and sometimes a large one) over the last couple of months constructing one of the best features available for visitors to enjoy at Low Barns. The new bird feeding area consists of 6 new parking bays, a surfaced path, a fantastic screen, seats and bird feeders! The bird feeding station is proving to be the most popular feature for visitors and for birds at Low Barns!

Three jobs on the go today: A small team; Dale (Happy Birthday Dale!), Dougie, Mark, Helen, Dave, Emma and Colin set off on the looong walk to finish waymarking the footpath, while the remainder of the big team finished of the butterfly fence and fixed the post marking the entrance to the top car park.

Several Satisfying tasks on the go today. Becky expanding a parking bay, Emma marking up the bays. Sadly the camera packed up before lunch, so there's no pics of Mark at work on the whacker plate, or the finished car park or neatly stacked barn.

The Hit Squad continued re-homing the juniper in the sun-speckled plantations.

Most of the Fell is gorgeous, but a couple of small patches are a bit mucky. If allowed to remain this way, they'll just get muckier. Today the team targetted a grimey spot that has more than its fair share of litter, and gave it a fiery purge.

Transplanting the Juniper in the plantations proved to be an entertaining task. A few plants, sadly, didn't make it through the night, but most of the Juniper is now happily rehomed along the margins of the woodlands alongside the road and footpaths.

Hats off to the Hit Squad! On a wild and squally Inkerman Road the team performed above and beyond the call of duty to plant the final section of deciduous hedgerow. And then back to Low Barns to plant some more trees!

The Rainton Meadows and Low Barns teams swooped on Low Barns for a farewell Barbie for Andy as he prepares to move on. Andy wrapped up the day by taking a well-fed group around the reserve for a tour of the best spots and to see how all the management works have made such a big difference.

The Low Barns and Rainton Meadows teams joined forces to make headway on the hedge. Great progress was made by lunchtime and it was time for both teams to head back to Low Barns for a farewell BBQ to see Andy McLay leave for pastures new.

A huge Sat Team with a load of new faces came out in force to coppice an area of woodland. Coppice management is a traditional woodland management technique that opens up the canopy for short periods, creating sunny open places that benefit plants and flying insects such as butterflies and dragonflies. The pics really do show before, during and after.

Not just another day of hedge planting...the team really pulled together at Hedleyhope Fell and made fantastic progress planting at least 200m of hedgerow, thats over 1200 trees in the ground!

The Task Force have a challenging week planting a spangly new hedgerow of deciduous native trees along a stretch of Inkerman Road. Progress was steady and rewarding as a trail of tree shelters sprouted their way along the roadside. Work was occasionally interrupted by the slightly bizarre vehicles and loads that passed by.

Welcome back to Durham Consoc who teamed up with the regular volunteers for a tree planting task in the plantations. Quite a few familiar faces from when consoc helped us out in November with some brash burning.

With Melanie once more on the trigger the team continued resisting the march of the scrub onto the fell. With a little time to spare towards the end of the day we tackled a few patches of juniper that were proving to be very tasty to the inquisitive sheep. The juniper will be relocated to a part of the fell more to its liking.

Our unsung heroes Nick and Janice, painters, decorators, locksmiths and all-round fixers, have transformed the Low Barns shop with paint, stepladders, and a lot of hard work.

The Hit Squad planted a mixed hedgerow around the car park at the Derwent Reservoir Visitor Centre. It just looks like a mass of squiggly tree shelters at the moment, but soon there'll be a wildlife friendly hedge of blackthorn and hawthorn with a little oak, alder, rowan and hazel thrown in.

Back to the west end of the fell, and with Melanie once more on camera duty, we had another productive task protecting the heathland from advancing scrub.

The Sat team spend the day cutting and burning gorse up at the Derwent. The area of work is a species rich acid grassland. 'Species rich' = lots of interesting plants and lots of different species! Without management important grassland habitats can be lost to scrub invasion. The plan is to introduce grazing animals to keep the scrub at bay.

A great day amongst the heather below sunny skies. On a part of the Fell that we seldom visit the Team used bowsaws and loppers to remove small trees encroaching onto the heathland.

A fantastic batch of photos mostly taken by Melanie who kicked ass and frequently photographed it. And good to see Craig Oxley back on the Team after a spell away at college. Welcome back Craig!

The hit squad turned out to be rather a large one, and the traditionally small Thursday task proved to be a busy session of cuttin' and burnin'. The aim of the day was to coppice an area of woodland to improve the ground flora.

Over to Rainton Meadows and a talk by Dave Wainwright on Butterfly Conservation and how it benefits from the coppicing we carried out at Fell Edge. Then a tour around the reserve by Mark Dinning.

The second day of tree planting in the plantations on the Fell. Well over 150 stakes and trees in the ground! Fantastic stuff!! Whilst the team were busy on the Fell Becky lead Trevor, Lisa and Sharon constructing the screen for the bird feeding station at Low Barns.

Becky and Trevor make a start and lead the Hit Squad on constructing the new bird feeding station at Low Barns.

After the felling, thinning, brash clearing and burning, it's time to start planting. To replace the conifers, it's a variety of Broadleaf British Natives; Rowan, Ash, Hawthorn, Oak and Hazel are some of the many species that will be emerging in the woodlands in the years to come.

There are so many goodins but ive pulled together 10 which in my opinion encapsulate what we are all about. However, some i just happen to like.

The Sat team proved their worth in the morning by planting 200 oak, ash, rowan, hazel and alder. In the afternoon the team constructed a rabbit proof fence to protect the 'stock' of trees from becoming a rabbits dinner!

A trip to Fell Edge to help Butterfly Conservation manage a key site for a range of butterfly species. The team spent the day coppicing hazel to create more 'open space' at an important site in the Morecambe Bay area. A great day out, culminating in a fire and fish and chips on the way back home.

The hit squad had one of our most productive days ever! Stakes installed ready for the Sat Teams tree planting task, timber hand balled and the line of the new hedgerow at Hedleyhope Fell sprayed off in preparation for planting later next month.

The annual litter pick aka 'Operation Clean Sweep' produced 98 black bags (full), several tires, a TV, wrench, fire extinguisher, wine glass, bike frame, gas bottle, CB radio, garden gnome and enough car parts to build a whole car!

The team spend the day cutting and treating young sycamore and ash so that one of the rides (a linear clearing in a woodland) remains sunny and open to benefit insects such as butterflies and dragonflies.

A delivery of trees required heeling in. In finding a suitable planting site we first had to get past the beech hedge. Craig and Beech don't mix.

Beyond the North-East end of Low Barns lies a (very wet) meadow that was once densely planted. By thinning and coppicing the area we allow more light onto the woodland floor encouraging a greater diversity of wildflowers.

Just to prove you can't get too much of a good thing, another productive session clearing the brash in the conifer plantations. In this collection, Helen proves that it is possible to go sledging on a Marks and Spencer picnic mat, and baked Cheese and Onion Pasties, spuds and garlic butter all prove popular.

The weather scared a few people away but it was calm and cosy in the plantations as we continued clearing the brash to make way for tree planting in the Spring. Nichola and Heather from Newcastle ConSoc braved the elements to share baked spuds with garlic butter and a daft border collie.

Gorgeous sunny snowy crispy winter's day. We're in here managing the habitat to encourage the Small Pearl Borderered Fritillary.

The Thursday Hit Squad planned doing some chainsaw work in the Black Plantation but a thick covering of snow rather complicated things.

Wind and snow in the car park vanished in the shelter of the plantation as we kept the momentum up clearing the brash. The lack of a breeze meant reluctant fires but great for cooking spuds.

Guess what; Fog and Wind put the 3rd attempt at the annual litter pick to bed. We were happy to escape the icy wind and head into the shelter of the plantations to burn some brash instead.

After the job is done and tools are put away, there's still a little light in the sky. Spring is on its way! Time for a wander around the reserve and a chat with the residents.

Around the lakes and islands below the Northumbria Water Hide there is a lot of gorse and scrub. To keep this area a viable reedbed habitat we need to keep the scrub at bay. So bowsaws, loppers, a box of matches or two, and some surprisingly sunny weather, and the job is soon done.

The last day for the Low Barns Task Force at Baal Hill this winter with the vast majority of small beech and sycamore cut down and treated! However, the hit squad will be back on a Thursday or two, armed with chainsaws and chemicals to help with the final assault on the bigger trees.

A small hit squad go in with chainsaws to remove the bigger trees, including Lisa aka the chemical queen.

Small tree felling in Baal Hill Woods to thin out the area, allowing more light to the flora on the woodland floor. By selectively removing sycamore and some beech the area is managed as birch/oak woodland.The wood from the felled trees is used for charcoal production.

The fog thwarted plans to do a litter pick along the Fell road so it was fall back to Plan B. A couple of fires to fight the damp and another dent in the brash.

A break from routine and a trip out to Hylton Dene to fell some poplars and clear some space for new planting.

It's been fun going in to Ragpath and hitting it hard and fast. By removing scrub we create clearings for the heather giving it a chance of getting some daylight. Today we had a gorgeous frosty sunny day and we worked surrounded by glistening silver birch and frosty heather.

We had a large team out on this frosty day and great progress was made in removing scrub and brash. Much more light will now get onto the woodland floor and allow the heather to thrive.

The team were devastated that the traditional new-year litter pick had to be postponed because of the snow, and instead we had to settle for three nice toasty fires in the shelter of the plantations. Good progress was made in clearing the brash in preparation for native deciduous tree planting in the spring.

With broth, kebabs, spare ribs, and a big Cumberland sausage amongst some of the great contributions, no one left hungry. However an umpire will be required for next year's 'conker' competition rematch.

The beech hedge opposite the Visitor Centre was becoming straggly and too tall. By cutting it back hard while it is dormant over the winter we should see a flush of vigorous bushy new growth in the Spring.

An unusual new 'fence' has appeared near the top car park. Using logs from recent thinning in the conifer plantations the team built a stretch of shelter-belt with the aim of providing a useful habitat for the Green Hairstreak butterfly.

Just a few pics from the Volunteer Christmas party held at the Slug and Lettuce and continued at various ale houses around the city.

A typical Thursday mixed bag of jobs. Clearing the car park around the barn at Low Barns, and collecting some old concrete-filled bins from the Fell.

Great progress in clearing the brash from the plantations. It's now nearly all gone and ready for planting of deciduous trees in the spring.

The lake was frozen and the boat stayed on the bank. The scrub remains on the islands for another day. The team concentrated on removing gorse and alder from the shoreline near the Northumbria Water Hide and the SandMartin bank.

The frozen ground made butterfly fencing impossible so it was back to getting warm and toasty with some brash burning in the plantations.

In gorgeously surreal sunshine the team bashed the oars through the ice and headed back to the islands. We continued removing the scrub to allow the reeds to thrive in the waterways below the Northumbria Water Hide. A great day to be outdoors. The starlings thought so too.

After a tough week at Black Plantation it was payback time with some island hopping and scrub burning. In sparkly wintry sunshine we pushed the boat out and sailed around the islands amongst the reeds below the Northumbria Water Hide. Low Barns at its best.

Becky's Saturday task involved scrub removal near the lakeside at Low Barns.

A final assault on clearing an area in the Black Plantation. Let's hope the Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary finds the area to its liking and moves in!

A tough task. The Rainton Meadows and Low Barns teams combined forces to tackle moving the brash and logs from a soggy clearing in the Black Plantation.

The Team arrived for a day of birch removal to improve this fantastic area of wet grassland. Plans are afoot to introduce cattle to maintain this important grassland habitat.

Sue and Kara arrived from Rainton Meadows with a busload of volunteers to give us the low down on the creatures that love to live in dead wood. And in the afternoon we built the Hilton Hotel of habitat piles so there is now a very plush invertebrate pad in a glade at Low Barns.

A big Thank-You! to Durham University Conservation Society (consoc) for turning out in force to help us continue clear the brash from the plantations. A drizzly cold day did not dampen their enthusiasm and at the end of the day a noticeable dent had been made in the brash clearance. With luck consoc will be back in the spring to help us plant up the area with deciduous trees.

Continuing the push to clear the brash from the plantations so that they can be planted up with deciduous trees in the spring.

Craig leads Becky, Emma and Dougie on a training session on bridge construction. An old sleeper bridge over a beck on the fell is upgraded.

Invasive Typha has spread vigorously around the boardwalk at Low Barns so the task force donned waders and gloves and began the job of searching for clear blue water.

The area around Horden Treatment Works is recognised as valuable Magnesian Limestone Grassland. To retain the meadow flowers and encourage species diversity it's important to limit the march of the encroaching gorse.

While Dougie, Emma and Becky did some thinning in the conifer plantation, the rest of the task force 'tidied up' (burned) the brash near the viewpoint.

A trip up Weardale to a very picturesque spot near Burnhope Reservoir. We carried out coppicing to create and enhance a habitat suitable for water voles and meadow flowers.

Sunshine and Flames. And while the fire burns down, why not roast something interesting in the embers?

In August the Durham Wildlife Trust had a visit to Kielder to see the work carried out by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. Today it was their turn to visit us for a tour around Low Barns and Derwent Reservoir.

Two groups at work today on Hedleyhope Fell. One team at the 'top car park' erecting a new information board and replacing a gatepost, while further down the hill gorse is being removed.

It's easy to overlook the north east end of Hedleyhope Fell, but along the line of Hedleyhope Burn (NZ1542) a secluded woodland footpath makes its way towards Cornsay Colliery. This gem of a path had two footbridges washed out by the recent floods. It was a tough task but with the help of a couple of our regular volunteers Janice and Nick the bridges were restored.

In a break from routine we helped out at the Old Rec Nature Reserve in Langley Park. This reserve is recognised as a rare lowland heather area, all the more valuable given its urban location. Think of it as Hedleyhope Fell's Baby Brother. We began the tough but rewarding task of uncovering and restoring an old footpath that had become obscured by shrubs and weeds.

Several areas around Low Barns had been cut and in need of raking, including the notorious Everglades, and the mossies ... And Lisa's back!

At this time of year there seems no end to the amount of raking and collecting of grass. But it's essential for effective meadow management that the clippings are removed so that the soil becomes deficient in nutrients and encourages species diversity. Our efforts will be rewarded by the meadow flowers in spring and summer.

Despite a blustery forecast the sun shone and we had a fine day for strimming and tidying around the boardwalk.

Our colleagues at Rainton Meadows had already done most of the strimming and raking of this meadow but time was against them, so we had a daytrip to the seaside to help tidy up the loose ends.

A satisfying blast of fire and heat after all the recent strimming and raking. It was a hot fire on a hot day, which resulted in a lot of hot sweaty bodies.

Beckster, Craigster, Dougster and Emster, do a bit of tree felling in the plantations on Hedleyhope Fell.

A couple of miles east of Blanchland (NW 983511) at a road junction near the south-west corner of the reservoir, there's an inconspicuous triangle of grassland. Amongst the sward there's an eager mix of orchids and flowers waiting to grab some light and show their colours. With a few years regular strimming and raking, this corner will become a great splash of colour.

Norman's photo of Becky, Helen, Nicola and Trevor

Grassland Management on the meadow area between North Hide and the lakeside at Low Barns.

Many of the Low Barns paths had been washed away and damaged after the rain. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a few quadloads of stone and a whacker plate. And farewell to Lisa who heads for Houghall College to start a course in Environmental Conservation.

Norman's photos of the team getting started on the footpath repair after the weekend's heavy rain.

The team grab waders, wellies, pitchforks, wheelbarrows, rakes and anything else handy to tackle invasive Typha in the Butterfly Garden pond.

A day trip to Kielder to visit the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, see red squirrels, and get lost in the Minotaur maze at Kielder Castle.

Gorse and Tree Shelter removal at Derwent Reservoir. Always on the lookout for Broomrape and adders.

Strimming and Raking at Ragpath Heath, a new Durham Wildlife Trust reserve.

Checking waymarking posts and being distracted by Dragonflies in the scrapes on Hedleyhope Fell.

The Durham Wildlife Trust run regular training days to allow volunteers to understand the management principles underlying many of the practical tasks. Hedleyhope Fell is an example of Mid-altitude heathland and in these photos the team are out and about amongst the heather.

Installing waymarking posts on Hedleyhope Fell for walking routes.

Vegetation Management at Low Barns on a sunny July day.

Bits and Pieces.