Stewardship Saturday 1st July 2023

One of the scouts’ leaky dams - an innovative style we have termed a ‘faggot dam’

Stewardship Saturday saw yet another excellent turnout of members and prospective members descending upon Wilderness Wood to carry out all manner of activities designed to smooth the operation of the wood. I would estimate in the order of 30 people, including some willing campers spending the weekend in the Lower Paddock. Tasks included wood splitting, peg-making for the new timber-framed verandah for the house, deer fencing and tree-guard collecting for Bat Park, creation of a wooden balance beam for Owl Wood and wooden shingle/shake making for cladding the roofs of various buildings. We were also joined by 15 scouts intent on creating a further 3 leaky dams for the lower wood.

I arrive at 9am and sort out tools both for the scout group and for the group I am to lead at Bat Park – a barrow-load for each. The weather is a shade unpredictable - the odd rain shower mixed with warm dry spells. Pushing the wheel barrow to Bat Park my cag keeps me dry from the rain, but alas I'm sweating cobs. I deposit the contents of the barrow – hammer, staples, loppers, hog rings and dispenser, 50 metres of wire mesh and an extendable ladder. Not too difficult on the way down, but I'll try and encourage one of my helpers to push it back at lunch time.

Returning to base, I then have to take the scout's wheel barrow over towards a cluster of leaky dams where we can pick up sweet chestnut poles to be used in dam construction and I can use one of the nearby dams to explain their construction. This done, I'm in time for the start of the introductory session where we welcome the 'troops' who have turned up to do battle with the elements. Dan welcomes the volunteers and briefly explains what it is all about. Each task leader then explains the particular task that is on offer, before the 'market place' is open and the volunteers select which one they fancy doing. Four people elect to join my group, which is probably about right.

Everyone, bar the scouts, heads off to the Christmas Tree Field to do 20 minutes of bracken weeding before dispersing to address their chosen team's task. I hurry with the scouts to the lower wood and get them started, but by the time I get to the Christmas Tree Field everyone has gone. Eventually I collect-up my team and we start work at Bat Park. It is a good session, with Emily enjoying liberating the saplings planted 4 years earlier from their protective guards. They did a good job preventing the rabbits from nibbling their delicate stems, but rows of black plastic tubes are not particularly attractive. Their removal is transformational.

Hedge saplings protected by tree guards

Hedge saplings liberated from their tree guards

Jules and Seth (father and son) spend 2 hours fixing the deer fence wire in place whilst Geoff clears the fence line to ease their access. What am I doing? Well someone has to keep an eye on things, issuing guidance, fetching tools and checking the work is of an appropriate standard. The latter is rarely in question, since many of our volunteers have more skill than I do and certainly the motivation to do a job well.

The finished deer fence

Once the fence is finished all assist Emily in her hedge shrub liberation – probably 1000 tubes need to be removed and bagged-up. I duck off to check on the scouts and see how their leaky dam building has gone. Glen and Louise, who will be getting married in the wood in a few weeks time, have overseen the dam building, along with several other scout leaders. The scouts' task was to build a structure across the Wilderness Stream that will a. slow down any flash flood water after a heavy rain storm, b. retain some of the stream water as a pool for the benefit of wildlife and c. hold back much of the sediment. The finished dams show much ingenuity of design and construction, as does a third dam built by the scout leaders. A total of 97 leaky dams have now been constructed in the wood. The good people of Uckfield are perhaps the unwitting beneficiaries of these, since the dams' aim is to help avoid a repeat of the floods that hit the town in 2000.

The scout leaders’ log dam (perhaps a little wider to stop the stream bypassing it?)

All that remains to be done is for willing helpers to return the tools back to base and tuck into an excellent lunch, satisfied in the knowledge that their contribution has added significantly to the welfare of the wood.

David Horne (follow my walking and cycling adventures on www.leggingroundbritain.com)