We will be cutting an overgrown beech hedge to about 4 to 5 feet high.

We had a good day today. Pete and John were joint leaders. Charles did the admin. We had 6 people attend (Charles, Pete, John, Eddy, Alan and Terry). Charles gave Terry his induction for the site. Perfect weather.

Pete used a long poled cutter to take down a lot of branches. Then 3 trees were taken down into the big holly bush. Three came down using the rope to pull them into the church land. A couple more were felled into Poltimore House land slightly damaging the fence, but Alan is bringing his equipment next time to fix it.

Two minor incidents. John got a piece of saw dust in his eye which needed extracting (by Terry). John flushed his eye with water at lunch and all is well.

Charles was on tree climbing duty and on the third tree he came down a bit faster than planned and landed on a 4ft stump on his bum - no injury, hurt pride.

Eddy's report:

Although pathalogically punctual, I contrived to arrive slightly late. Imagine my surprise when I found the two designated site managers [Dave being otherwise engaged] had not yet arrived. Eventually all expected were present and a rambling banter ensued, hard to follow a thread but references to the film The Revenant came to the fore. I thought encountering bears in rural Devon unlikely, but the idea of trauma clouded my thoughts. I soon realised how much I have relied on Dave's steady countenance, wisdom, experience and reassurance with a quiet nod.

I only fully understood the fragility of the situation when one temporary site manager said "Don't listen to Rambo", when trying to establish the approach to the next felling. I suppose one must expect some discord with the upheaval of hierarchical hegemony, but this did nothing to alleviate my anxieties. At various times rather cavalier attitudes to health, safety and good working practices prompted me to think of Dave. Somehow we managed to get through the day without calling on the Devon Air Ambulance, a close run thing, true success!

Photos courtesy of Eddy

Poltimore Site

Poltimore Risk Assessment

Poltimore Emergency Procedures