Eddy's thoughts about the first work party of the season: First outing of the wooding year yesterday. On arrival we found that the land owners were about to leave for a wedding in Austria. Over a period of time, the usual suspects made an appearance. It was good to see them after the summer break. Dave is such a good guy. He has encyclopaedic knowledge, a huge bank of experience and can read the landscape, but more than that he is a steadying hand, meting assurance and calm. Over the years we have melded into an effective working group and I love John and Pete's chatty banter. Dave ran through a broad, factual and informative site induction, the person to whom it would have been most benefit was away putting on his boots. We were lucky with the weather, a light cool breeze, dry and the clouds parted on occasion. The site is a lovely cleave of mixed deciduous woodland, with hazel, oak, hawthorn and some oak standards.
We has a good working day with John's daughter, beau and dogs joining us pm. This brought down the average age considerably. Young people are so lovely!