Friday 20th July
The second digger day of this year was well supported by volunteer labour.
The 3t excavator and dumper were used to move the hardcore heap away from beside the entrance so we could strip topsoil and create a stockpile adjacent to the entrance, from where it can be taken off site. Volunteers helped by collecting outlying lumps in wheelbarrows.
The main event was using the mechanical plant to strip topsoil from a significant part of both the east and west ends of the site. This is surplus to requirements for reinstatement so much can be taken off site for re-use. In addition to the topsoil strip an area of about 90m2 at the east end of the compound was trimmed in preparation for creating a hardstanding, the first step towards constructing the car park. John, Dave and Peter had the fun with the toys.
We also took the opportunity to take delivery of 8 tonnes of scalping for the hardstanding.
A combination of volunteer manual labour and mechanical plant is a difficult mix to manage. Our volunteers managed to load two trailers with metal and rubbish for disposal (Hilary, Chester & Colin), trimmed the weeds in the area of meadow that has not yet been sown (Colin) and made further progress with hand excavation in the root protection zone around the ash tree at the west end (Gary, Rob, Chester, Colin and Hilary).
