Another dry day, we gave a collected, ‘Phew! Thank goodness for that.’ It was the day of our annual Woodland Workshop with the Green Team from Deutsche Bank, Birmingham and what a great bunch of energetic and enthusiastic people we had join us.

The Lickey Hills was our chosen location, surrounded by beautiful trees, in a shaded area needing a great deal of tidying, clearing and tree planting. The Lickey Hills is famous in Birmingham and one of the most cherished green spaces in the city. Three generations ago the Lickey Hills was used like a seaside town – just without the seaside. Families would flock to the area by tram from the far reaches of Birmingham to enjoy the fresh air and great outdoors, arcades, picnics, playgrounds and a distinct holiday feel. It was a place to get away from it all, kick back and relax. Years later not much has changed as the Lickey Hills is still a wonderful haven for every individual that visits to walk, play, exercise, relax, learn, enjoy nature and wildlife and we should feel very lucky to have it.

 

Our group were suitably suited and booted for the occasion, wellies, check, waterproofs, check, hats, scarves, gloves, check. A can-do attitude…, let’s get going…, where are the tools…, lets enjoy the great outdoors…, double check!

After a safety talk about how to use the more serious tools for cutting and sawing we made a collective march down the steep hill from the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre to the area we were would be working in. Ankle deep mud, surrounded by dead trees, branches, brambles, and very uneven ground were the challenges to get through before we even started the work, but Deutsche Bank aren’t easily put off. They rose to the challenge with vigour and a smile!

It seemed like a huge task, but this team got stuck in immediately moving like the wind, clearing the area, dragging branches, sawing large tree trunks into manageable sizes to move, brash clearing, dead hedge building, raking and tidying.

 

The beautiful dead hedge was added to by Deutsche Bank building a stronger and higher hedge to provide a welcoming habitat for wildlife, recycling the dead wood and a providing a cordoned off area for the new trees to grow.

It was a serious business, there was so much dead wood because of tree disease rangers have had the sad task of felling Larch trees in the area. But the happier task came as this newly cleared woodland would be clear enough to plant native species such as Hazel by the Green Team.

The team were motivated and inspired enjoying the fresh air, being outdoors and nurturing nature. Soon everyone was drawn to the huge tree trunks, the challenge of cutting them down to size was very satisfying. One of the team spotted a piece of tree trunk covered in mud on the forest floor, ‘could I take this home, I want to make a meat carving board?’ Recycling, salvaging, up-cycling, reclaiming, call it what you will. It was a happy volunteer who left that day with a large tree trunk loaded into the ranger’s Land Rover to take home.

By 1pm it was time for lunch which the team were more than ready for. Cheery chatter about the mornings work ensued and after fuelling back up on baked spuds, beans and cheese, a mug of tea and of course chocolate we were all ready for the second part of the woodland workshop – tree planting, our favourite bit!

Returning to the area and surveying at how much of the area the Green Team had cleared in one morning was fantastic and planting whips randomly spaced in chosen areas was also very rewarding. It might not look much now, but in a couple of summers these trees will be much bigger and thriving surrounded by an array of wild flowers such as Fox Gloves, Bluebells and Cow Parsley.

Planting the last few whips was a very satisfying end to the day and as we all trudged back up the hill wellies caked in mud there was a distinct sense of wellbeing among the group. And while the Green Team had worked so hard with such zest, they put up with changing weather conditions. We enjoyed a brief snow flurry, a rain shower, sleet, cloud and sunshine, proving that while you can always rely on fantastic volunteers – you can never rely on the weather.

Thank you to everyone for making a huge difference – your green credentials will continue to flourish at the Lickey Hills just like the Woodland you planted here today – Bravo!

 

See action shots here 

Please check out the photo album for this event here