Thursday 24/11/22  Our first job was fitting two strip lights in the shed. Eddie clipped all the wires in place while I fitted and connected the lights. We turned on the lights at the wall switch but they didn’t come on. I did some tests with my AVO meter but couldn’t find anything wrong, then we realised each light fitting has its own switch on the end. I switched them both on and they lit up. I closed the shed door to try them out and they work well, lighting up our main storage area and workbench. I made a cover to protect all the wiring and connectors so we don’t damage them getting things out of the shed.

Anne Marie joined us and weeded the wildflower area, lots of seedlings are coming up now so we have to be careful what we pull up. We only removed Thistles, Dandelions and Nettles to make sure we don’t pull up any wildflower plants. Eddie filled the bird feeders and I drilled holes in the edge of the water bowl and fixed it to the feeder station frame with garden wire to prevent it blowing away again, Eddie filled it with water.

I went to the wagon and tested the voltage, as power is supplied by the long underground cable which Ryan installed last time, it was over 12 Volts at the socket so the fridge should work well, I switched on the nest cameras and they are working too. I tidied up wiring in both areas which gives more usable space in the underseat storage cupboards. We are now totally off grid using our solar panels which are part of our Green Community grant.

When the container was removed from site, a split bag of building lime from it was put in buckets and covered to prevent it seeping into the environment, today Eddie transferred the lime into sealed tubs using the pump containment tray to ensure none was spilled, we took it to The Maltings on our way back to be disposed of safely. We have 3 bags of lime which will be used for brickwork repairs.

I put more hooks up in the shed to hold 2 brooms and a rake, then used builders band to make storage straps to hold two pump hoses on the back of the visitor centre above the ladder, the hoses are used for turning the water wheel on open days. When we put everything back in the shed we used the new lights, which makes life much easier, as this time of year its starting to get dark when we finish work.

Saturday 26/11/22  We fitted a Kestrel box, they need to be 5m high facing South to South East. The nearest suitable tree was just along the track from the mill so we loaded up the ladder, box and tools. We had to stand the ladder in the back of the Gator truck to get enough height. I screwed the top of the box to the tree, Ryan went back to get a block of wood to wedge the bottom of the box out to keep it level, which I fixed to the box and tree.

While Ryan was helping me he noticed Egyptian Geese in the field and managed to get a picture of them. He also went back to get loppers to remove Ivy, as Kestrels like a clear flightpath to the nest box.

We then made a habitat box to go on the end of the visitor centre wall above the logstore. Ryan made the back panel from an old chair and I made the frame from pallet wood. Ryan cut logs and drilled holes in them, I cut weed stalks with hollow centres similar to canes, then Ryan cut and split some wood. We filled the sections with these materials and some pine cones, then cut a wire mesh to size and stapled it to the front to keep everything in place. Logs in the top section were screwed in from the back to secure them, gaps were filled with more hollow stems. Both activities today were part of our Green Community Grant project.

Graham Bartlett  

Interactive Plan   Activity  Heritage Open Days  Green Grant   Wildflower Meadow   Volunteer  Previous  Next