Thursday 4/12/25 It was a cold rainy day so Eddie lit the fire and we had tea in the wagon before starting work. We noticed the river level is higher this week, there is more water behind the water wheel than before.
Our first job was sorting out the visitor centre loft, I went up and passed things down to Eddie, there were two wooden boxes which we'll convert into bird nest boxes, there were also lots of buckets and storage tubs which we put in the compound. Its now easier to get things from the loft, with easy access to the gazebo and camping table.
I stored metal and plastic stakes in the pallet which forms the compound wall. I also put chairs from the visitor centre in the compound under black material to keep them clean, this gives much more space in the visitor centre which I used to split pallet wood for kindling with the log splitter, Eddie used an axe outside to split some as well, which gave us two more tubs of kindling which we put in the wagon to dry.
We had hot sausage rolls again for lunch in the warmth of the wagon. In the afternoon Eddie logged up branches which were cut from a tree to make room for the compound and I put them in the new logstore we made last week along with some of the logs stored outside which Eddie brought over.
We covered the rest of the outside logs with black material to keep them dry until there is room for them in one of the logstores. We then filled up the bird feeders. When we got back to The Maltings we saw a heron fly up into a tree.
Thursday 11/12/25 I brought my mitre saw again to make a log rack in the wagon from old notice board frames, I got the idea watching Grand Designs which showed a stylish chrome log rack.
Eddie lit the fire and put sausage rolls in the oven above. We got the notice board frames and wood from an old pallet to make the log rack. Eddie pulled nails out and I cut the wood to length for the top and bottom to hold the metal frames in place.
We found a piece of plywood and cut it to fit between the uprights for the logs to rest on, then drilled holes which Eddie slotted out with a handsaw. We assembled the metal and wood, then slid the plywood in place and took it to the wagon and filled it with logs.
Eddie put a screw in the top on one side to hang the fire tool for opening the door and riddling the grate, then made a metal bracket to hold the poker on the other side.
I brought over the insect hotel we made from a chutney box as the butterfly compartment was breaking up. I took it off the stand and removed the broken plywood, put extra screws in to hold it together and cut a small piece of wood to hold the front panel in place. I screwed the box back on the stand and put it back in the meadow.
We had hot sausage rolls again for lunch in the wagon, while admiring the log rack we made. The visitor centre outer door was sticking, so in the afternoon we removed and repositioned the hinge which improved it, I also planed the outer edge of the door, it now opens and closes properly.
We tidied up behind the original logstore where there was a white display board and some fence posts, in the timber store there was a drain pipe, and in the shed was a tub of pine cones for making insect hotels, we put all these things in the compound. We also put left over notice board frames in the compound, the boards were re-used for displays at open days.
Eddie filled the bird food up while I raked lots of mole hills flat. The river level is even higher again this week, water is now under the wheel and up to the wall. Debra walked down with Hector so we showed Debra the log rack we made, which she likes, and we threw sticks and a football for Hector.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Activity Volunteer Previous Projects Open Days
