Resting on our laurels.........(well, sycamore actually)
By: Dave P.
For 4 of the last 5 Western Depot volunteering days you may
have noticed that the Logging Team has been conspicuous by its absence in the
mornings.
You haven’t? Well we have been, honest. This was all thanks
to Les P - who very kindly donated a felled sycamore tree to us but only if we
could be bothered to go & collect it.
Always on the look-out for supplies we said yes like a shot and got quite a shock on our first visit to Les (who lives on the side of a
(probably) 1:4 hill outside Uley) where we espied this 100ft long, 4ft diameter
tree lying there facing straight down the hill towards the busy road.
The Mitsubishi coped with the first days’ ascent of “Parsons
Piste”, no problem, and we removed 3 full loads. However, then it rained. This
made the following Monday’s attempted ascent all but impossible even with the assistance
of Les’ quad bike - so we used said bike to ferry the cut wood down to the
Mitsubishi instead. Another 3 full loads removed, but then it rained some more
so we didn’t even try last Wednesday; instead we spent the day splitting
roughly 2/3rds of what we’d already collected.
Last weekend was glorious so off we went again on Monday for
yet another 3 full loads, after which we were left with what was potentially the
most challenging bit:
Now then. To give you some idea of the diameter of the wee
beastie at its base, bear in mind Maurice is a big chap and he was standing
firmly on the ground, as was the tree trunk.....
Wednesday dawned so Maurice, Mike, Derek & I ascended
the dizzy heights of Parson’s Piste for the last time. Chainsaws at the ready
we cut here, there and everywhere; all into manageable pieces, resulting in
another 2 Mitsubishi loads. “Job’s a good ‘un” as our sorely missed colleague
Lionel used to say, all we’ve got to do now is split it. The 11 loads should be
worth well over £1,000 to the CCT in sales revenue.
You may be wondering why ‘only’ 3 loads each time? Simply
because we were totally knackered by the time we’d loaded No.3!
Thanks, Les, for your generous donation, just let me know
when you want any other trees removed as we’d be delighted to take them off
your hands.....