Northern Monk Staff Volunteer Trip To Restoring Hardknott Forest.
Restoring Hardknott Forest is a collaboration between Forestry England and the University of Leeds that aims to restore one of the largest conifer plantations in the Lake District, covering 630 hectares of land. The project aims to re-naturalise the space with native woodland and wildlife rich habitats, while inspiring other efforts to restore woodlands across the UK.
Getting some of the Monks up to Hardknott has been high on the wish-list since they were selected as one of our three main Charity Partners but on Wednesday 2nd October, we made it happen.
An early start to the day for the desk-dwellers amongst the group, arriving at Sydenham Road, our main production site, to be greeted by members of the packaging team who were already well on with their workday. Any progress we might have made by setting off early was immediately hampered by stumbling across seemingly every school drop-off in Leeds and Bradford. But with some handy local backstreets intel in the form of Chris, who valiantly offered to do the driving, we eventually made it to Hardknott Forest. Of course having stopped for snacks on the way; where we all got to enjoy Cara enjoying her first ever Booth’s visit.
In perhaps the most on-brand moment imaginable, as we swung into the Birk’s Bridge Car Park John, our main contact with the project and host for the day, popped up from behind a tussock of tall grass. There is something quite gnome-like about John; a man with clear passion for nature and a keenness to have other people come to feel the same way he does. He was joined by Katherine, who has recently embarked on a similar project in the next valley.
After a quick round of introductions, and a great deal of excitement from John upon learning that there was a brewer he could talk to all day, we headed down to the rRiver Duddon to start planting.
Hardknott Forest was used as a commercial plantation for 70 years, growing conifer for timber, on a site that was eventually deemed unsuitable for the work, and the trees there have grown to full maturity. John was keen to point out that he does believe commercial forestry has its place but Hardknott Forest is by no means a unique case in that it will benefit in the long term from clearing the invasive species of conifer that currently occupies the land. Clearing these trees and replacing them with native species like oak and birch will bring all sorts of species of animals back to the land as well as a greater variety of plant life. Holly, rowan and willow are all returning to the land and John has seen an increase in the variety of birds and mammals as well; otters, red squirrels and woodpeckers to name a few.
On the banks of the River Duddon we got to work planting ragged robin, a perennial that prefers relatively boggy land and is very popular with pollinators thanks to its bright pale pink flowers. After a couple of hours of complimenting each other on the width and tidiness of each other’s holes (for planting in, obviously.) it was time for a short walk across a small section of the site. On the way we stopped on Birk’s Bridge to look at the crystal blue water below, discussing how on a warmer day it would be great for a dip. While we gawped at the nature surrounding us John was pointing out how much of the history of our green spaces are tied up in their names; even if those spaces have changed so significantly over decades and centuries. Birk being an old English name for the birch tree. And the same applies to the small village of Ulpha that we passed through on the drive; that may once have been the site of a wolf den, based on the old Norse words ‘ulfr’ and ‘haugr’ meaning ‘wolf-hill’.
As we walked towards lunch, John pointed out plenty of plants that he wanted to make clear would be very good for using in a beer. Bog myrtle and spruce tips in particular have a long history of use in brewing. Wouldn’t it be great to get something made with foraged ingredients from Hardknott?
We sat and had lunch surrounded by oaks and discussed the team’s practice of non-interference. On the walk we had passed a huge old oak that had fallen by the side of the path and John explained how while it may not look quite so nice and tidy to leave it there, that a dead tree still had an awful lot to offer their efforts to naturalise the woodland. And while it might have felt sad to lose a 100 year old oak like that, one century is nothing to an oak tree. A fully mature oak might be closer to 500 years old, and if leaving the fallen tree where it is might help another tree make it to that age, then it would be worth it all along. Even some of the trees that were still standing around us had died but were best left standing regardless as they could still be a home for all sort of insects and birds. He pointed to a small dark hole in the trunk of one such tree and said that they’d seen Pied Flycatchers nesting in there to breed, having migrated all the way from West Africa.
After lunch and having collected our tools, we headed over to the site we’d be helping to clear of invasive conifers. John gave us a run-down of the preferred method, and steps to take to make sure the trees wouldn’t begin to grow back. After narrowly avoiding a tree that deserved to be left standing, and tripping over what looked to us to be an errant branch, but turned out to be a young rowan tree, he put us to work.
Then an unspoken competition ensued.
We set to work on the physically demanding, incredibly satisfying, almost primally enjoyable work of cutting down trees. Because that’s good for the environment, actually. More jokes about the width and neatness of each other's trunks. Obviously. (Shout out to Elliot for having felled the widest trunk of the day.) Despite the scale of the work to be done, the changes it made felt immediate. Every time another pine came down, a new patch of daylight opened on the forest floor. Opening space for other species to return. In just a couple of hours we had made a good couple of meters progress in some parts and left thinking what kind of ground we’d be able to cover with a larger crew and more time.
With sweaty brows and needle-filled hair we gathered our tools after a couple of hours and made back towards the van. All the way talking about how good we felt for having worked so hard, and seen the results of it. Having a saw at your hip seems to give you a certain swagger too. “Guys, do I look as hench as I feel?”
When we got back to the van, John remembered he’d made us all some flapjack, so over a square each we discussed the day, picking up some talking points from earlier and already looking forward to the next visit. There were lots of heavy eyelids in the van on the way back, despite the best efforts of the DJ riding shotgun. But on arriving back to Leeds everyone got out the van somewhat more achy than when they got in but certain that their workday had been well spent.
As the oldest project of its kind in the surrounding area, as well as doing their own renaturalisation work, Restoring Hardknott Forest is now at an exciting time in its history. Able to open its doors (gates?) to surrounding projects; offering advice and sharing its knowledge with others hoping to do the same.
We want to extend a huge thank you to John and Catherine for hosting us for the day. The work that Restoring Hardknott Forest do is of huge importance, and we hope that this will be the first visit of many, and just one of many ways for both organisations to interact and benefit from our ongoing partnership.
