The Grass Wood Task Day volunteering team - Photo taken by Sara
What a beautiful place, free exercise and no gym fees!
Ash Tree and Sunset - Ben Porter
Telling our Story Volunteer, Sara has been out in the field collecting her first story where she visited a volunteer task day in Grass Wood, an ancient woodland, near Grassington in Upper Wharfedale.
Talking to the volunteers and staff, she learned more about how YWT has been looking after the woods for 40 years; the benefits of volunteering and heard about the plans for their 40th birthday anniversary open day.
Talking to the volunteers and staff, she learned more about how YWT has been looking after the woods for 40 years; the benefits of volunteering and heard about the plans for their 40th birthday anniversary open day.
My first ‘Telling our Story’ volunteer visit was to beautiful Grass Woods. An ancient woodland of 88 ha, near Grassington in Upper Wharfedale. This nature reserve is a Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) listed for upland broadleaved woodland.
As a very keen, newbie-volunteer, I excitedly arrived 10 minutes before the meet-up time I’d been given… only to find seven volunteers and two YWT staff already hard at work. So that was my first lesson, you have to get up early to get ahead of YWT volunteers!
The initial task of the day was almost complete. Volunteers were loading a huge pile of old tree guards into a skip for off-site disposal. I wondered aloud why the guards can’t be reused? A volunteer paused to explain that the plastic guards have to be cut off the saplings they protected. Right so that is lesson 2, there is lots about woodland management I don’t know.
Volunteers removing tree guards as part of woodland management plans - photo taken by Sara
While I had come from just a few miles further up-dale, the volunteers cheerfully explained that the dozen or so regular volunteers came from “all over”. My third lesson of the day, my much-loved local woods are cared for by volunteers from an area that stretched from Otley to Darlington (about 40km and 90km km away respectively). While several volunteers were members of Wharfedale Naturalists, others came along on their own to care for the woods. A couple of walkers who had volunteered in the past, stopped-by to say hello to old friends and meet new ones.
Volunteers travel from all over to take part in the Grass Wood Task Day - Photo take by Sara
The skip was soon full, and it was onto the major task for the day. Donning PPE of gloves, hard hats and high viz, volunteers divided into pairs. They then selected their chosen tools, either loppers or saws. While I snapped photos, the volunteers explained they were trimming saplings that were damaging the drystone wall that surrounds the woodland.
Volunteers trim saplings that were damaging the drystone wall that surrounds the woodland - photo taken by Sara
After an hour or so hard at work the team stopped for mid-morning coffee and shared biscuits. That was when we got around to discussing volunteering. The task leader, Graham Standring, YWT’s Living Landscapes Officer - North, explained that since March 2022 in total the Grass Wood Volunteers have kindly given 875 hours of their time! As you would expect, the volunteers had lots of reasons for volunteering including meeting friends and learning new skills. The one that resonated most with me: “A beautiful place, free exercise and no gym fees!”
Grass Wood Volunteers enjoyed a well-earned rest - Photo take by Sara
Finally, I headed home and back to my desk, I was glad to have had the opportunity to meet the amazing volunteers and staff that look after this lovely place.
If you're tempted to visit Grass Wood nature reserve, you can find lots of information in the YWT leaflet here