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It was the first day back after the Christmas & New Year break and a gentle start to the year with some pruning of the young apple trees in the New Orchard. However the older apple trees looked more like mistletoe trees and it was time to cut away the…
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The Woodland at Croft is in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and an element of that is to clear the Silver Fir from the eastern side of the Fishpool Valley and bringing sunlight back into that part of Highwood Bank. Much of this work began back in 2012 and has been…
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This Spring (2019) it seemed to me that the Ash Trees were very late and struggling to come into leaf. By late Summer it was evident that Ash Dieback had really taken a hold and infected the majority of the trees in the Valley. Ash Dieback (Chalara fraxinea) is predicted…
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Back in 2013, I think it was back then, we planted some fruit trees in what is called the New Orchard which lies just to the north of the Castle. The Orchard isn’t new, it appears on some old maps under that name, however there were a few very old…
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Before work began on the major part of the restoration, we spent several weeks in February clearing trees that had been clear felled from the base of what was once pool seven, long since drained. Contractors had carried out the tree felling. We were left to collect up the fallen…
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As summer advanced the flow of water into the conduit house reduced and finally stopped however after several days of heavy rain in early October it was thought a visit to the Conduit House would be interesting to see if there was any indication of springs that fed into the…
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It seems that out in the Parkland at Croft, almost every time some one sticks a spade in the ground something unusual is unearthed. On this occasion it was a case of curiosity; what was meant on an 18th century maps of the Fishpool Valley, where it stated the existence…
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This is just an addition to the previous post this one is about the reassembly of the Grotto Pool Cascade. Once all the measuring and recording of information was complete, it was time to hand it over the the guys who were going to put it all back together. Recognising…
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The Grotto overlooks a large grassy bank, as you walked past prior to 2017, you might not have be aware that the behind the bank there was once a large pool, fed by springs tumbling down through the gullies further up the valley. I will call this the Grotto Pool. Hidden,…
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An answer could well be Carp for it seem that ‘ a stew’ might well be a smaller pool supplied with clear fresh running water, where Carp are purged to rid them of the muddy taste you get if you cook them straight from a pool, pond or lake .…
