P - P - parky

This weekend was the working party that was arranged at the AGM. The posts where in. Steve got some of the rabbit netting and all of the wire. Stuart donated wire ties, 3000 in fact. Pete, Maria and Judith joined Steve and myself in the fog at the plot. There was two legs of fencing to do. We had to dig out 45 metres of trench on the first leg, only 6inches wide and a couple of inches deep. We got on the with the job even though it was only 2 degrees. It only took 40 minutes to finish the trench. Steve and Pete wrestled the strand wire off the roll and offered it up to the posts. I stapled the wire to the posts. When the wire was strung and tensioned I crimped the wire to the posts. Next off the Rabbit netting. Steve rolled it out. Maria, Pete and Judith wrestled the netting into place and tagged the netting the top wire with the wire ties. I stapled on the netting at the posts. We managed to get the netting pretty straight and taut between us. Steve, Pete and I set off stringing the wire and hanging the netting along the second leg whist the nimbled fingered ladies tagged the netting to the wires at foot intervals and trimming off the excess length of tie.

The ground was less regular on leg two and the sun was heading for the horizon. We strung the wire and rolled out the netting. There was insufficient to finish the leg. I had to go the shop for another roll of netting and more staples. We rolled out the netting and tagged it to the top wire. It was clear that there would be insufficient time to complete the fixing of the netting so we left the netting hanging of the top wire. Maria was very quiet. I walked round to see what she was up too. She had completed all the ties and had started back filling the trench. By the time it was too dark to work we had completed leg one and strung all the strand wire, including the two free wires above the netting along both leg one and two and hung the netting on leg two. A lot of work done in four hours.

I went back back on Sunday morning to finished off leg two by excavating a trench, burying the foot of the netting, back filling the trench and pinning the wire to the posts. Someone else can do the tie wiring.

H and I went to the plot late on Sunday afternoon to see what had been keeping me away from the house and to see the works Thones had done on the old coal depot next to the allotment. We had a good walk round. The fencing look good even though it is a bit wonky here and there. The old coal site is getting the end stage. The pond, paths and landscaping is finished at the top end of the site. It looks great.

Despite the cold I manged to get through three changes of clothes because they were soaked through with sweat......nice!