Coldharbour Copse 1996 (photos)

Coldharbour Copse 1996 (photos)

Volunteers assembling in Bloomer's Field, before planting Coldharbour Copse

Volunteers signing on at the assembly point on a dry but blustery day in December 1996.

We marked out planting zones, to which we directed volunteers when they arrived. Each zone had a 'field master' to coordinate efforts and to instruct beginners. On the far left are two of the fieldmasters, in their fluorescent tabards.

Volunteers planting 'whips', tying them to stakes and putting Tuley tubes on them

I've struck gold! Alan Reynolds, then our chairman, stakes a 'whip'.

Here we have used tree guards, instead of the cheaper spiral guards that we put around hedgerow plants. The latter are planted closer together and therefore need less protection from weather.

The sun breaks through at last, crowning a productive day.

We came back the next November (1997) and completed the planting.