Volunteering at Chester Hope Willow Plot Week Commencing 6th January 2025

The number of volunteers helping with the harvesting at Chester Hope this past week is a record. The eighteen volunteers included twelve members of the Cullercoats group who braved the icy conditions on Friday. Thank you to everyone who attended during the week. Your contribution is most welcome, and it was a massive boost to harvesting at the beginning of 2025. Thanks to your efforts, only two varieties of basketry willow are left to cut.

I shall attach images of the plot and output taken during the week. The first image shows Jane Armstrong cutting the last of the Green Dicks on Tuesday. The crop of Green Dicks is excellent this year, and the second photo shows the sixteen bundles processed on Wednesday the eighth. On Thursday, we bundled more Green Dicks and a few bundles of Norbury.

On Friday morning, we welcomed the arrival of the members of the Cullercoats group, who must have been surprised to find the site was above the snow line in the valley! Many hands make light work, and the cutting of the Packing Twine and Black Maul proceeded at a hectic pace. Linda Morris did a great job of writing all the labels for the day. Once again, Jane Cheadle provided a welcome lunch at her cottage at Tosson for all the visitors following the session at the plot. Thank you, Jane, for your generous support. Thank you also to Lorraine for organising the group visit.

Siobhan and I arrived at the site on Saturday morning in extremely low temperatures to find the Norbury and Brittany Green rods covered in thick hoar frost, as seen in the image. Amazingly, the hoar frost appeared alive when looking through the frosted Norbury rods, with tiny sapphire diamonds reflecting the dark blue sky. For me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime magical experience. I cut the last of the Black Maul rods, and Siobhan sorted a large number of the rods. It was a delightful morning and a splendid end to a busy week.