Shropshire and Staffordshire National Trust Volunteers

Morville Hall, Sunday 14th August

It has been a few weeks since we updated the news section, have you missed us? We haven’t been lazy during our absence. In fact, we have had several Sunday workdays (Attingham, Moseley Old Hall, Dudmaston) and some of the group headed north to Northumberland to spend a working week at NT Cragside.

Today we find 22 of the group, including 2 new members (hello Shelly and Kate!), at Morville Hall in Shropshire. WNTCV members know this property well as we visit at least 4 times per year. Non-members should have a look at our news archive and photos for details of previous visits.

We had such a successful visit today. There was a list of tasks, including:

• stage one of a new project – converting the 1960s swimming pool into a natural pond
• cutting back the clematis adjacent the new sundial garden
• trimming the top and sides of the laurel hedge
• tidying the area around the pond
• cutting back the hawthorn hedge
• preparing areas near the old swimming pool for planting

There seemed to be tasks to suit all. The ‘heavy’ team set about shifting 7tonnes of pebbles and slate into the base of the old swimming pool – the pool had already been lined prior to our arrival. They then positioned half barrels in the pool, which were filled with soil – these will be planted with water lilies in phase 2 of the project. The ‘heavies’ were left to their sweat and toil while the others formed small teams to attack the rest of the task list. The weather was perfect for working: not too warm, not too sunny, not too dull and NO RAIN.

There was cake….oh yes, a LOT of cake….we do like cake. Thanks Sarah and Chris for your hospitality – we had a great day and look forward to visiting again later in the year.

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