Workday leader Matthew reports from Sunday’s venue:
The promise of interesting work and a BBQ attracted a good number of volunteers for the workday at Benthall, even though it was Men’s Finals Day at Wimbledon – or maybe it was just the attraction of the BBQ?
The volunteers split into various groups, with the main task to collect, sift and re-lay pea gravel on one of the paths in the gardens to the side of the Hall. Other groups weeded a long stretch of path laid to brick (recently not a priority task during lockdown); turned over compost heaps; and weeded under laurel hedges. Yes, there was certainly a lot to keep us busy.
Gardener-in-charge Nick had recently purchased a sifting drum over the inter-web and it proved very popular with the volunteers. Shovel-loads of chips were fed into the rotating drum which filtered out dirt and stones of specific sizes, before the cleaned and graded good stuff was recycled back into use. A good section of path was completed, with the in-house volunteers to finish the task later this week.
The other jobs were all but completed too, all with the usual group banter. Who knew that Mandy’s favourite hang-out in her home town of Tenby was the rugby club? We’ve been there too – it’s in the main town, far from any pitches, but has a large function room open to the public. Mandy thought that SSNTV reminded her of the good vibes at the rugby club – nothing to do with the hunky young men obviously!
The day soon came to a close, with Nick’s famous BBQ drawing us in. Having consumed very tasty ‘Hog Roast’ sausages purchased from the local butcher, we said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed off to watch the tennis highlights, or maybe that little football match between England and Italy!
Shropshire and Staffordshire National Trust Volunteers 