Were you walking on the Edge last Sunday? Workday leader David explains the origin of the thick clouds of smoke at times obscuring the views on the ridge:
For the last workday before Christmas SSNTV was back at Kinver, which during these Covid-restricted times has become a very regular work place. We worked near the top of the Edge a few yards down from the toposcope on the site of the Iron Age hill fort. A new interpretation board has been placed near the main path, which explains to the public what is literally under their feet, in case they should miss it. But to date the extensive gorse cover has prevented visitors from seeing across the fort site to the earthwork rampart at the far end. To enable visitors to see right across the site and to help their understanding, our task was to remove a section of gorse to open up a view. There would be plenty of gorse left to provide cover for wildlife and to add colour when in flower.
Although gorse thorns are very sharp our gauntlets made it possible to tackle this prickly beast. The cuttings were burned in the tumbril. But unfortunately gorse creates thick, noxious smoke which the breeze took towards the toposcope, meaning that the many visitors out walking and enjoying the views didn’t hang around for very long! Enough smoke too, for ranger Ewan to pre-warn Fire Control to avoid any unintended false alarms.




After much hard work, we were all pleased with the dramatic results of our efforts. This had the desired effect of making the far rampart much more prominent from the information board viewing point. Considering how much rain there has been recently, we were lucky that the weather was reasonably bright and warm, in the sun at least.
The developing view… Last one for the day!
The views from this section of the Edge are extensive and are part of the appeal of this worksite – creating a feeling of space and big skies (also helping us to keep to necessary Covid requirements for space and the like). Although the Malverns weren’t very clear it was possible to distinguish the Clents, Bredon Hill and the distant Cotswolds towards the south-east, while to the west the Sedgley-Rowley ridge was prominent.
Head Ranger Ewan stayed with us to supervise and help with the work. It was incredible to find out that when conditions are favourable, such as at times of drought, the circular outline of some of the Iron Age dwellings can still be seen in the ground. There must be some interesting archaeology still to discover on that part of the Edge.
Ewan also explained that the longhorn cattle which now graze around the site, have gone down to their home farm, on lower land for the winter. When they were introduced a couple years ago some visitors weren’t happy to see the cattle. But no doubt as a result of the positive efforts of the NT staff, people have been won over and now the animals are a popular attraction in their own right. Each year however a small portion of the herd are sold for their wonderful heather-reared meat. This provides a bonus for Ewan he explained, as some of that meat is going to be the centre piece of his Christmas Day dinner this year!