Btcv Handbook Footpaths Holidays
The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Sedum House, Mallard Way, Doncaster DN4 8DB,T83, www.btcv.org. Get fit in the 'green gym', planting hedges, creating wildlife gardens or improving footpaths. Earthwatch, 57 Woodstock Rd. Work on deck on an adventure holiday. National Trust for Scotland.
- In the century just past, many woodlands were neglected, planted with conifers, or cleared for development. There is a great need to re-establish management, particularly in coppice woodlands. This handbook covers the full range of woodland work, from tree planting and establishment, through to thinning and conversion into woodland products.
- BTCV organise conservation projects in and around Greater Manchester providing opportunities for volunteers to participate. Activities include hedge laying, pond renovation, footpath construction, woodland management and more. Week-end and week-long working holidays and a training course.
I first read about the BBC Castaway project in the Guardian. It was pouring with rain and I was stuck in a stuffy office in central London. My mind instantly drifted to tropical beaches, beautiful girls in grass skirts and fresh pineapple. The reality was to be slightly less glamorous and certainly less tropical than my day dreams.
The ferocity of the Outer Hebridean winter soon became apparent, but I was still unsure what to expect from the year ahead. Was it work, or was it a holiday? I had hoped that it would be a mixture, but it didn't take long to realise that it was going to be a very manual year. The physical work was certainly intense, involving farming, fencing, turfing, slaughtering and peat cutting, but it never felt like conventional 9-5 work - after all we were unpaid volunteers working for ourselves and for the principles behind the project, to become self-sufficient.
We used to take holidays from the settlement, which would involve an hour's hike overland to the rather draughty and leaky island bothy. The building was derelict except for a fishing net, hammock and a fireplace. It offered a welcome sanctuary from the community, but even here there was no escape from the physical chores of collecting and chopping driftwood. Hardly surprising then that my mind often drifted back to those initial fantasies of white sandy beaches, tropical rainforests and blistering sunshine.
So it was with some amusement that I recently ended up spending a week cutting back rhododendron and clearing an 18th-century path at Clumber Park in the East Midlands as part of a National Trust Working Holiday.
I had been invited by Land Rover, which provides vehicles that patrol the more than half-a-million acres of countryside, 600 miles of coastline and more than 300 houses and gardens that are owned and maintained by the National Trust, in a partnership called 'Conservation in motion'.
My week was more 'conservation by paying volunteer'. The term 'working holiday' seemed extraordinary. The very fact that these two words could be used in the same breath seemed utterly bonkers, but the promise of communal cooking, cleaning duties, dormitories and shared work aroused my curiosity.
The National Trust portfolio may be impressive, but my image has always been of faded green car stickers, WI meetings, grannies and gardens, and their Working Holidays handbook certainly didn't improve my image: anti-tetanus jabs, steel-capped boots, no alcohol, no smoking, no radios and no dogs. It sounded like a cross between boarding school and my year on Taransay. Scary.
The first decision is what type of working holiday to take. There are a number of options, including: Acorn, for 17- to 60-year-olds; Wildtrack for botanists; Venture for internationals; Archaeological; Oak, for over 35s; and Oak Plus, for over 50s. I opted for the Acorns break.
The working holidays are co-ordinated by two volunteer leaders, who's task is to ensure the 'smooth running' of the week. Christine was my team leader. She introduced herself to me in a cheery letter sent to all volunteers a week before the holiday in which she reminded everyone to bring pillows and towels.
On arrival at base camp, we were assigned to our dormitories, and taken on a tour of our home for the week. In the kitchen, we were met by a table overflowing with delicious homegrown fruit and vegetables: apples, plums, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, potatoes, even grapes. The rest of the week's food was bought by the team leader with an allowance from the National Trust.
The ever-officious assistant leader, Mark, had carefully planned the kitchen duties, while Christine had organised the menu. Teams of two would prepare and cook the evening meal while another team washed up. The week's menu was a mouth-watering collection of home-made recipes: beef casserole, chicken soup, rhubarb crumble and roast lamb, to name some of my favourites.
I was teamed with Alan to cook toad in the hole and apple pie. My 'does it matter that I can't cook?' worries abated that evening with helpful hints and useful instructions ringing out from every corner of the house: 'Make sure you get the oil really hot,' came a cry from the shower room; 'use a little of my French flour, it's wonderful,' came another; 'No, you don't use real toads,' came a shout from the garden. With the home-grown vegetables, a house full of Delia Smiths, and dozens of home-made cakes baked for the week ahead, it soon became apparent that this was no slimmer's holiday.
The day begins early for a holiday. Breakfast at 7.30am, a house tidy up at 8am and then the real work starts at 9am prompt. Andy, the gardener, handed out our tools and explained the weeks 'mission'. Before I could even get my gloves on, half the team were busy cutting, digging and clearing. Mark, a veteran of five working holidays, at once set about starting a bonfire, Clare dug out the turf, and Alan and Margaret started chopping down a dead tree.
There was more energy and enthusiasm going into this than in most paid jobs, and there was joking and laughter - it was like a scene from TV's The Good Life. With sweaty brows, grass-stained knees and cheery smiles, the team chopped and sliced their way through the thick rhododendron, and soon a path had been cleared through the dense brush.
All this hard work brought about more tea breaks. We stopped for tea and cake at 11am and 12pm, then at 1pm for lunch, then again at 3pm, and at 4pm before finishing at 5pm. By the end of the day, I felt like a Chinese tea boat with sore arms and an aching back.
As the day and then the week went on, we learnt a little more about one another and the good-humoured banter really began. Evenings were spent telling jokes and recounting stories around the fire. We discussed the days work and we also learned new things about one another. It turned out that Kieron was a gardener, but my initial outburst of laughter was soon crushed by a total understanding by everyone else as to why a gardener would pay to garden as their holiday. Clare, it transpired, was a policewoman, Alan a bank manager and David was only 17 and working for his Duke of Edinburgh Gold.
All my National Trust stereotypes had been dashed, and I was actually starting to enjoy myself, but I was still intrigued to understand what motivates people to come on this type of holiday. 'A change is as good as a rest,' said Mark, 'and where else could you get a week in a beautiful park, with good food and excellent company?' He said that the most difficult part of the holiday was saying goodbye to your new friends at the end. The fact that more than half of the volunteers return for a second holiday vouches for general satisfaction.
Christine explained that many volunteers come to escape from home or family worries. It offers them a chance to immerse themselves in new company and physical work, and allows them an element of anonymity. The fact that a group of 17- to 60-year-olds can gel and work as such an efficient, happy, enthusiastic team in such a short time, is testament to the success of the scheme.
On Taransay, it took us the best part of the year to become a successful, happy group. It takes some businesses years. It took the National Trust volunteers just a few days. Perhaps the answer lies in incentive: businessmen are paid volunteers. The Castaways were unpaid volunteers. The National Trust were paying volunteers.
'There is no age or sex discrimination. Each person works at their own pace, and we're all terribly friendly,' says Margaret.
I was genuinely sad to leave my new friends with their genuine enthusiasm and their boundless energy. Why can't all work be like this, the good life?
For details of National Trust Working Holidays, where volunteers pay from £27 to help pay for accommodation, tel: 0870 4292429. To request a brochure, call: 0870 4292428, or email: workingholidays@smtpntrust.org.uk, or see nationaltrust.org.uk/volunteers
Other working holidays in Britain
The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
Get fit in the 'green gym' planting hedges, creating wildlife gardens or improving footpaths.
Further information: 36 St Mary's Street, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 OEU (01491 821600, btcv.org).
Earthwatch
Team up with scientists studying the earth, animals and mammals.
Further information: 57 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HJ (01865 318838, earthwatch.org/europe).
Willing Workers On Organic Farms
Get down on the farm, garden or smallholding.
Further information: WWOOF UK, PO Box 2675, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1RB (wwoof.org/wuk0.html).
Jubilee Sailing Trust
Work on deck on an adventure sailing holiday.
Further information: Hazel Road, Woolston, Southampton SO19 7GB (023-8044 9108,jst.org.uk ).
The Youth Hostel Association
Be a warden, improve a footpath, do some decorating.
Further information: Trevelyan House, Matlock, Derbys DE4 3YH (01629 592600, yha.org.uk).
Waterway Recovery Group
Help restore a derelict canal.
Further information: PO Box 114, Rickmansworth WD3 1ZY (01923 711114, wrg.org.uk).
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Be a warden on a reserve.
Further information: Voluntary Wardening Scheme Co-ordinator, The Lodge, Sandy, Beds SG19 2DL (01767 680551, rspb.org.uk).
Cathedral camps
Clean up a stained-glass window or medieval staircase.
Further information: Shelley Bent Bookings Secretary, 16 Glebe Avenue, Flitwick, Beds MK45 1HS (01525 716 237, cathedralcamps.org.uk).
Youth Action for Peace
Camps with kids and community projects.
Further information: YAP UK, 8 Golden Ridge, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9LE (01983 752557, yap-uk.org).
The Woodland Trust
Help plan and make woodland walks.
Further information: Autumn Park, Grantham, Lincs NG31 6LL (01476 581111, woodland-trust.org.uk).
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If the idea of learning new skills and meeting like-minded people while staying in a beautiful location appeals, then what about signing up for a working holiday with a conservation organisation? The minimum age is usually 18, though the National Trust also offers working holidays specifically for people aged over 35 and over 50.
Prices include food (you may be expected to help with the cooking) and accommodation, which can vary from campsites to well-equipped field centres and even Victorian mansions. Flights, where applicable, cost extra. Group sizes typically start at around 10 to 12 people with a couple of supervisors - either volunteers or professionals in their field. Bear in mind that the work can sometimes be fairly demanding, and that you may only have one day off per week - check the levels of fitness required before you book.
The following UK and European holidays all have spaces available this autumn. They range from a weekend of clearing woodland on the Cliveden Estate in Buckinghamshire at £32 per person to nearly £700 for a week monitoring wolves and bears in Slovakia.
Footpaths in Argyll (September 11-18). Work on the 14,000 acres of land around Glencoe, helping to maintain footpaths and manage woodland, with accommodation in Achnacon Bothy, a former wool store with a wood-burning stove and communal kitchen. £60 per person through the National Trust for Scotland (see box below for contact details).
Carnivores in Slovakia (September 11-19). Observe and help protect wolves and bears in the Carpathian Tatra mountains, which are also home to lynx, wild boar, red deer and chamois. Accommodation is in forest lodges. From £679 per person (excluding flights) through BTCV.
Archaeology in Perthshire (September 11-24). Learn excavation techniques by joining a team working on a large medieval farmstead complex on the southern slopes of Ben Lawers above Loch Tay, supervised by four professional archaeologists. £100 per person through the National Trust for Scotland.
Gardens in Tyne and Wear (September 12-19). Help restore the 18th-century landscaped gardens of the Gibside Estate near Newcastle-upon-Tyne by recording plant species on the site before the area is cleared. Camping is provided within the estate's walled garden. £60 per person through the National Trust.
Dinosaurs in Yorkshire (September 14-19). Join palaeontologist Martin Whyte to build up a record of dinosaur prints and tracks along the Cleveland coastline, staying in mid-range accommodation. £285 per person through Earthwatch.
Otters in Wiltshire (September 16-19). Search for otters (in decline since the 1950s) along the riverbanks, assess the impact that they will have on local fisheries and build an artificial holt (den), staying in self-catering lodges provided at the Cotswold Water Park. £155 per person through Earthwatch.
Fruit-picking in Aberdeenshire (September 20-27). Help harvest two tons of fruit for an end-of-season sale at the 17th-century gardens at Pitmedden and take part in the annual Apple Day event on September 26. This project is open to volunteers aged over 50. Accommodation is at a residential centre in Monymush. £70 per person through the National Trust for Scotland.
Wetlands in Bavaria (September 20-October 4). Clear scrub, dig ponds and restore bogs at Lake Ammersee, with the opportunity to sample beer and food at the Munich Oktoberfest. Accommodation is in dormitories at a converted villa. £385 per person (excluding flights) through BTCV.
Woodlands in Dumfriesshire (September 25-October 2). Clear woods of gorse, bracken and sycamore on the 1,500-acre Threave Estate and Trust-owned land at Rockcliffe village and Venniehill. Accommodation is provided at the Carlingwark Outdoor Centre in Castle Douglas. £60 per person through the National Trust for Scotland.
Cleaning in Carmarthenshire (September 30-October 6). Paint equipment and clean, oil and grease machinery and railway stock in the wooded hillsides of the Dolaucothi Estate in the Cothi Valley, site of a Roman gold mine. Footpath maintenance and general estate work will also be required, with accommodation in a self-contained flat for six people above the Dolaucothi Arms Hotel. £60 per person through the National Trust.
Planting in Buckinghamshire (October 1-3). Plant trees, clear laurel and remove scrub on the chalk grassland of the 370-acre Cliveden Estate overlooking the River Thames, staying at the Slinden base camp. £32 per person through the National Trust.
Restoration in Italy (October 4-13). Stay near the Umbrian hilltop town of Spoleto in a renovated stone farm cottage and help rejuvenate the grounds of the Villa Pianciani Delizia. £575 per person (including a cooking lesson) through BTCV.
Footpath Holidays Uk
Gardening in Buckinghamshire (October 9-16). Assist in the 'changing the season' work at Waddesden Manor by preparing the ground and planting bulbs for next spring. £60 per person through the National Trust.
Coppicing in Wales (October 9-16). Help maintain the 1,200 acres of woodland owned by the Trust in the Brecon Beacons, staying at the Brecon base camp. £60 per person through the National Trust.
Tree work in Ross-shire (October 9-17). Work at Corrieshalloch Gorge and at the Laide and Aultbea community woodland on a variety of jobs. Stay at the Sail Mhor Croft Hostel at Dundonnell (visit www.sailmhor.co.uk for further details). £60 per person through the National Trust for Scotland.
Designing in Northampton (October 15-17). Design a storytelling area using natural materials in Bradlaugh Fields. The Barn (an education and interpretation centre) has mid-range accommodation provided for volunteers. £45 per person through BTCV.
Btcv Handbook Footpaths Holidays 2017
Hedging in Somerset (October 16-23). Become involved with a range of tasks on the Holnicote Estate and in the Quantock Hills, including hedge planting and maintaining footpaths. £60 per person through the National Trust.
Footpaths in Fife (October 16-23). Stay at the Hill of Tarvit and help improve access to the estate grounds through maintenance work on a network of footpaths, staying at cottages on the estate. £50 per person per week through the National Trust for Scotland.
Wetlands in North Lincolnshire (October 22-24). Clear reeds at the waterways and wetlands of Waters Edge, a recently created country park and local nature reserve. Simple accommodation is provided for volunteers. £50 per person through BTCV.
Drain-clearing in Perthshire (October 22-29). Surface paths and help with drainage work at one of five Trust properties, including Killiecrankie and the Hermitage, all within either the Loch Tummel or River Tay National Scenic Areas. Stay at the Stanley Nairne Centre at Dalguise. £50 per person with the National Trust for Scotland.
Fencing in Aberdeenshire (October 24-31). Construct a willow blower and wattle fences to enclose raised borders in the 17th-century section of the garden of historic roses at Drum Castle. Stay at The Sir Arthur Grant Residential Centre at Monymush. £50 per person per week through the National Trust for Scotland.
Contact details
BTCV (01302 572244; www.btcv.org). Earthwatch (01865 318831; www.earthwatch.org/europe). The National Trust (0870 429 2429; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/volunteers). The National Trust for Scotland (0131 243 9470; www.nts.org.uk).