Spike's Countryside Management Blog

This Week (18/11 - 21/11) was set on two separate sites. One day on Terlings Estate - Which has a Veteran Cedar Tree (This one - HERE ) and is covered by all the protections/ maintenance that comes with it. This site was in Harlow and the other outside Potter's Bar by the M25. At Terlings I got practice in using a Pedestrian Mower, Leafblowing and changing Dog Litter bins. On the Potter's Bar site I learned about the sapling tree planting process, how to heel trees into the ground etc. We had a production line on the site: One man with a pointed spade going up the field left to right, opening holes One or two placing trees into holes and heeling them One or two placing in wooden post One knocking posts (who must always be wearing a hard hat) One or two placing on and attaching guards. I tended to jump between roles just so nobody catches up too close or falls too far behind of another step. Mulching the trees was also another step but it was done separately as getting the tree...

 For the three days that I worked this week, I was on Affinity Water sites in the outer London area, undertaking similar tasks each day. Day 1: Removing old/ damaged/ dead amenity trees from an Affinity Water site near Watford. Journal Entry 11-11-25: Today was my first taste of extra responsibility beyond being an apprentice. I was entrusted with keys that are a £10000 fine for losing, to an affinity water site in Watford. Not only that, but I drove there and directed the team until a colleague named Barry arrived from Windsor with the trees we were planting. We were replacing other trees that had died so first we dug them up with spades, cast the old trees aside, removed the stakes, made a hole big enough for the new trees, while leaving the irrigation pipes intact for the new trees, buried the new trees, covered the new trees in soil, stripped the stakes of the nails and roll of fabric previously used to tie the tree in place, used a post knocker to put the stakes back into pl...

 Journal entries:  My first week at Maydencroft was spent entirely doing maintenance around Letchworth Garden City for the Letchworth Heritage foundation. This involved 4 main activities: Litterpicking, Leafblowing, Strimming and Hedgecutting. Many of the jobs involved maintaining alleyways or car parks around the town doing one of the previously mentioned activities. Here are some examples: 28-10-2025 Before After 30-10-2025: With this site I did both strimming and blowing, I tried as much as it was in my power to not let debris get into either of the properties beside the alleyway. Before After For the whole week I was driving for an employee who had been at the company for many years but could not drive so I needed to practice getting the feel for an Isuzu Grafter before leaving the yard in the morning, which was daunting at first, considering I have only ever driven a Ford KA, I am getting to grips with it now though. Reversing and lack of visibility are my main points of ...

 This post is going to explore a bit about the Health and Safety procedure which I have been introduced to in my first week at Maydencroft. This ranges from PPE to procedure and actions to take in case of an incident and also training we have been given. PPE:   Here is the PPE I have recieved since starting at Maydencroft This is the safety helmet that I recieved upon starting, it also has built in ear-defenders and a visor for protecting the face from debris, for me this comes in most helpfully for leafblowing, strimming or hedgecutting. Many of my colleagues opt to have each part separately so they can mix and match for tasks where you may not need a hard hat or ear defenders for example. My pair of Site workboots. Safety features include: Steel toe caps, Penetration-proof soles, Anti-static soles and reinforced heels. One should not work without them under any circumstances. 2 Sets of work gloves, a waterproof more insulated pair on the left, a more general pair on the righ...