Maydencroft Weekly summary 10/11/25 - 14/11/25
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 place, nailed and tied the fabric in a loop around the stakes, placed strimmer guards, then finally mulched the base of the tree in woodchip. We repeated this process all day so I would say I have come to grips with it now, maybe except the tieing fabric part. I also had experience working with other contractors apart from Maydencroft as their were people working on the water system on the site too and we needed to sign forms before we could begin as we did not have access cards.
Day 2: Maintaining previously planted whips on the Watford site
Journal Entry 12-11-25:
Today I visited the same Affinity Water site in Watford and had to experience the aforementioned challenges that came with that site, such as working around other contractors, adhering to stricter site rules (such as always wearing a hard hat), having to sign in etc. We didn't do any planting today, rather it was maintaining the whips on site, removing brambles, sawing and secateuring a large Holly bush which had massively overgrown into the site from a neighbouring garden as well as a rose bush, picking nettles and various weeds. Subsequently we mulched the whips, until we ran out, to give them a fighting chance by helping them conserve moisture and nutrients, improve soil health and suppress the weeds. I would say it is a massive improvement for the site from yesterday as those whips were in very poor shape beforehand.
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| While I do not have a 'Before' for this 'After', you can compare it to the previous entry's images and note how much messier and overgrown this row inparticular looks. |
Journal Entry 13-11-25:
Today we were at the Cockfosters Water Tower on an Affinity Water site. We were tasked with laying 45 whips along a chainlink fence to the right of the site entrance and a tree in the middle of the grass area. Before we could start we had to wait and just pull some weeds and lpng grass until Barry arrived from Windsor with the Whips, Plastic, Bamboo, Tree, Bark and a Cable Avoidance Tool as some cables ran almost directly under where the whips were to be planted, albeit much deeper than the half spade depth we were planting them at. For the whips we did three on the back row, two on the front with both rows about 1 foot apart so there would be 5 whips every metre in an L-shape along the fence. Initially I found it difficult digging deep enough for the roots but I got into it as I went along. This was also where I discovered that the soil was absolutely abysmal. There were bricks, flints, plastic waste etc all just beneath the surface from when this was a building site in the past and it hindered the whole process immensely. After placing the whips and covering them back up with soil, we started placing the plastic tubes around them all. There are t methods for this. If the whip is straight, the tube can be slid over the top, if it has limbs that go outward and split off, the tube must be unrolled and placed around the whip. Subsequently, we then placed bamboo stakes in the tubes and hammered some of the looser ones in, then we mulched the whips and back of the fence with bark chips afterward. Then we moved on to the tree plantig, where digging the hole was the longest part of the process again because of flints, bricks and waste as well as the clayish quality to the soil. After that it was much the same as two days prior in planting. We placed the irrigation pipe, cut open the tree's bag, spread the roots and decompacted the soil, placed the tree in the hole, filled in the hole with soil, placed both stakes and knocked them in the ground until they were firmly in, tied fabric around them while nailing it in and then finally mulched it up and removed the tags... phew. Today was the culmination of pretty much all I had learned this week. From driving the Hilux into London at rush hour, dealing with working with other contractors, signing four forms befire I could get started on site, planting whips/ planting trees etc. I'm glad I have been able to go farther afield than Letchworth this week and learn about tree and whip planting. The introduction to CAT scanners too was interesting as I'd never seen one in-person before.
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| This hole was incredibly difficult to dig, you can see all the flint and debris on the pile next to it, of course nobody suggested it to me in the morning before going but apparantly a Chisel or Wrecking bar would have been easier than using a Narrow Spade. |
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| The final result |
Overall, this has probably been my most unique of weeks so far, with the activities undertaken and locations visited. I do wish however, I would have more opportunities to use the petrol powered tools as I feel I need more experience with them, especially Lawnmowers and Strimmers. I also want to learn the company procedure for refilling and synthesising fuels on the job rather than ttrying to find someone or always having to ask for help. Nobody has shown me how to do a Ratchet Strap either yet, which I really want to try out.
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