Panshanger Tree Guards and Surveying 27/11 - 28/11

For Thursday and Friday last week I was sent to Panshanger Park primarily to help out with assembling and securing Treeguards in the park, the Trees in question were planted as part of a stewardship scheme the Park was participating in so it was especially important that they were well presented. I assume I was sent there to help keep the task progressing as some of the park staff were doing a two day long spraying course. Nonetheless, it was interesting experience that made me understand the process from beginning to end.

The process for the Treeguards went as such: 

1. Assemble Tree Guard panels in a field with a frontloader and unwrap them.
2. Place 3 panels in a circle and then use three sets of Nuts, Bolts and Washers to join each panel
3. Go down in 3 columns from where you started, the panels will align better if you do all 3 nuts before moving down to the next three
4. Once 12 Nuts have been placed, secure them tightly with a Wrench and Drill with a Bolt Socket attatchment
5. Once the guards form a circle, place the guard on its side and secure the three feet with two sets of washer, bolts and nuts each and then drill/ wrench them in also
6. Once the guard is fully assembled, have it raised over a tree with a frontloader and a strap, while making sure it is central and none of the branches are damaged
7. Align the Guard
8. Use a jackhammer to securely bury the spiked feet of the guard in the ground
9. Use a sledgehammer to make final adjustments and spirit level to make sure it is level

Unassembled Tree Guards in the Panshanger Yard. I used some of the skills accquired from the online Banksman course I did last week to guide the Frontloader fork under the Pallets containing disassembled Guards.

One cluster of completed and placed Tree Guards - these five are the closest together. The rest were in twos and threes generally

The same trees as above, just a closer view

I also assisted with other smaller tasks around the park, such as using a map and going around to confirm how many more trees need guards with one of the rangers. It was quite difficult to orientate myself at first but when I knew which way North was, it became significantly easier. I also assisted with more maneuvering when we were trying to move a Hay bale from the courtyard to the cattleshed, becuase of the cramped space and its positioning behind a brickwall it had to be done very slowly with deliberateness in each step. It's important to place obstacles for the tractor in a place where they won't get in the way and also position oneself where the driver can see them but also be so they are not in the way.

I also had to do much more unlocking and locking gates than I usually would have to as much of the park is restricted to vehicles, it doesn't sound very important but it was definitely an introduction of sorts to the different types of access in the country such as Footpath (Pedestrian and Mobility Scooters), Bridleway (Pedestrian, Mobility Scooters, Horseback and Bikes), Restricted Byway (Pedestrian, Mobility Scooters, Horseback, Bikes and Horsedrawn Carriage) and Byway (Pedestrian, Mobility Scooters, Horseback, Bikes, Horsedrawn Carriage, two wheel automobile, four wheel automobile)

I assume most of the park is considered Bridleway because cars are restricted by gates that are locked at the end of many roads, but I have definitley seen cyclists around most the park also.

 

Journal Entry 27-11-25:

Today was my first day at Panshanger as a paid employee of Maydencroft. I worked with two people based in the park as the others I arrived with had to do a sprayer course. Tony, Adam and I spent today placing 10 metal Tree Guards for young Pine trees. The process involved: Tony carrying a pallet of Tree Guards on a front loader down from the yard while Adam and I took a Hilux. We used a front loader and strap with loops at both ends to position the guard above the tree, then adjusted by hand. After that we used a jackhammer to firmly place the bolted on feet of the Guard in the ground and then evened it out with a sledgehammer, using a plank with a spirit level going over the top. We did about 10 of these today mostly around Pines and 1 Oak

Journal Entry 28-11-25:

For the first half of my day today I assembled more metal tree guards at Panshanger park. The process was fairly straightforward. Take 3 panels off the pallet, line them up, place in 3 Nuts, Bolts and Washers in the 3 holes at the top and then go down in horizontal rows, going around the guard rather than down 1 vertical row at a time. After around 12 nuts/ bolts/ washers are in - you secure 3 feet on to the guard which requires two bolts to secure. You then use a drill to tighten the nuts, bolts and washers in and after that it's completed. After assembling around 6 or 7 guards, we then lowered 3 onto trees using a strap and a front loader. Some of my banksman training that I did recently came in handy in helping lowering the guards on to the trees with hand signals.

After spending the first half of the day on Tree Guards again, I then went on to do various other tasks around Panshanger. I did some surveying and map reading with Adam to find which trees in the section of the park we were in required guards and which didn't. I also helped Adam and Tony with moving bales for the cattle on site too, more guiding of the tractor- a lot of opening and closing gates, as well as attending to some dog waste bins.