The big old Crack Willow adjacent to the Ken Barrett Hide finally gave up the ghost last week in the rain, wind and snow and one of the huge limbs broke away from the main trunk and almost came over the path.
On Wednesday a team of guys from Keith Archer's Tree Care descended upon it in an effort to tidy things up, make it safe and hopefully give it a chance to regrow from the base in the spring.
Before
After
Quite a difference. The fallen limb has been completely removed and all the brash and logs chopped up into pieces and piled up to make a superb hibernaculum. The growth to the right is the still healthy horizontal limb with lots of nice offshoots while the big pale stump in the middle is all that is left of the main trunk which was amazingly rotten and could now be a superb spot for some interesting insects in the spring and summer!
20-1-17