Website Report for September 2008

For those living in the North East, September 2008 will not be forgotten for some considerable time and that includes the band of volunteers who work in Holywell Dene. All started so well during the first few days of the month, allowing the volunteers to have their last session of strimming path side vegetation. On the same day they cleared the water gate (just in case the water level should rise; what a laugh in retrospect) and attacked the bindweed which was still managing to climb among the trees the Group had planted some years ago near the stepping stones.

Then the weekend rain came and all the plans for the month were put on hold.

Flooding in the Dene has been seen before but usually a contributing factor has been a very high spring tide. This time it was nothing but continuous heavy rain falling on already saturated ground: the photographs above and below give an indication of the water near its peak. All were taken at the stone bridge on the road to Hartley West Farm, mainly due to the fact that the paths on either side of the Burn going upstream had become impassable to people, even those in Wellington boots.

The meadow was underwater, the water gate had almost disappeared and, looking downstream, the normal three metre wide Burn had turned into a proper river.

Using the bridge as a guide, the dept of water going under the bridge was estimated to be around 2.5 metres, whereas normally it is about .25 metres.

The three days of rain caused havoc along the whole length of the Dene. River banks were washed away and the Group counted eleven trees and large bushes that had been affected, some being uprooted from river banks while others lost major limbs or just succumbed to the weight of rain: luckily only five actually blocked the paths. As soon as the rain stopped and the water level dropped, enough to allow safe passage, the Group inspected the whole Dene and started work.

The first priorities were to clear gullies, which had been either overwhelmed or blocked, and to clear a passage through fallen trees which were blocking rights of way.

The blocked gullies were a particular problem and continued to be tackled throughout the month as the flow of water was so great that often they required two or three attempts at unblocking before things were anywhere near back to normal.

However all the footpaths were semi-cleared within a few days allowing access, albeit with some restrictions i.e. having to duck under a main tree trunk which was across the path at waist height was, and still is, one restriction.

When the water level finally dropped to allow access to the Burn itself, the volunteers started the major task of trying to get a free flow of water passed the numerous blockages. With the tree shown in the picture above, the Group worked with North Tyneside Council, which responded in excellent time to our plea, and now there is a free flow of water passed the remains of the tree, albeit towards one side of the Burn.

Another major blockage was eventually cleared by the Group without help but other blockages remain a problem and will require a tractor and winch to get the big logs out. Needless to say the amount of litter of all descriptions, in and amongst the blockages, was indescribable.

In the middle of the month, having cleared the footpaths and while waiting for the water to subside, the volunteers turned their hands to other work. The plan was to respond to visitors requests and put in two more strategically placed bench seats.

These seats, created from recycled timber, are FoHD’s compromise between those visitors who want picnic tables and those who want no seats or tables. The morning’s work started but as the first one was being finished the heavens opened and the volunteers were soon saturated. The following week the work was completed.

One final update concerns the path subsidence which was extensively reported last month. The Coal Authority, having completed their investigation, left the site reporting that the subsidence was not caused by mining activity. Northumbrian Water then levelled the area with more gravel and also left the site. Then came the notorious weekend of rain and the subsidence hole reappeared. The unanswered question is where has all that gravel gone?