Tarmac volunteers in the Yorkshire Dales

Employees spend a day surveying new woodland with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust

EMPLOYEES from Tarmac sites across the Yorkshire Dales have taken part in a day’s volunteering with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT). The volunteers undertook general site maintenance at Swinesett Hill, a new woodland located in Gayle, just outside Hawes, and near the iconic Pennine Way.

The day was spent surveying young trees, helping the landowner prepare for any replanting required this winter. This involved marking trees that had not survived, straightening tree guards and weeding, where required, to help the young woodland to flourish.

Swinesett Hill is a native broadleaf woodland with a sweeping vista across much of Wensleydale and beyond. Around 13,000 trees have been planted at the site including sessile oak, rowan, holly, birch, alder, and willow. The woodland stretches across much of the fell to provide a vital habitat for wildlife and create interest in the landscape. When mature, this 11ha woodland will be a valuable home for black grouse and red squirrels, both of which can be found in the local area.

Sarah Hodgson, development manager at YDMT, said: ‘It was good to welcome Tarmac and their volunteers out to Swinesett Hill. They were a fantastic group to work with and got a lot of work done. It’s great to be able to get willing volunteers out into the Dales with us to carry out some vital woodland maintenance work to help young trees thrive.’

Steven Curtin, area operations manager at Tarmac, said: ‘The team at Tarmac had an enjoyable day supporting YDMT with the important work they do to protect the national park. The partnership with YDMT is something we are very proud to be involved with and we are looking forward to taking part in more volunteering activities throughout the year.’

Tarmac are in their third year of a 10-year partnership with Clapham-based Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, which will see the education and development of 2,500 people and the completion of 7,700 hours of volunteering. So far, 5,400 trees have also been planted across the Yorkshire Dales through Tarmac’s support.

In previous years, groups have taken part in removing hundreds of redundant tree tubes form Bargh Wood, near Stainforth, along with undertaking tree maintenance at Pasture Wood, in Grassington, and tree planting at The Hawes Woodland, Settle.