Monthly Archives: July 2016

Why I volunteer


There are plenty of trees in Ashridge from which to choose a favourite.  I found my latest favourite through helping with Archaeological Monitoring and the Veteran Tree Survey. For both of these projects I have been exploring Northchurch Common, and … Continue reading

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1940 London comes to Ashridge.


ITV have commissioned a major eight part drama series – The Halcyon from Left Bank Pictures. An eight part sixty minute drama telling the story of a bustling and glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society, with … Continue reading

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Walk 10.30 am 03/08/2016 from Tring Natural History Musuem car park.


We meet at the Tring Natural History Museum car park at 10.30am on Wednesday 3rd August (OS Explorer 181, ref: 925109). The walk takes us through Tring Park and along the Icknield Way past Hastoe, Pavis Wood and then descends … Continue reading

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Breaking news – Trump crashes into the Beacon


The Beacon produced some interesting litter this weekend in the form of three polystyrene planes one of which belonged to a Mr Trump. They were not up to the job, became damaged and left behind.  

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Painting in the Park


Ten members of the Thursday group took up their paint rollers to maintain the metal Park fence at Little Gaddesden, last painted many years ago. In the 1800’s much of the Park was enclosed with this type of fencing, and … Continue reading

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Garden Visit


Some twenty volunteers attended the garden visit at Ashridge House last Wednesday, along with Lawrence and Bob representing the Trust – the immediate neighbours. Ashridge House relies upon the goodwill of the Trust to secure the various vistas from the … Continue reading

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Volunteers’ Coffee Morning


Babs had the bright idea of inviting all volunteers to a get-together at Hill Farm last Monday morning. Some twenty people attended from all the different volunteer groups, spending an hour talking over points of interest. This was an attempt … Continue reading

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Princess Anne’s Plantation – part III


Some lovely shots of Clipper Down and Pitstone Hill on a summer’s day. On Thursday the team were removing more of the wire netting from the redundant fence line, but the gate posts proved to be immovable. Clipper Down is … Continue reading

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Making charcoal


How to make charcoal – easy peasy! The charcoal burner’s trade secrets were handed down from one generation to the next, and charcoal fired the early Industrial Revolution until it was replaced by coke. As a woodland industry it started … Continue reading

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Helping the flora


Ashridge supports a number of rare flowers, mainly on the chalk downland like the fleawort and early gentian. However there is one rarity which hides away in the deep shade of the beech woods – the violet helleborine. Harding’s Rookery is … Continue reading

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