Dragons Teeth - 2005.

An early start for the group and apologies to any neighbours to the site who had their Saturday morning disturbed at 8.30am.

As a weekend lie in bed myself, I had to explain the concept to the more active members of the group who seem to rise about 6am.

We needed the JCB to dig the 20+ holes for us.

This saved us months of hard work as the area has a lot of impacted concrete and gravel from the creation of the original road.

Our thanks to Eric Kirton, one of our longest serving members at the time and occasional helper stil many years later. His incredible network of contacts allows us access to such facilities.

We still managed to wear our selves out with the usual levels of physical effort.

The willow tree posts were 6 foot in length.

They came from earlier projects working at the Willow Holt and show our continued focus on recycled and natural materials.

We needed the JCB to dig the holes deep enough to plant the posts vertically.

The depth guarantees a firm base for the post and their own thickness should see this work lasting 10 to 15 years.

The process is ancient and entirely physical.
Plant the post in and impact soil around it to hold it straight and steady.
Repeated hammering with a rod to the soil at the base of the post ensures it is firmly seated.

Tony and Dave provided the muscle and expertise. Ed and Jez then assisted them by refilling the holes.

No concrete, no science, just knowledge of simple techniques and brute force.

We suprised ourselves with the speed and ease that the posts could be planted and the holes refilled.

The whole exercise was complete in under 3 hours.

Finish is an important part of any task we undertake.

We finish by slanting a cut into the post to create the distinctive Drangons Teeth shape and reduce the size of the post to under 2 foot.

This leaves a finished barrier high and firm enough to discourage car parking, tall enough to allow for undergrowth not to hide them and slanted to discourage Children from playing on them.

Liz then adding the final touches, returning all soil off the path and the sweeping the roadway clear. A well presented site, with a new feature added, is always a goal of the group.

The final line of Dragons Teeth creates a rustic and recycled barrier to discourage car parking.

This allows the daffodills and snowdrops, planted earlier in the year with the Village Brownies, a chance to come through.

In time this strip of land, following further planting, provided an attractive entrance way to the Ponds area.

F.R.E.G are committed to continual seasonal planting and will slowly manage this previously unused strip of land to become an attractive welcome.

Cars are now guided to the car parks later in the site.


Our Ponds proposal continued this work, guiding visitors to the site whilst protecting its beauty.