On our way down the towpath,we stop at the Wharf and Stefan and I are "volunteered" to be dumped there with two spades, and some 55 trees of various types and sizes. Roy arranges them artistically on the dredged pile, and we are left with instructions to get them planted before we're allowed a tea-break.
We set to work, and luckily the clay-and-soil is in quite nice condition, so it doesn't take us long to get them done. Stefan heroically digs the huge hole needed for the largest one, while I count up the empty pots and locate a few stragglers that were nearly overlooked.
We puff and pant our way down the towpath, hoping that we haven't missed tea break!
Just in time! There's Bob, already swigging, while Doug tells Gwynneth a story.
Stefan has that "time for tea" expression on his face, and little Dmitri is moving fast towards the promise of a hot drink and a bun.
We all settle down to a teabreak, leaving Graham to keep an eye on the bonfire, which has been built against a huge old willow stumo that has defied all efforts to pull it out.
So this is the third bonfire we've had against it, and all that remains now is a hollow shell, which makes a useful safe place for fires.
What's Vic up to - has he found anything to eat?? No, I think he's just been sent up to collect some more tools, possibly the pitchforks, as the bonfire is quickly getting too hot to get close to.
You can see on the right, the big pile of willow branches and trunk sections that were cut down at a previous work party.
Bob and Roy fill up their chainsaws in two-part harmony, getting ready for the job ahead.
Bob tells us the story of his mate who bought a new pair of chainsaw trousers then, the first time he wore them, put the chainsaw through them. Apparently he was upset at the "waste" of £90, until it was pointed out that a pair of false legs would have cost a lot more than that!!
We spend the morning working our way along the hedgerow, pulling out the brushwood that had been stacked there previously, and flinging it onto bonfire heaps.
Looks as though Doug needs a rest?
No wonder Doug needed a sit-down, just look at this huge pile of wood that he's just stacked!
All these big sections of trunk get piled neatly under the hedgerow, for the wildlife to enjoy, while we tend to burn off the majority of the smaller stuff. There's just so much of it: we can't leave it all, or no-one would be able to get down the towpath.
Oh yes, another classic photo of a bonfire.
"Why?" people keep asking "Why do you take so many pics of bonfires?" Dunno, really, but we enjoy them so much, and they do take a lot of time and effort, as they need to be attended pretty much constantly.
Roy says it's time for lunch, but not before we've got Jim down out of the tree....
"What you doing up there, Jim?" we all ask. Several answers come floating down from above, none of which I care to repeat here.
It turns out that the hedgerow clearers were chopping merrily away at the small rubbish, the elder and so on, and they've left a big bit hanging in mid-air. If we don't get it down, it might fall and hurt someone, so Jim's been sent up to get a rope round it.
"Well, get a move on, it's lunch time!"
Whoosh! Down comes the branch. Down comes Jim.
But don't worry, remember we planted fifty-five more trees just this morning. And the trees we planted were a good mixture of deciduous "native" trees, much better than the overwhelming quantity of crack willow and ash.
Having overseen the positioning of the safety rope, Roy takes the first bite out, while Bob and Dmitri stand and admire. In the far distance, Mike and John take the strain.
Roy sets to, to reduce the fallen tree to small enough pieces that they can be safely moved away by the rest of us.
Bob, meanwhile, starts chopping up the brushwood, ready for it to be taken over to the second bonfire position,
which is being built up at the base of yet another old willow stump that needs removing.
By this time, James and Jill have arrived (we searched Jill's pockets, but she didn't have any sweeties this time, drat!) and they are set to work to get the new bonfire going. In case you're wondering, we'd pretty much run out of stuff to burn, back at the first one.
In case you'd ever wondered, there is a knack to making a good bonfire: if you stack the branches up in the typical indian wigwam formation, it takes a long time to get it going, and you end up with an empty 'ole in the middle. Rather, you should lay the branches on in parallel formation.
Jim's not too happy with the way it was built, so he's rearranging the branches, to make it burn better.
From the left, there's Jill, Jim and Stefan, and Malcy about to fling a big armful on to it.
Roy has sliced the knobbly bits away from the trunk, but his chainsaw is getting a bit blunt after so much work, so Vic has a go with the sledgehammer, to see if he can shift it.
To everyone's amazement, the stubby bit snaps off! Well done, Vic!
Roy has another go at the other part of the stump, and his chainsaw valiantly carves a few more notches in it.
"Right!" says Roy, "Vic, you 'it it again. Don't tickle it, 'it it!"
Vic does his best, but it won't budge.
He hands the sledgehammer over to the next person: "Go on Malcy, you have a go!"
But it still won't go!
So Roy prays once more to the chainsaw god, and tries to get a clear cut underneath the stump.
Phew, that's that done, and not a moment too soon, as both chainsaws are in need of a rest!
However, now the towpath is wide enough to get the digger safely along it, which was the purpose of today's clearance work.
And finally, just as I'm about to pack up and go home for the day, what's this?
Jim's up another tree!
This time there's a slight technical hitch, some keen person has sawn off all the sticky-out branches, so he can't get up, and there's some slight doubt as to whether he can get down again....
So I leave him up there, in the fond hopes that they'll find a way to get him safely back on the ground before the next work party!