rox wrote:Acclimatising for Glasgow already! I didn't make it back this weekend, but I have your present ready to bring back next weekend. I spent Saturday pm on a very very cold indoor range, but fortunately the kit facilitated rather quicker shot release than my usual.
Hi Bob,
Check out Chris Watson's FB page for pics (I've shared.) I'll stick the cash in your account after SCATT this evening.
I've heard rumours that they're going to cut the remaining trees on the left back at some point and take the ones on the right back too. Should make the range a little more even-handed.
A busy week for the estate staff and their chainsaws. Also, armed with the new CEOs experience, we hired in a gigantic mulching machine - a sort of cross between a bulldozer and an elephant (trees in the front, processed stuff out the back) - which turned all the scrubby stuff into a layer of bits that I'm told will rot fairly rapidly. The deer are loving the result. Nick and Alan and the rest of the estates staff have also done a lot of less obvious work round Stickledown butt reducing the potential for fire damage. Now that it's been cleared, keeping it in order will be a much smaller regular task.
We have already got rid of a couple of trees on our side of the Danger Area fence to improve the sightlines to the flags from the edges of the firing points. Once I have marked up the trees that need to go for that reason on both sides, those will be the next ones out.
As somebody said, there is an intention to thin the wood behind the Melville stop butt, and to look at some harvesting of the mature pines on the other side. That may be a way in the future.
And we are recovering some of the cost by selling the timber.
Many thanks to 33 EOD Regt who walked the ground to deal with any UXO that was turned up. I understand that they were not required, but the work couldn't have been done without them.
IainWR wrote:Many thanks to 33 EOD Regt who walked the ground to deal with any UXO that was turned up. I understand that they were not required, but the work couldn't have been done without them.
Kudos to 33 EOD. The response from TR shooters is broadly positive so far, with the occasional (not always serious) whinge.