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From training to job hunting

Photo by Joe Edwards

From frosty days to chainsaws and heathlands, Joe reflects on his traineeship in this final blog...
A group of people are backlit in a misty woodland

A cold start to the day by Joe Edwards

It's a very rainy January. I can hardly believe that there was a time when we were sweltering in the heat on these nature reserves, seeking shade wherever we could. Still, a stark beauty reveals itself in the misty forests with a darker, more subtle palette of colours. There are also hints of spring in the undergrowth, as bright green shoots poke their heads out from under the deep ochre of leaf litter and dead bracken. I have a moustache now, following a successful Movember campaign, which raised £380 for men's health. I've promised to keep it until February...

I returned after Christmas straight into one of the most intense courses of our traineeship - the felling training. Over three days we have trained under Pete's supervision to learn how to safely fell trees and how to resolve any problems that might occur. This includes getting trees down when they get hung up on other trees on the way down, or releasing a trapped saw when the tree sits on the bar during cutting. 

A man in high vis protective clothing and a helmet is crouching behind a newly felled tree stump and smiling at the camera

There's a lot that goes into cutting down a tree, before you even start making the classic face cut you've seen in the cartoons. Firstly, you need to determine how your tree leans and whether it will be safe to simply fell it in that direction. This will determine what sort of felling cut you then need to make. After that, you need to clear the area of anything that might get in the way while you make your cuts, especially in the 'safe zones' either side of the tree's felling direction. Then you can prep the trunk of the tree for your cuts; this might also reveal potential problems (like rot) that you need to account for in your felling.

We have had plenty of practice on the cuts using previously felled trunks. Once Pete had seen that we were comfortable doing these, we were able to try our hand at felling some birch trees that need thinning in Chaddesley Woods. Every trainee got the opportunity to fell trees using a variety of methods. The stress of undertaking potentially dangerous work for the first time was heightened by the audience of other trainees watching while you did it! Under Pete's calm tutelage, we all managed to safely fell our trees and unsnag when they got caught in the canopy. 

Outside of the chainsaw practice, I've also had more opportunities to lead working parties. At The Devil's Spittleful I led the group while we cleared an area of birch and shrub; some of the birch went to feed the giraffes at the West Midlands Safari Park. I also joined the Heathland Grazing Forum organised by Andy Harris. This was a great opportunity to network with other organisations in the area while we discussed the opportunities and challenges that arise from using livestock to manage the heathland reserves across the county.  

Two people installing gate posts in a woodland - one is holding a post steady and the other is backfilling the hole whilst pausing to smile at the camera

Trainees installing gate posts by Beth Norris

This is my last blog post of the traineeship. It's gone by in the blink of an eye, as everyone said it would. It's time to start planning my next move! Thankfully, Catharine (previous trainee and now an assistant ecologist) has supported us with the job hunt, helping us identify appropriate job roles, how to reflect on our own skills in relation to the postings and how to make our applications stand out from the crowd. I'm still not sure which direction I would like to take this work after the traineeship but I am hugely grateful that I had the opportunity to work alongside such a great group of trainees, in such wonderful parts of the county, doing work that supports the natural environment that is so important to us all. 

 

Joe has left a career in NHS management to gain practical skills to care for wildlife reserves with the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. 

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