After waiting a few months the new signs for the stone cairn had been delivered during the week – so installing them became the major task for the volunteer workday.

We had to remove the temporary cement from where the signs were to be located on the cairn and fix the panels securely and invisibly to the structure. Four of us set about this task while a couple more volunteers went off round the area in search of litter – they didn’t have to look very far and at the end of the day had collected eight bags of rubbish.

Father and son team, Rob and Sam, were set the job of breaking down the bracken which is so fast growing it is threatening to choke the seedlings we have planted to form the new hedgerows. They did a great job and cleared a great deal of bracken from the new fence across the eroded slope by the end of the day. We hope we can get a few more volunteers next time for this task because it is an essential job to ensure the success of the planting we carried out last winter.

We were hoping to do some repair work to the floating paths on the top of the Tump, but unfortunately we ran out of time and energy – it was a very hot sunny day and although it was very enjoyable to work on the mountain top – it was also quite energy sapping. Fortunately Maggie stepped up to prepare our many cups of tea and biccies – she even managed to make a few quid selling refreshments to other visitors to the mountain.

During the day many horse riders passed us by and some of our volunteers were quick to open the gates for them – they were apparently on a fun ride organised by the Tredegar Hunt farmers – it was good to see the mountain being used by other non-destructive groups.

With the “Welcome to Twmbarlwm” signs finished we called it a day at 3.30 pm – I stayed on a bit longer to ensure the cement set securely and was disappointed to see as I drove back down the mountain that a fence had been deliberately cut at a stile further down the common and that a pedestrian access gate had been left wide open after the self-closing spring had been broken off – looks like a couple of jobs for the next workday.

The next Workday is scheduled for Sunday 27th July 2014 – and we also have a walk arranged for the same day – please come along and join us, you’re sure to have an enjoyable day out.