I have been an active Conservation Volunteer since before 16th October 1987 ( the day of the storm in south east England ).
Here is a list ( in plain text ) of BTCV ( now TCV ) Natural Breaks ( Working Holidays ) that I have attended ( mainly 1987 to 1999 ). I have been on many BTCV residential weekends and some with affiliated groups but do not have many details of those. Here is a list of BTCV ( now TCV ) affiliated Local Groups that I have been associated with, starting in 1985. My current group, since I moved to Oxfordshire in 2008, is Oxford Conservation Volunteers
I also attended a National Trust holiday along similar lines ( 19 to 26-JUN-93, Peak District, Derbyshire ), and some residential weekends with them, particularly with the London and West Middlesex Volunteers and non-residential with the Dorset NTV.
I have worked under the auspices of the Waterway Recovery Group on various English Canals over ( extended ) weekends and week-long residentials including Dearne & Dove Canal 26 June to 3-JUL-99 and 19 to 26-FEB-00, Stover Canal, Devon.
Since redundancy from IT ( 19-JUN-18 ) I have spent time in the Chilterns with the National Trust countryside team based near Hughenden Manor. In 2024 I switched my National Trust volunteering to Stowe ( near Buckingham ). Also in the Chilterns I have worked on the Public Rights of Way with the Chilterns Society, South ( and other ) Chilterns Path Maintenance Volunteers . Slightly nearer to home I have done voluntary work with the RSPB at Otmoor . I have also travelled West to volunteer with the Cotswold ( AONB, now National Landscape ) Wardens on "Work Parties". I have worked with the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust BBOWT based at Blackthorn. Other groups I have worked with include ( Aylesbury ) Vale Countryside Volunteers, Chiltern Rangers and Bicester Green Gym.
Since May 2008 I have spent significant time at Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve. With support from the staff there ( Natural England ) I have had refresher training in chainsaws , brushcutter, first aid and done initial training in pesticides, off-road driving, winching and UTV ( see below ). Natural England gave me some short contract jobs in 2018, 2019 and I was taken-on as an employee, part-time,on a fixed-term contract in May 2019 which expired 31 March 2020. Since then, in winter 2020/21, I had another contract ( 28 days ) there. I had further contracts there in 2023, 2024.
Chainsaw
Here is a link to chainsaw
training courses etc.
And here is a redacted image of my
NPTC Certificate Of Competence in Chain Saw Operations
which shows assessments FTC 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ending 13-SEP-91.
Refresher certificate from 18-NOV-20
LANTRA refresher certificate
Refresher course ( arranged through Land Skills Training & Assessments, trainer
Rob Wood ) done 22,23-NOV-23. From a certificate point of view, as NPTC / City and
Guilds with documentation through Credley by Pearson, shown as CPD ( Continuing Professional
Development ) for which I have downloaded a general badge image as shown
here
Verification, including showing 22-NOV-23, can be obtained via
https://www.credly.com/users/timothy-howard.718ea94c/badges
and selecting "Verify".
Pesticides
I qualified in the Safe Use of Pesticides
( PA1 test passed 13-DEC-10, PA6 test passed 7-FEB-11 ). Here is an image of my
NPTC Level 2 Award
I did a refresher course 20-SEP-24. Here is my certificate of
attendance
I have done training ( 18-FEB-25 ), with independant assessment ( 19-FEB-25 ), in stump
treatment by minimal calibration ( unit 157 ) and pesticide plugs ( unit 155 ).
NPTC stumps certificate
( I also got a LANTRA and a LandSkills certificate for these. )
Driving
4x4 driving on 11-MAR-19 and here is an image of my
LANTRA Off road vehicle operating (4x4)
certificate. I did a refresher course 8-OCT-24 for which here
is the
LANTRA certificate
UTV Utility Terrain/Task Vehicle / side-by-side based on HiSun "Beast" Electric
UTV 15-DEC-23
LANTRA All Terrain Vehicle - Sit-in Conventional Steer
Tractor driving 6,7,14-JUL-23 leading to the
NTPC certificate.
I also did a one-day course on tractor driving 2-JUN-94 and the completion certificate is visible
here.
Trailer and Minibus ( "BE" and "D1E" ) qualifications came as I passed my car
driving test 26-OCT-76. My license is "clean" ( never
had any "points" ). I passed a minibus ( MiDAS ) course 14-MAY-11. That
certificate lasts 4 years i.e. has expired.
Winching
"General Winching Theory and Practice" training
1-NOV-19. Here is a scan of my
LANTRA certificate
. I also did a refresher 2-SEP-24 for which here is my
LANTRA certificate
Pedestrian Mower
Formal training based on "Rapid" brand 10-NOV-23 ( used years before ).
LANTRA certificate
. I also attended informal training by the dealer 26-FEB-24.
Livestock
Related to the sheep we have at Aston Rowant NNR I did a course 12,13-APR-23 and got
LANTRA Conservation
Grazing certificate
Tree surveying
I did a one-day course on Basic Tree Survey and Inspection on 29-OCT-24 and
got the LANTRA certificate shown
here as downloaded PDF
and
here as a scan ( .jpg ) of paper
certificate.
Geographic Information Systems - QGIS software
I did an on-line course "Discovering QGIS" with the Field Studies Council over about four weeks
in May, June 2024 for which I got the following
certificate.
Scythe
I attended formal scythe training 6-JUN-15 leading to a
certificate.
First Aid
I have attended various First Aid courses as listed
here.
The latest certificate, as a .PDF, is
here.
I have been involved with the National Land Access Centre ( now renamed Centre for
Outdoor Accessibility Training ) at Aston Rowant NNR since before it opened.
NLAC opening blog
I am a Parish Path Warden ( a Ramblers term used in part of Oxfordshire ) for the villages
of Ambrosden and Blackthorn. I have done path maintenance with Ramblers groups "Thame and
Wheatley" and "Vale" ( of White Horse ). In recent years most of my footpath work has
been with the Chiltern Society ( mentioned above ).
Notes and photos related to rural Public Rights of Way can be found under here.
Landscape photos of the Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve have been taken from 21 fixed points in 1984, 1998, 1994 and 2023. I took the 2023 set and scanned the earlier ones. These can be seen under here.
Photos etc. related to the use of lime mortar can be found here.
