An important part of undertaking the Countryside Ranger Apprenticeship (Level 4) is attending college alongside the practical elements at work.
At the end of 2023, I attended a block week at Bridgwater & Taunton College (which delivers the academic part of our Countryside Ranger Apprenticeship) along with my cohort. This was the second of four block weeks that I'll complete during my apprenticeship.
As we had met previously, this second week was a great opportunity to reassemble with fellow students and rekindle bonds formed, to share stories, learnings and ideas from our respective workplaces and be with like-minded people, who are also passionate about the protection of the natural environment.
The timetable was an action-packed week. On the first day we met some newcomers and had a classroom session on managing personal performance and resource management, then a tutorial in a rather wet and chilly workshop on supervising use of machinery and equipment.
The next day we were booked for the Somerset National Trust rangers and fortunately had a lovely sunny day learning the art of hedge laying - something I have never done before and was very glad to do! It is one of those valuable skills that is seldom used but that we must hold on to. And, as we were just below Glastonbury Tor we had the chance to climb it.
The third day was helping to plant apple trees of specific varieties in a field to become an orchard. This was a community-funded project that the Somerset National Trust rangers had initiated. It was thrilling to be the ones to plant these trees, and I would love to revisit it in years to come to see how they are doing.
As one of our cohort works for the Environment Agency, she had invited us to have a tour of her depot, followed by a visit to the Curry Moor Pumping Station. Dealing with flood management we could see first-hand how they manage environmental incidents related to flooding, putting things into perspective. In the afternoon, which by then had turned arctic and snowy, our tutor took us on a walk around Cothelstone Hill in the Quantock Hills, through some gorgeous woods with trees covered in strange-looking fungi and lichen, and we learned more about veteran and ancient tree surveying.
It was a great week and was definitely worth going. Experiences such as this add an unquantifiable value to an apprenticeship. I have sought more insight, learned another skill and gained more knowledge.