When I told my daughters I’d been fencing, they stood back, impressed.

“Was the sword sharp?” one of them asked.

I could sense their disappointment when I answered that I didn’t have a sword, and that it wasn’t that kind of fencing.

I’d been invited by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) to help out at one of their projects – one which will, in time, transform an overgrown grassy hillside into a fascinating attraction for adults and children of all ages.

Across the country, groups of local people aged between 16 and 60 brave all weathers to help the green volunteering charity, which supports conservation projects. Tree planting, dry stone walling, hedge-laying and creating footpaths are among the many activities in which they get involved.

I went along to Oakwell Hall in Birstall where a team of volunteers is working on an ambitious project to create a series of ponds on a hillside.

That’s not all they’re doing, I discovered as I parked my car beside a dry stone wall-in-the-making. “We’re doing this as well,” says team leader Dan Barker, seeing the confused look on my face. “We ran a course in it two weeks ago and we’re just finishing it off. The ponds are at the other side of the hall.”

We skirted the historic house and walked down a woodland path to a series of wooden posts about 4ft tall, evenly spaced in a slight curve along the top edge of a sloping meadow. A group of people stood around one post, manoeuvring it into position.

With damp clay underfoot, I was glad I’d brought my wellies as I made my way over to them. The posts were to form the supports for a viewing platform that would overlook the ponds. “The idea is that the bank will be transformed into around a series of ponds – five at least, with two large and three smaller, with a viewing platform and area for pond dipping ” says Dan. “It is the biggest project I have been involved with and one of the biggest ones that BTCV has taken on in Yorkshire.”

With an entrance planned for each end, it was clear that the finished platform would make quite an impact.

Dan introduced me to the team, who were volunteering for all sorts of reasons. Some were hoping to find work in the environmental sector. “I used to work in an office and wanted to change career,” explains Mark McKenna, who lives near Wetherby and has been a volunteer for more than a year. “This gave me the chance to learn new skills of a practical nature. I’m hoping to find a job as a countryside ranger.”

Sammy Munsey of Otley joined more recently, with the same aim. “This is my tenth day,” she says. “I’m going to try and work up to becoming a voluntary officer, and try to find a job or a voluntary post in the Yorkshire Dales or the North York Moors national park.”

After six months, volunteers who have built up skills can become officers, helping to lead the teams.

It was time to get started. A deep hole had been dug for the next post in line, and we were to measure it and anchor it in the earth. We ran a tape measure from the centre of the post to the next post along the hillside, and behind to the rear post. “One we’ve got that right, we’ve got to make sure it’s level – we have to be precise,” says Dan, handing me a spirit level. Thankfully, I’d used one before and knew how to check that the air bubble lay in the middle of the black lines. The team also tied a special corner spirit level around the post – very ingenious.

It is not easy to get the post level and it’s difficult to dig deeper because of an underlying rock. Dan, who has been with BTCV for five years, decides that rather than smash the rock with a special tool, we should trim the post. I help steady it while he sawed.

“The posts are green oak, which last forever,” he tells me. Once it is level, I help to fill the hole with loose clay soil. I’m shown how to use a tamper – a tool used to compact the soil firm up the ground around the post.

I notice some weird and wonderful tools – there’s a scissor-like spade called a shuv-holer, and a thin shovel called a Newcastle drainer or ‘Geordie spade’ and a pick axe-type tool called a mattock. “You soon get to know them and their uses,” says all-round handyman Geoffrey Hannon, who is on his third day with BTCV. “I’m looking for work at the moment, so came along – I enjoy it, you meet new people. I’m a glutton for punishment.”

The team is working with the park’s rangers on the project, which is funded by the waste recycling firm Biffa in conjunction with Kirklees Council. As well as groups of volunteers, BTCV – which was set up 50 years ago – also works with people with learning disabilities and with students studying towards NVQs in environmental work.

With the fence post safely installed, Dan stood back and explained how the structure would form the base of the platform, the rest of which will be constructed from recycled materials. Then it was spades at the ready and on to the next one. It was tiring, yet, unlike the others, I hadn’t been toiling since early morning. Volunteers are picked up by minibus from a pre-arranged collection point, and taken back.

I enjoyed my brief taste of environmental work, and later bragged to my husband about my new-found skill in putting up fence posts.

Globally, BTCV works with around 300,000 volunteers every year, and more than 350 across West Yorkshire. With a host of practical skills to learn, volunteering for BTCV could prove invaluable – I’d like to go sign up someday for a spot of hedge-laying.

For more information about volunteering contact BTCV on (0113) 2742335 or visit 2.btcv.org.uk