Let’s not exaggerate, the snow we experienced on February 23rd when we ‘overhauled’ the woodland path to the north of Milesmere was more a flurry than a prolonged heavy snow fall, but driven by that biting north east wind it certainly encouraged our volunteers to work energetically! We were revisiting the woodland which we first tackled in April 2012; the aim was to trim back the . encroaching brambles and other growth, and to give the path a fresh coating of wood chippings from a heap delivered to site by the Council.
It’s amazing how much a determined team can achieve in a morning. And more was done than originally planned, for the work included the laying and pegging in of some additional log edges at the entrance to the path. The ‘logistics’ proved interesting; delivering those chippings involved a procession of wheelbarrow loads to reach every section of the path, with the ‘guardian’ of the heap encouraging us to count each one out in spanish! The final count was something like treinta y ocho ……
Yet again our environmental work has inspired another fine contribution from our resident poet, Kevin; in fact, he has produced two – see below.
The Ash Brook
On the preceding Saturday we carried out our sixth session along the Ash Brook , taking us almost to the play area. Again, great fun, and we had the benefit of a gorgeous sunny morning. So we have been judiciously trimming back bramble tangles but leaving plenty of habitat for the birds and creating new glades where we hope shortly to sow wildflower seeds. And from the dead wood and other trimmings we created another ‘bug hotel’. As elsewhere along this wildlife corridor, the aim is to open up views of the stream and to improve local biodiversity -the range of birds, butterflies and other creatures, and the richness of plant life.
As before, our volunteers collected a mass of litter from the stream bed and its banks, enough to fill seven black sacks. This included some interesting bottles discarded by our thirsty drinkers (see picture) . As far as we can we will try to retrieve new litter as it emerges – as we did on the day – but the only long term answer seems to be through better education.
However, this should not detract from our major achievement. The feedback on the Stream Project has been very good, and clearly our volunteers have found the work very worthwhile. At least that is what they tell us….
Reminder – Next Sessions for the Stream Project
These are on Saturday 16 March and Saturday 30 March. They each commence at 9.30 am with a briefing and warm up exercises. We have a mid morning coffee break and we aim to finish at 12 30 pm. Please wear old clothes and strong boots, wellingtons if you would like to work in the stream. Also you will need tough gardening gloves and while we can provide most of the tools that we’ll need, secateurs can also prove handy for some tasks.
Another important point. The work is at a range of levels. You don’t have to be either super fit or super strong to take part in our projects and there are many lighter tasks to do.
