Allsorts Going On…

Posted on August 5, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Loads to share this week.

Eight bush-weary trackers made it this week. Ram, Marcus, Steve, Reece, Dave, Andrew, Martin, and Paul. This is the last month of the Bird Nesting Season, so we are kinda focused on September, when we go back into “cutting back” mode.

However, there was work to do.

Firstly, we needed to replace the missing bench on our Quadrant.

A bit of history – Marcus, Reece, Kerrie, and Paul made this in March 2020, the week before the COVID lockdown. It was the start of a project to get young autistic adults to work with us so that they could learn new skills and stuff. We had a chap called Chris to help us.

The day is blogged here: https://cawstongreenway.co.uk/2020/03/04/workshop-day/

It was a tremendous day, and we thought that we really had something. Sadly, it never quite worked out, but the Quadrant holds many very dear memories.

So when one of the benches broke, I wrestled with the question of whether to replace it, or repair it.

It’s rough as anything! Deer have nibbled the ends of it, and one of the legs is rotten.

But an hour in the workshop soon had it looking back in shape.

Ram and Martin took charge of getting it back in the ground.

We are happy that it is back in its rightful place.

Whilst this was happening, Reece and Andrew strimmed northwards, whilst Dave and Paul tackled a tree that had come down just outside the greenway.

Technically, it is out of our remit, but we have the equipment and skills to deal with it, so we did.

Marcus and Steve had a similar issue. The blooming squirrels have stripped the bark of a couple of trees, and the top of one had come adrift.

Obviously, we don’t want this to fall on anyone, so it had to go…

We had a visit from Andrew and Liz, who brought very tasty home-made blueberry muffins.

A disjointed morning, but we all wandered back for coffee.

We also had the Cawston Brownies make us some bird nesting boxes.

These will be a wonderful addition to our next nature area.

The only thing left to build for this area is an owl box.

Kathryn also brought yummy treats that will keep us going for a week or two.

It gives us such a great feeling when we are including people and groups that take us outside of our little box.

I did a very light strim on the Draycote to Far Popehill Spinney part of the path.

Loads of people are now using this path, and everyone expressed thanks for making it slightly more open.

Massive thank you to Kathryn and Rebecca for the buy-me-a-coffee donations this week.

Lastly, we have quite a few people who want to join in, but we are pretty much maxed out on the Wednesday mornings. Would a once-a-month Saturday workday be worthwhile for anyone else who wants to get involved?? Let me know in the comments below, or on Facebook, Insta, WhatsApp, etc, etc

Next one is this Friday on the Dunchurch Bridleway, and then back in Cawston next week.

We have some absolutely brilliant news to share in a week or two…

Watch this space!

Until next week!

Paul

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Connector Path

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We had the forecast rain on the weekend. All ten minutes of it…

Everything is bone dry, and the word “drought” is used more and more frequently.

Ten crazy team members turned out this morning in the blistering heat. Matt, Steve, Marcus, Dave, Mark, David, Ram, Andrew, Paul, and a cameo appearance from Pat.

We had two main tasks today.

Replace an old bench that got wrecked with something a bit more permanent.

Clear the path down to the temporary right-of-way that connects with Dunchurch Bridleway.

The Bench:

In the past we have always bought timber in 2.4-metre lengths. This seemed like a good way to use all of the wood, with a 1.2-metre seat and 60 cm legs. A 45 cm seat height means we are putting 20 cm into the ground. This is probably fine in a garden setting, but in a public space, the naughty squirrels can kick them over if they are having a particularly bad day.

Trying to be cost-effective is actually costing us more in the long term, both in monetary terms and the emotionally-draining repair work, so we have gone for a 3-metre length of timber, so the legs can go way deeper, and we have reinforced the top and leg-ends.

The cost of the tanalised timber is £7.74 + £1.00 for the brace + screws £1.25, so we are still able to knock them out for about £10. The brackets and washers add another £8 (bulk buy would bring this down to under £5), and I’m not sure if this is a bit of overkill. Time will tell.

Digging the deep hole was fun with our new auger tool.

Let’s hope that destroying the benches causes more pain than gain…

And an important life lesson can be learnt – if you wreck the thing that you are supposed to sit on, then you will have to sit on the floor like a 1st grader in school assembly.

The Path:

We got to the end.

The “end” being the off-ramp that takes the path across no-man’s-land and connects with the temporary right-of-way that leads to the bridleway.

It’s always a stretch to do this bit because it is so far away.

I have written to the Paths Department at Warwickshire County Council asking them to consider making this a proper right-of-way… Who knows how it will all turn out?

A decent coffee and Oreo biscuit break.

In the background, the farmers are bringing in the harvest.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something awesome about the harvest.

Massive thank you to Michaela for the buy-me-a-coffee last week. Very much appreciated.

Dunchurch Bridleway:

Just me and Ian last Friday, but we managed to strim the bracken back and keep the path open on this middle section of the bridleway.

We also cleared an area for our rebuilt bench.

Magnificent views over the fields, and this bench just makes the bench-spacing along the path kinda equal.

Oh, is that my OCD knocking at the door…?

Here is the map that shows the whole route and how it connects with the greenway.

There’s a public footpath back through the woods to make a triangle loop, but we don’t do anything with that.

And here are the positions of the six benches.

The thick red line is a new road going in, the blue line is the west side of the bridleway and a temporary Public Right of Way, and the yellow line is potentially a new Public Right of Way. We might end up abandoning the blue part of the bridleway if the other way works better; hence, no benches along that bit.

And here are the actual benches, east to west.

It’s a nice place to be, peaceful and good for a bit of self-reflection, with loads of public pathways going into the woods to make short circular walks if desired.

Lastly, we did the usual litter-pick, this time on the north end of the greenway.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for being here if you got this far…

Next one is at the Quadrant benches, replacing the kicked-over bench, and adding a bench that Andrew, who makes the bird boxes, had made for us a little further south.

I’m looking forward to getting the broken one fixed up and back in action.

Until next time!

Paul

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Rain Is Promised For The Weekend

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I actually cannot remember when it last rained…

We had a bit of a split week, where we ran an impromptu workday on the Saturday morning.

Nathan, Ian, Steve, Dave, Paul, and a cameo appearance from Andrew, worked to get a bench that was gifted to us, and a bit worse for wear, into some sort of usable condition.

We had to strip it down to the basic A-frame, which took half of the session.

A quick hydration break with Aqua Pura, our preferred natural mineral water from the rolling hills of Cumbria.

Before cracking on…

Hopefully, the bench will give our visitors and us many years of service.

We’ll use the timber that came off it in a future project, so the recycle-reuse-repair box gets a big green tick.

The nice thing about this session was that we were all working together in the same location, rather than being strung out tens of metres apart down the path.

So onto today…

Only four of us made it this morning. Mark, Andrew, Ram, and Paul. Everyone else was either having to work for a living, had childcare duties, or was holidaying.

We had planned to get about 600 metres done, but only managed about 400 metres, which is fine.

I love the little wooded bit along this part of the path. It just adds to the biodiversity and stuff.

We broke for coffee and biscuits at half-time.

This is when we all slow down and really enjoy the views, a bit of banter, and kinda just connecting like blokes should. It’s that Men’s Mental Wellbeing bit that is so missing in today’s grind of life.

We cracked on…

This is the connector path between the Cawston Greenway and Dunchurch Bridleway. The plan is to make it a proper cycle path in about 2029/30, so we have a few years to widen it and keep it open.

And this is why we do what we do…

Two lovely ladies came by doing the Geocaching Trail. This just fills our hearts with joy. You can find out all about Geocaching with the link on the right. Our trail goes from Cawston all the way into Dunchurch, and then loops round back to the start. Many thanks to Andrew for making this happen.

Sadly, our little bench got wrecked.

It is what it is… Totally beyond repair. I will probably knock up a replacement at some point. I think a new one costs me about £9 in timber, or something like, so it’s no biggie. This was made out of scraps of old wood so it is no loss other than the inconvenience.

Lastly for the morning, the views.

Corn on one side and wheat on the other, I assume??

It’s just to die for. I cannot put into words how blooming great it is to be out here.

Actually, one other thing – a lovely person called Alison did a buy me a coffee and bought us 50 coffees. That is £250 in funds. My first thought was to jump on the next plane to Spain and live a life of Riley for the next six weeks, but, sadly, sensibility got the better of me.

Thank you so much, Alison.

Click on the link on the right if you would like to support us.

Moving on into the afternoon…

We had planned to put a brace on the bench that we worked on at the weekend. There was a slight wobble, probably only about 5mm or so, but it was bugging the hell out of me.

However, I had childcare duties in the afternoon due to the blooming school summer holidays starting.

Could I leave the bench and hope that it holds up, or would my OCD get the better of me?

I had to do something…

Bad Dad!!! Child labour…

Depriving the poor child of her childhood.

I did a token gesture to ease my conscience slightly.

And now we have a bench that is rock solid.

And I can sleep easy in my bed tonight…

Next one is this Friday, making a space for our newly refurbished picnic bench on Dunchurch Bridleway.

In my mind’s eye, I just want to drape a green or red Gingham check cloth over it and have a decent Ploughman’s lunch with the guys. Maybe one day…

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul

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Football Fever

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I’ve got to get this post out before 8pm GMT – because that is when history will be made with England playing Argentina in the World Cup Semi-Finals.

Here goes me on steroids…

The glorious heatwave continues; however, the mornings are quite cool until about 11am.

For me, this is perfect weather. I just love the sub-tropical feel of a proper summer.

Eleven football fanatics piled out this morning. Considering that the total team is 14, eleven is a fantastic size. Just Ian, Nathan and Dave missing in action. George, Martin, Ram, Steve, Marcus, Reece, David, Matt, Andrew, Mark, and Paul.

We only have eight strimmers, so some of us had to find other jobs.

Luckily, there is a lot to do.

Dave and me decided to fix another bench that had become a bit wobbly.

A quick recoat of wood stain hides a million repairs.

I couldn’t leave without some quick fots of up and down the path.

Everything is incredibly dry, so dry that the combine harvesters are out across the heath. I’ve never known of such an early harvest.

Everyone else cracked on with keeping the path nice and wide.

I think we covered about 700 km, so a good run.

We had coffee and a decent selection of snacks at half-time.

Fots show the width of the path – perfect.

We cracked on – I have never known 2 hours to go by so quickly.

The path was incredibly busy with walkers and cyclists, so we are doing something right.

Sadly, some big-footed berk decided to smash up one of our benches.

We have rebuilt this bench so many times. A very bad buy. Designed for occasional garden use, but anyone who knows me, knows that I don’t give up on stuff, so the repair, recycle, reuse ethic came into play.

I’m pretty happy with that, and all for less than £20.

We have decided to put it on the Dunchurch Bridleway to complete the run of seating on there.

We have a 500-metre gap between the first foto and the second foto, so we can put it in there next Friday.

Personally, I feel good about recovering it, and I actually enjoy the challenge of rebuilding it to make it stronger and fit for purpose.

Loads in the pipeline that hopefully we can share in a week or two.

Watch this space…

Dunchurch Bridleway:

Another great turnout with five of us. Dave, Andrew, Ian, David, and Paul.

For some reason, it’s a much more relaxed vibe on a Friday. Not sure why, maybe because we are deep into the countryside?

We strimmed the path down so walking is easy.

The grass has gone horribly coarse and straw-like, so I am glad that we caught it when we did.

A quick hydration break at half-time…

Before we tackled the Right-of-Way around the field that had a windmill in it.

The wildmill, or postmill, dates back to 1546, with records showing it on maps in 1633 and 1725. It fell out of use in the late 18th Century.

One can only imagine the local grain having a certain taste. I wonder if you could bite into a loaf and think about how fresh and tasty each mouthful was. I bet it was good stuff.

We also litter-picked the north section of the greenway and the east section of the bridleway.

Not a bad amount at all.

Lastly, a foto of me and Kerrie, my better half, out enjoying the path.

Occasionally I do actually enjoy the fruits of our labour…

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Fingers crossed for the football, which is now 15 minutes until kick-off…

Until next time!

Paul

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The Third Heatwave Of The Year

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I’ve never known anything like the weather that we’re getting at the moment.

It’s glorious wall-to-wall sunshine, and the temperature easily got to about 34C (93F) at the peak of the day.

Eleven sun-seeking superheroes turned out to add twenty-two man-hours of work to our lovely railway path. Reece, Dave, Marcus, Ian, Steve, Ram, Mark, Andrew, Matt, David, and Paul.

We split into two groups. Bench fixers and path strimmers.

For the strimming, we possibly did about 400 metres because it was more about getting the entry points clear and welcoming.

There really is no point in making the path nice if people have to fight to get on and off.

We fixed the first of two benches that were showing signs of wear and tear.

We stained the new wood so that it blends in and looks the part.

A much-needed coffee and biscuits at half-time.

Reece did the honours with the coffee whilst we all enjoyed the views up and down the path. The rosebay-willow herb is looking divine.

We cracked on with more strimming to keep the path edges clear.

We really don’t want to go back to that narrow path where everyone was brushing past the nettles and getting stung to death.

The second bench got a good stiffener.

Again, the wood stain makes it all blend in and look natural.

The picnic benches are getting on for 10 years old, so they are doing really well, but we are all starting to feel that they are getting to that point where they are beyond repair.

We also stained the rest of the benches on the northern end.

It’s a horrible job, but one of my major bugbears is wooden benches that don’t look fresh and welcoming.

The harsh sunlight is making some of the photos look a bit washy, but they all looked much better.

We litter-picked on the southern end.

It’s just about keeping it welcoming and decent for our users, so they actually get some benefit from using the path. If there is litter everywhere, people are going to get really wound up when they are trying to chill out…

Lastly, our flood defence area has totally dried up!!

I’m just waiting for the hosepipe bans and drought warnings to start.

Far Popehill Spinney:

The path to the National Cycle Network 41 seems to be open and passable, and the person doing the work where it floods is cracking on with it.

I think using old tyres to raise the path level??

Further south, it is looking a bit more settled.

The first two photos are the Right-of-Way that crossed the railway path and goes into the spinney.

Drainage issues need to be overcome here.

Loads of stuff in the pipeline, and fingers crossed, we get a few decisions that go our way. One of the nice things about being an eternal optimist is that you never give up hoping and pushing forward.

The next one is at Dunchurch this Friday, starting at Windmill Lane, and then we are back next week at Potford Dam.

Thanks for being here if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul

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Information Board

Posted on July 1, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

A slightly cooler week with temps topping about 24 degrees C (75F), which is a nice temperature to be working in.

Eight board blokes turned out to put up something that has been in the planning stage for ages. Marcus, Reece, Ian, Andrew, Steve, Mark, Ram, and Paul.

We started the session by having to dig 500mm holes in very rocky ground.

This was pretty tough going and took us the good part of an hour.

We broke for coffee and ginger biscuits at half-time.

And then it was trying to get the board into the ground and secure.

Eventually, we managed it, and the information board tells everyone about the greenway and shows off the views.

The board has been sponsored and paid for by Cawston Parish Council. We are extremely grateful for their support.

We also carried on strimming and covered a further 400 metres, so happy with that.

We like to keep the entry points clear and the actual path about 4 metres wide so people can walk side-by-side.

The bench that we need to repair can look like this other one. The cost will be about £35.

We can use the scrap wood to shore up the path down the line if we get permission to work down there.

Lastly, we did a litter pick to keep it looking welcoming and pleasing to the eye.

Cracking day and so pleased that we have finally got this bit of the jigsaw in place.

Dunchurch Bridleway:

Just me and Ian last Friday on another sweltering day.

It’s simply about keeping the path open and usable. We can start to widen it in the winter if we feel that it needs it.

We brought plenty of water and juice to keep us hydrated.

It was incredibly hot work, but we made it to the end. Next week we push on with the strimming and also a bit of bench maintenance. At some point, everything will stop growing like crazy!!

Our biggest problem is bramble. We cut it back, and it seems to spur it on to grow twice as fast…

Loads of stuff in the pipeline and hopefully some really positive developments.

Thanks for reading if you got this far, and now it’s time to celebrate England winning the football after being 1-0 down!!

Until next time!

Paul

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Another Heatwave

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We’re once again caught in the middle of a massive heatwave.

To be fair, the mornings are pretty OK, but by the time the afternoon ticks around, it’s muggy and close, and everyone is getting tetchy.

For anyone thinking, paah, that’s nothing, for us here in England, it is hot!

Six sun worshippers turned out for our usual path edge strim. Martin, Ian, Marcus, Andrew, Ram, and Paul.

We covered about 700 metres, which is pretty good going. The greenway is divided into five sections, with each being about 700 metres in length, so this means everything gets pegged back before it starts to invade the path space.

We broke for chilled water and Oreo biscuits at half-time. The views from here are superb, both up and down the path, and to the sides. Lots of lovely dappled sunlight hitting the ground.

There was not a chance that I was going to start dishing out hot coffee in this heat.

We worked hard to keep the entry points open, and also maintain the width so people can walk two-abreast. Judging by the number of people coming past, this concept is working well.

Our wildflower patch north of the underpass is alive and buzzing with insects.

This is quite fortunate because we didn’t really clear it off at the end of last year. We must do it this year, or it will become scrubby and not good.

We also did our usual trick with the sprouts on our tree trunks.

If we leave them, the trees will end up looking like this.

Personally, I don’t like this look at all.

We have a picnic bench that needs new seating and a table top.

The wood is 177 cm long, 7.4 cm wide, and 3.0 cm thick. A nice little project to price up and make happen in a few month’s time.

We have had the numbers made for our mile marker posts, thanks to Ian’s son, David.

This is another project that is slowly inching towards completion.

I attempted to stain a few of the benches, and try as I might…

…I still ended up looking like spotted dick!

The white T-shirt and shorts were probably not the best items to wear!

We finished with a litter-pick.

And called it a day just as it was starting to get really hot.

Far Popehill Spinney:

The path that runs through Far Popehill Spinney and connects with the National Cycle Network Route 41 is now open and passable.

It needs a bit of work in a couple of places to divert standing water, but someone is working hard to sort this out.

If we can get permission to work down there, then we are more than willing to help in any way that we can.

It’s all good stuff and done for the greater good.

Next one is on the Dunchurch Bridleway, working on the most westerly section, and then next Wednesday is our big reveal!!

It’s gonna be epic!!

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul

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Tom Brown’s Schooldays

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Another damp start as spring finally lets go, and we welcome a new season. The summer solstice takes place this weekend, and we look forward to long, hot days, warm nights, clear skies, and buzzing wildlife.

It was a muggy morning after the weather dumped a ton of rainwater on us overnight. That, one would’ve thought, would clear the air, but not a chance.

Seven strimmer-happy superheroes made it, Dave, Martin, Reece, Matt, Ram, Mark, and Paul, and we worked on pushing the path edge back half a metre.

Every bit of vegetation seems hellbent on growing into the space that we have made for humans. If we let it encroach, it becomes dense and brambly, and our bit gets narrow and horrible.

We can push the scrub back in the autumn to give the pollinator strip more width, but it is not coming onto the path.

The benches were due to be re-stained, but it was too wet. We covered about 800 metres, with seven strimmers going. Pretty good progress.

We also knocked off a bit of lower growth on a few trees.

We want the canopy at the top of the tree so that sunlight can get to the ground, and they look more tree-like from an aesthetic point of view.

Our flood defences were broken, and we had the stream snaking down the path again.

However, by the end of the session, the drainage had caught up, and the stream had disappeared.

We broke for coffee and biscuits at half-time.

The views up and down the trail, as it started to brighten up.

In other news, we had the pupils from Bilton Grange Preparatory School come and work on their mural in the underpass.

Bilton Grange is a school in Dunchurch that feeds into Rugby School, made famous by the novel, Tom Brown’s Schooldays.

Rugby School is consistently ranked among the top independent schools in the UK and globally. Famous for being the birthplace of the sport, the historic Warwickshire boarding school is recognised as a world-leading private institution for its academic excellence and “whole person” educational philosophy. AI Overview

The first photo is Bilton Grange and the second is Rugby School.

It’s always an honour to rub shoulders with the higher echelons of society.

A super job and thank you to Stefan from Bilton Grange for once again organising this brilliant annual event.

Next, we move southward. Someone is clearing the trail from the A45 road, in a southerly direction. They are also doing something with the drainage.

It’s looking like it has the potential to really nail this troublesome section.

From the other end, the progress is inching along.

At some point, they will meet in the middle, and our path then connects to the National Cycle Network Route 41, which will be pretty amazing.

Lastly, we have two new things to put in over the summer. The first is this beast.

It looks like something from the movie War of the Worlds… All will be revealed next week, hopefully.

We finished with a litter pick and a Common Spotted Orchid!

Dunchurch Bridleway:

Dave, Ian and Paul turned out last Friday, and we seem to have tamed the whole bridleway into three sections.

Westward to the picnic bench, eastward to the picnic bench, and westward to pick up Cawston Greenway.

We are still battling with the bracken, but seem to be winning.

If we don’t push everything back, people will be walking through chest-high vegetation.

I don’t wanna be going through that and get bitten to death!!

And we kept our benches clear, as per usual.

It just keeps it all pleasant and relaxing without anyone having to worry about what is crawling up their legs.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Father’s Day is this Sunday, so I got myself a little present…

More firepower – oh yes…

Until next time!

Paul

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An Incredibly Welcome Discovery

Posted on June 10, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We are on a bit of a mission to try to connect with the Mothership.

North of the green ring is where we kinda stop as Cawston Greenway and go off eastwards to connect with Dunchurch Bridleway. The blue ring is what the landowners have done to connect with Leamington Spa (where the railway went when it was working), and the yellow ring is what they will be working on next. I imagine this will be from September.

The Mothership is the National Cycle Network Route 41, which is south of the YOU ARE HERE label.

I had a poke about on the south of the yellow ring and just pushed the path back a bit to allow walkers and cyclists to use it without being stung to death.

Slow progress.

On Saturday, we had a poke around from the north end of the yellow ring and just tried to work out if we could make a path through the jungle.

There are some really wet areas, and the tree canopy shade is not letting anything dry out.

It was a good session with Nathan, Ian, Dave, Martin, and Paul.

We were back down there today. The more time that we spend on the land, the more that we start to understand how everything interacts and why the water is puddling up.

Six of us made the long trudge down to where we were working. Ian, Dave, Mark, Ram, David, and Paul.

It just feels like a slog and is where we were with the Cawston Greenway some 17 years ago.

We broke for coffee and Oreo biscuits before pushing on.

And then, to our surprise, we discovered that someone else had been down here and smashed through with a brushcutter, south of the A45 bridge, and had started to channel the standing water into a gully and off the path.

This is brilliant. If we can get our standing water to join their gully, the whole thing should eventually dry out.

Anyway, we were happy to get back onto familiar ground later in the day and give our benches a lick of woodstain.

One thing that really irks me is seeing wooden benches installed and just sort of left to decay.

As you can see, we have a standard that we kinda work to. Whilst they look a bit shiny due to the wet woodstain, we do like to keep all the benches looking inviting and clean enough to eat food from.

The “pollinator highway”, which is the bit between the path and the scrub, is really starting to come on.

It’s just getting better and better as spring turns to summer. It feels magical to walk along the path with all the colours, butterflies and bees.

And lastly, a litter-pick of the whole path.

Next one is this Friday on the Dunchurch Bridleway, and then we are back on familiar soil at Berrybanks next Wednesday.

The adventure this week has taken me right out of my comfort zone…

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul

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Jungle Time

Posted on June 3, 2026 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Is it the start of summer? Some might say that the 1st June is indeed the start; however, I prefer to go by the Summer Solstice and work to the 21st June. At present, every bit of vegetation is growing at full pelt as it tries to out-compete its neighbour, which is definitely a spring thing. Come summer, and everything stops growing and starts flowering.

Sadly, the beautiful heat that we had last week has gone fully into reverse, and we find ourselves back in mid-to-high teens, temperature-wise.

Perhaps what is more worrying is the rain forecast.

It’s not exactly barbecue weather, which is what summer days should be all about…

The weather forecast actually lived up to its prediction this morning, and we got a bit wet, but it still seemed subtropical due to it being pretty humid, and we felt like we were in the middle of a rainforest.

Seven jungle rangers turned out. Ram, Marcus, Steve, Reece, Ian, Andrew, and Paul. We normally do up to the off-ramp and make our way across a strip of ground to get to the Dunchurch Bridleway, but we have had repeated requests to push further southwards.

The third photo is what lies ahead…

We gingerly pushed onwards by about 200 metres.

Coats were going on to keep the rain off, then being taken off because it was so humid and sweaty, but we managed to fashion a bit of a path through.

During our break, the rain really came down, and we lost Reece in the jungle.

Hot coffee and Maryland cookies, which always makes me laugh because Maryland is pronounced totally differently in the US.

Fuelled up, we pushed on.

It was steadily getting wetter and wetter, but we managed another 200 metres, so we covered 400 metres in total. Pretty good going, seeing as we didn’t have a clue what to expect and didn’t really have the right tools.

We will keep going as far as Draycote village, which is what everyone seems to want.

In other news, some baffoon pushed our Potford Dam picnic bench over the edge.

Pulled back up by Ram and me, with plenty of fuel via our new protein drink…

Whilst we were messing around with the benches, we managed to give two of our rectangular picnic tables a fresh coat of stain.

All of our benches used to be a beautiful golden-brown, but due to graffiti, they now have to be poo-brown.

Sorry, not sorry…

We also prepared all the benches on the northern end for staining.

We’re not in any mad hurry, but as long as they are done by the end of June, just to keep everything looking fresh and inviting.

All in all, a pretty good start to our campaign to just get this last bit nailed and have us actually link up to the National Cycle Network. I have told Railway Paths Ltd (the land owners) what we are doing, and their signage allows us to be here.

And lastly, we have some trees that are sprouting shoots from the trunks, so we need to deal with these very quickly.

If left, the tree starts to look like a bush.

To finish, a Welsh Poppy has somehow found its way to us.

How cool is that!!

Dunchurch Bridleway:

Just Ian and me this week due to clashing with other work going on further down the line.

We got to the picnic bench, which is where we got to from the other end last time, and also did the Right of Way that goes around the Windmill Farm field.

If people are wondering why we are so obsessed with keeping the two-metre-wide path open, this is what happens to the bit that we leave.

Nobody in their right mind wants to walk through that and get bitten to death by the insects, and as you can see, we don’t destroy the pollen-rich wildflowers.

Lastly, we enjoyed coffee and the views before cracking on…

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul

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