Golly gosh – a few of us are going to ache tomorrow!!

Fantastic turnout again with about 20 people turning out. thank-you so much for your hard work.

We cleared a fair bit of the canopy by cutting down a load of trees, and also cleared the scrub to the sides of the path. It’s so rewarding when the sunlight finally makes it through. The whole feel of the greenway is transformed from a dark and damp narrow path to a light and airy open space.

The greenway after a lot of trees taken out…

… and looking the other way.

A few learning points from today, some of which we knew (if you look at previous posts), and a few new ones.

We need to work in a more organised way. We are all a bit gung-ho at the moment, probably because we have all been waiting to really let rip on the greenway since March. Fantastic to see such enthusiasm, but we maybe need to think about what we are trying to create, which is a series of woodland glades or clearings, linked by a series of woodland rides or paths. We somehow need to try and steer the path away from the straight line that it is, which is quite hard to even imagine seeing as it used to be a railway-line. The reason for this is we will end up with a huge wind-tunnel effect that will discourage butterflies. My thoughts are to alternate from cutting away to the left and then the right of the existing path between clearings to try and create a snaking effect. So in future maybe not string out quite so far, but work in denser groups with a clearer objective.

Second point is what to do with the felled trees. We need to stack the logs and branches further off the path, so maybe if we allocate jobs, such as cutting down trees, cutting them into manageable sections and stacking off the path, and then rotate so everyone gets a go at everything? Just a thought.

Tree stumps need to be cut as close to the ground as possible or they become a trip hazard, and when cutting overhanging branches from remaining trees, we need to cut as close to the existing trunk as possible, and the cut needs to be clean and even. The reasons for not doing this is it looks odd, the tree will sprout a load of stems from the cut branch, which then looks even odder, and it’s probably not healthy for the tree.

Lastly, don’t wear shorts and a tee-shirt like I did! My arms and legs look like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards…

Hopefully some good news in the pipeline regarding a some funding for tools. Next workday will be back down the greenway where we normally meet up, and we will concentrate on the clearings. Provisionally I am thinking 25th September, but will confirm nearer the time.

Again, thanks to everyone who turned out today. It was hard work but we got a lot done and, learnt a load of stuff on this great adventure of ours. Remember that we are all new to this so it will be a steep learning curve with the more technical points, but keep the faith and we will get there.

Until next time…

Paul