Great workday today and we had some unexpected visitors in the form of two big firemen. Someone had seen the smoke from our bonfire and thought that we were burning the greenway down. We have had a fire almost every workday for the last two years, so it is puzzling as to why the Fire Brigade were called today.

The workday was all about pushing the path back and whilst it was hard work, we could really see the results starting to take shape.

The path between the cuttings before we started. Everything is pushed onto the narrow path which becomes very muddy in the winter.

The same bit of path after we had cut back. As more people use the new path it will become more established.

Basically it is about creating a wide enough path to allow people good access to the greenway and, at the edges of the path we need low shrubbery that will get maximum sunshine throughout the day. You will notice in the second photo that I have left a bank of bramble to create a bit of a windbreak and also this gives that bank a south facing side, as does the path on the other side. You will see better from the next photo.

From the bridge. You can see how the new path switches from right to left to create a natural windbreak and also micro-habitats with full on south-facing edges.

One thing that we didn’t do last summer was keep the cleared sections clear. I was not sure about what we could and could not do in the bird nesting season, but since then I have learnt that it is OK to cut back any growth in the already cleared bits. We just cannot cut trees and scrub back in other areas.

This is basically what we need to do in all the areas where the path is in cutting. Where it is on embankment we just need to clear the new tree growth along the top and keep it pushed back to the edges of the top, whilst maintaining any specimen trees. Most of the path on the embankment is pretty much OK as it is.

Hard at work!!

Thanks to all who turned out today. About seven of us, and whilst it was slow progress, it was nice to see the results of our hard work.

Paul