Today was incredibly stressful due to oldest child going up to secondary school and today was his first day. It has been a stressy slow-burn getting here and suddenly the ratchet notched up to the max as the day finally arrived. It all turned out OK, of course, and I am sure most of us have been there.

For me and Kerrie, there is a no better way to try to dissipate that stress than a session on the greenway.

I am allowing myself to be heavily influenced by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and their woodland management guides. Basically it is all about varied canopy, lots of sunlight, the woodland edge, not overcrowding trees, and paths so people can actually enjoy the woodland.

So with this in mind, we eased back the heavy growth on the edge of the path to help the dappled sunlight hit the ground.

Some people might say, “oh but the view is of houses…” but it’s not really about the houses, it’s about the wildlife on that edge.

This is not what we want…

An old oak tree having a load of other stuff trying to grow through it causing all sorts of stress.

From the Woodland Trust: Oak, English (Quercus robur)

The ruling majesty of the woods, the wise old English oak holds a special place in our culture, history, and hearts. It supports more life than any other native tree species in the UK; even its fallen leaves support biodiversity.

So there you go!! We really need to be giving our large trees the space and room to grow without competition.

To finish, here is us lot having a cuppa and cookies!! Seven of us today (me and Mick out of shot) – a good turn-out.

We carry on working on this bit next week. It’s starting to look pretty blooming good as a secondary walk and we will make it open and non-intimidating, like the top path.

If you want to join in, be a patron, or support us by buying us biscuits (Lotus Biscoff are my faves), you know the drill….

Until next week!

Paul