Firstly let’s talk about this bench. We inherited the frames from Rugby Borough Council in February 2011. They were surplus to requirements so they asked us if we would like to recycle them. The fact that they are made out of recycled car tyres means they were on their third journey with us, back then.

The bench went missing in 2013 and was later discovered down the bank and in a den made by the then youths. It had become quite rickety so moving it back up the bank seemed more trouble than it was worth.

Twelve years later, the bench is restored and now on its fourth incarnation.

Decent views across Lawford Heath, bird nesting boxes can be spotted from it, and good views up and down the path as well. The seats are a little “springy” so we might beef them up slightly. It depends on how we feel about throwing a tiny bit more money at it.

But all-in-all, we are very happy with it.

So that segways us nicely onto nesting boxes.

This season I decided to recycle all the old nesting boxes. Most are on the edges of the path and are out of view, and most have been ravaged by woodpeckers around the holes and are not very securely attached. I sorted the last five out this week.

We have 25mm holes for blue tits, 28mm holes for great tits and open boxes for robins. In total across the 2-miles of the path, there are over 50 nesting boxes. It’s going to be a ruckus in Spring!!

I have also mapped all the nesting boxes with what3words.com so we can monitor them when it greens up again and can no longer spot the boxes from the path.

Next, we have Charlie doing his DofE Silver Award. Charlie is creating a wildflower clearing by the Heath View bench and it’s coming on very well.

It’s just another area where the scrub opens up to wildflower-rich grassland and enhances biodiversity massively. Super job so far, Charlie.

Next we go to geocaching. I really thought this was a complete gimmick when I set it up in January last year… How wrong I was!

We have had people coming from as far at Nottingham and even Cork in Ireland to do the Dino Trail. How amazing is that!! I have cleaned out all the caches and put new logs in them ready for the 2023 season. How many times do you think they have been discovered over the last year? Over 1,500 times!! And I thought it was just a gimmick!!

Lastly (was that a collective “phew” I just heard), support us by buying a mug or fridge-magnet, become a Patron or buy-me-a-coffee.

Every last penny helps and keeps us happy with biscuits and coffee. But seriously, a dull green corridor is not my idea of fun and we have always aimed at trying to make the greenway a little bit more than this.

Our YouTube of the area.

Well that’s about it for this week. We have a really good piece coming on “joining in” so watch this space.

Until next time!

Paul