Last week I was getting a bit stressed about how we navigate the lake that has been stubbornly sitting across the whole path for months. It’s one of those situations that kinda takes up residence at the back of your mind and slowly gnaws away at you. However, the luck of the gods has been with us since the back end of last week in so much that it hasn’t rained at all, and the forecast is saying that it is not going to rain for a week or two.

The torrential river that has plagued us for weeks has turned into a mere dribble and we have reclaimed back a lot of our land.

We carried on with the pushing back because we want the path width through the summer, and to ensure the path is usable if the thing floods again. We also made habitat piles with the cuttings. These will be super homes for spiders and all sorts of lovely insects.

Once we got around the lake the rest of the path is dry and wide enough, so our work at this end is complete for now.

We might return later in the year with shovels and try to create soakaways towards the edges, but for now, I’m just happy to be moving on. As I think I may have mentioned previously, I don’t like spending too much time in the same area.

We broke for coffee and the last of the Christmas cookies and thought it a good time to revisit our three core values…

A Path For Everyone

Creating a path that is accessible for walkers, cyclists, joggers, families, pushchairs, mobility buggies. Wide enough so people can pass comfortably or walk two abreast, can see far enough ahead so as not to feel intimidated, plenty of benches to stop at and rest. Areas for youth and areas for families to enjoy a picnic. Geocaching and dino trail activities. Duke of Edinburgh Bronze, Silver and Gold Award Assessor.

A Wildlife Corridor

Joined up habitat for wildlife. Plenty of sunshine and clearings for wildflowers. Bird boxes and bat boxes. A bird feeding station. Biodiversity is maximised by rotational clearing of scrubby bramble to allow wildflower-rich grassy areas.

A Safe Place For Mental Wellbeing

Doing the workdays with a positive purpose, a reason, and a goal, is so good for mental health. But just using the greenway to walk or cycle, to have a little less screen time and a little more green time is so good for all of us. Connecting with nature reduces stress and anxiety.

Well that’s about it for this week, except for one last thing, ah-ha, what could it be, I hear you thinking. Well just another country tuning in to read the blog!!

Someone from Latvia dropped by. That’s 126 countries now. It’s probably a bit like collecting stamps. Totally boring and pointless to everyone except those who do it. But it is just a tincy wincy bit addictive though.

Some exciting other news to share next week so watch this space!!

Until then!