We finally made it to the end of the month. It seems like day 131 but is actually just day 31. In my mind, if I had designed a yearly calendar, I like to think that after a couple of years I would have put my hand up and admitted that I had made a mistake in making January so long, and rehashed the whole thing so summer months were longer and winter months were shorter.

It was probably the Romans who invented it and maybe admitting a mistake meant a trip to the Colosseum to fight lions or Spartacus…

But anyway, it’s all behind us for another year, so onwards we go.

This week we started at our bench called Bethel and worked backwards to where we finished last week.

It’s all about creating scallops, keeping the path wide so it stays dry, creating windows along the edge, and habitat piles with the cuttings, for insects and spiders.

Our YouTube from bench to bench.

We also did a litter-pick from where we started, northwards.

As mentioned last week, we have a surprise – a new addition to our coffee break.

Look at these beauties…

A very special all-terrain vehicle on our all-terrain mugs!!

This is HUE166, the very first Land Rover to roll off the production line in 1948. Nicknamed Huey and of course, is world famous. This is where the Land Rover story started.

I spotted some fungi whilst litter-picking.

And we had another tree come down. This one had tangled itself up with another one and people were walking underneath it.

When I released the tension the thing hit the ground with such a sudden and quick thump that it surprised me, even though I was expecting it and had my feet well clear. Please don’t walk under things like this and risk getting squished.

We also got a couple of old refurbished bird-boxes up, and a new one that Andrew made, to go with the new bench in the clearing that George is making.

We need to do a woodland tree audit in the spring/summer so we know what we have. That will be fun.

Lastly, I bumped into a chap from the Woodland Trust in one of their woods and explained what we are doing, which is trying to make a trail through a pretty woody linear disused railway-line, and make it feel like a wood. He gave me four bits of advice. 1, make the path as wide as possible to get maximum biodiversity. 2, make the path as wriggly as possible to stop the wind-tunnel effect that a straight path will create. 3, create as many scallops as possible to maximise the length of the edges and create micro-habitats for bees, butterflies and other insects. 4, thin, thin and thin the trees to allow what is left to grow to maturity.

That’s about it for this week.

Until next time!