Hopefully, this will be the last session down this end for a couple of weeks. I for one tend to get itchy feet when we are committing a lot of our time in a single place.

Six of us met up and we made a second triangle of benches, and made an area that we feel is suitable for Forest School and Bushcraft skills.

Thanks to Andrew, who let us use his driveway to drop off all the heavy stuff, and the lend of a sack-barrow and wheelbarrow to get said heavy stuff onto the path.

We had to make our way across the cow field.

That was errr, interesting, in a buttock-clenching sort of way… But actually, the young bullocks showed nothing more than a slightly bemused interest.

George and Dave got the benches in, whilst the rest of us cut a massive pile of sticks to allow dens and shelters to be built.

If you ever find yourself lost in the wilderness, there are three things that you need to guarantee your survival – FOOD, WATER, and SHELTER.

Thank me later when you’re tucked up in a wooden teepee feasting on a roasted grey squirrel.

The benches are the usual “goalpost” design and made with tanalised (pressure-treated) timber to ward off any rot, and they are each held together with eleven 80 mm screws, so if a naughty non-grey squirrel tries to damage them, there is a high chance of personal injury.

My poor neighbours probably think I have turned my back garden into a timber yard!!

We broke for coffee and flapjack at the halfway point.

And gave the benches the usual baptism of caffeine.

Hopefully, the school that we are behind will allow the kids to do a bit of Forest School, or mums and dads can just enjoy a cheeky coffee whilst their children build things and play.

Many thanks to Pauline, Wendy and Andrew for the buy-me-a-coffee donations to make this area happen.

Here is our YouTube of the path.

We now have 75 subscribers so we are growing very slowly.

Dunchurch Bridleway

I had to cancel the workday due to childcare duties on Friday, but I did grab a few little pockets of time here and there.

Just 200 metres to go until the Solstice turn and then about 50 metres on the path that leads off to the cafe. It’s just really tough and coarse grass, so progress is slow, but once it’s done it’s just a case of keeping on top of it and slowly widening this part to about 2 metres.

I also strimmed around the three benches to keep them accessible.

It’s coming together nicely and I think the next session will have the path totally open.

It was good to finally try out our hedge-trimmer and it really works well.

We need to open up the two loops and then work out how to connect with the greenway.

The point of the westerly red dot is where the new spine road goes from the roundabout, northwards to the Potford Dam roundabout. We can follow the cycle path along this new road, or push on westward and try to connect to the greenway somewhere.

Something to think about over the winter.

Until next time!

Paul