A bit of an odd one today where we kinda went sideways, as well as lengthways, along the path.

Our first job was to give the Brook View bench an actual view of the brook.

It’s quite hard to make out in the photo, but there is a healthy little stream at the bottom of the slope. We could have cleared the whole bank, but really we just wanted a little window so that people can sit and simply enjoy the view if they so wish.

Plus, working at what felt like a sixty-degree angle was not the best. Luckily Steve left six-inch stumps to grab hold of and help to stop a bumpy slide into the stream, which would have resulted in a very soggy bottom.

We did a bit more work on the scallops and we really need to make sure that we don’t strim into them next spring and summer.

Hopefully, the photos show how the scallops swing from side to side. We need bare earth so grass and wildflowers will grow in each of the semicircles, and when the bramble greens up it all feels like it fits together and flows.

Personally, I still think we need to go in a little deeper, but this is new and we are just sort of working it out as we go.

The path where we were working today.

It feels like a really safe place to be and we are all really happy with how it looks.

Our YouTube to give a better visual idea of what we are looking like.

It had started raining when I recorded this, but hey-ho!!

After a quick slurp of pick-me-up-juice…

…we did a bit of work on the side path that runs next to the wildflower meadow between us and the houses.

It’s a 200 metre alternative path for people who are not keen on the there-and-back linear path. This is our attempt at making a circular path along a very straight railway line. And opening up this side of the path to sunlight is, of course, superb for wildlife.

Down the line a new cycle bridge has gone in.

This is just south of Marton and if the new cycle path follows the old railway it will connect to us at Potford Dam. I’m just not sure about the last bit between the A45 and Potford Dam.

Dunchurch Bridleway

I don’t know who started cutting back the bridleway west of the new road by the warehouses, but I finished it. The whole bridleway is open, but goes nowhere. In days past it would have been a spur from the A45 London Road to Northampton.

One cannot help but imagine how many people have trudged up and down this path in times past.

We also strimmed around our benches and trimmed the first loop (Windmill Loop) to keep it open. Thank you Wickes DIY for the ongoing support.

I’m really grateful to the farmer for keeping the Public Right of Way open.

This was the last bit – before and after…

Every single person who I have met on this bridleway, whilst working to clear it, has heaped a ton of praise on me. You know what, sometimes it can feel like we’re changing the status quo or just doing stuff and people don’t like it. But here, everyone seems very happy to have this path back in use.

However, still a lot of grumbling about how it connects to the railway path and the state of the scrub south of Potford Dam, but I’m working on a solution.

Next week we are at the Oak Tree bench pushing back those scallops.

Until then!

Paul