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Nine wildlife warriors (Marcus, Reece, Dave, Ian, Matt, Steve, Nathan, Martin, and Paul) turned out today in what looked like a potential washout.

I’m thinking that we have somehow upset the god of the weather, Zeus, by not offering up enough bacon, but despite it being incredibly wet underfoot, and the path full of puddles, thanks to Storm Bert lashing the UK since the weekend, it didn’t rain on us.

We took protective measures just in case.

But we got off scot-free! Thanks, Zeus for smiling down on us yet again.

We cleared the Cawston Bridleway bridge for easy access before descending onto the greenway.

Looking down from the bridge, we can see the puddles and the slightly higher path on the ground to the left. We cleared this back a bit further just to let the air get to it and dry it out.

Whilst it looks like The Somme at the moment, it will pay dividends when it gets a bit drier, if the sun ever comes out again.

We broke at 11am for the last of the bacon from The Butcher’s of Bilton. We cannot thank them enough for their generous donation. I think we have had four sessions with it.

It’s been an experience learning how to use our new stove. We had issues with the temperatures again today at 3 degrees C, so had to keep swapping out the butane canister with a warmer one, but we got there in the end and everyone had a full belly.

Last week we showed the map of the whole 10k loop. What I am trying to do is create eight loops up to and including the 10k, in baby-step increments, so anyone who is not used to walking can start at the smallest circular trail and build up over time.

I have managed to do the first four trails. The first loop is 1k, the second one is 1.5k, the third one is 1.8k and the fourth one is 3.3k. They all start and finish at The Bear Pub so parking, food, and drinks are available to make it a truly awesome experience.

I kid you not, the pub was a very welcome sight after walking around in continuous loops in the middle of Storm Bert for what seemed like an eternity.

I will try to get the fifth (4.2k), sixth (5.2k), seventh (7.5k) and eighth (10k) loops mapped out on alltrails.com over the next week and then I feel that we have given people the vehicle to help their mental wellbeing by getting out and getting a decent dose of the green stuff.

We are on the Dunchurch Bridleway this Friday. I would suggest parking on the Coventry Road and we can start knocking back the path that goes from Solstice Coffee Shop to the Bridleway, and then work in a westerly direction once we get on the actual bridleway path.

Thinking ahead, we have January and February to clear up and down around Berrybanks, deal with the stream that starts at Berrybanks, and also clear the alternative path called Hawthorn Trail and make it a bit more accessible and obvious.

Great day today.

Until next time!

Paul