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Seven wildlife warriors made it today. Matt, Reece, Dave, Steve, Ian, Martin, and Paul, and we pushed on with our alternative path that runs for about 220 metres between two benches.

Next to the path on the easterly side is a huge swathe of grassland that is encouraged to grow as a wildflower meadow every summer. We want to create windows in the scrappy edges of our trail so people can enjoy views of the wildflowers and bring a load of sunlight onto our path.

We called it the Hawthorn Trail because most of the trees along it are hawthorn, so we will get a lot of early white blossom in spring.

But today was not for admiring the blossom or greenery. We set about opening up the edge.

It started out quite misty and foggy but soon cleared. As you can see, there are houses in the background. On our eastern side is a housing development and to our western side is the countryside.

Here is our YouTube of the path.

What I love about winter is that we can see the bare bones of everything. We can shape the path and do stuff while thinking about how it might look when it all greens up.

I think we might need to signpost this path so more people use it. For me, it’s a bit of an adventure, a little bit secret and somewhere that I can go and lose myself safe in the knowledge that I will not be interrupted. But it needs the footfall to wear the path flat. Some of it is at a slight slope.

Matt summed it up perfectly today. Kids can go down there and let their imaginations run wild, whilst parents can amble along the top path and meet them as they pop out at the other end.

We broke for our pick-me-up juice and had to settle for rather run-of-the-mill custard cream biscuits.

But they were good to share and gave us the energy to carry on.

We also made habitat piles with the wood that we were cutting back.

It all helps nature to find a home and be happy.

We have Snowdrops starting to push up so that gives us a good feeling that warmer weather is on the way.

However, between now and spring we have a problem. Or maybe we should call it a test.

There is this thing called a “weather bomb” that hits the UK on Friday.

Lots and lots of rain. This is going to test our plumbing at Berrybanks to the max!!

You can see how dry it has become now that the water goes where it is supposed to.

Please let us not return to the huge lake that stops so many people using the path!!

There is a mixture of excitement and worry coursing through my veins at the moment!!

On Friday we are putting in a couple of really decent benches along the Dunchurch part if the weather is not too bad.

I will share our exploits next week.

Until then!

Paul