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We feel like we are really up against it at the moment. Literally nine days before the bird nesting season starts, when we flip from cutting back, to just managing the path width and doing all the spring jobs like re-staining the benches and fixing anything that is broken.

The first job is to make sure our “estate” of 55 bird-nesting boxes are all secure and ready for the birds to do their thing.

Quite a few had worked loose and a few had come down and needed a rebuild. It’s all fun and games as we get ready for spring!!

I had promised sausages on the camping stove but the rain, and the amount of distance that we needed to cover, kinda put paid to that. It will happen though.

I’ve been madly trying to take out the height of the scrub so that we have bramble hedges.

It needs to be cut short and hedge-like with occasional trees along it.

I know the view ain’t great, but it’s better than feeling hemmed in. When it greens up it’s like being in a green tunnel.

What we kinda want is a hedgerow with individual trees that are allowed to mature and act as staging posts for wildlife to jump across from one to the other, and high roosts for owls, buzzards and hawks to look across the fields in their hunt for prey.

The scrub is mostly aged bramble that is never going to fruit up again. It needs to be cut right back and then cut on a rotational basis every three years, whilst the trees and shrubs that will form a more permanent hedge are allowed to flourish.

Andrew has made the Geocaching trail along the Dunchurch Bridleway. This will bring a lot of much needed footfall.

This will be such fun in the spring and summer. Thank you, Andrew.

Today eight wildlife superheroes braved the cold. Marcus, Reece, Dave, Ian, Steve, George, Martin, and Paul. We wanted to make our triangular bench set a bit of a suntrap so we set about creating openings to allow shafts of sunlight to hit the benches.

Whilst we had sunshine first thing today, it clouded over before the sun came round. I look forward to sitting here and basking in full sun in the next month or two with a flask of coffee and bacon cooking on the stove.

We also got rid of a few trees that had fallen and got snagged with upright ones.

The trees that are curving into the path will have to go at some point. Because the area behind them has not been kept clear and they have grown where the light is. Such a shame but this is what happens when woodland is left unmanaged.

We also made habitat piles for insects and small mammals with all the cuttings.

This is going to be so good for wildlife. Plenty of timber to burrow into or under and make a home.

We enjoyed coffee and biscuits on our break, and a good laugh was had.

It’s that bonding, and friendship, and stuff, that is so important for all of our mental wellbeing.

It’s becoming such an issue that someone has made a parody of it here…

Whilst it’s obviously a joke, there is some truth to it. If you feel that maybe you are lacking in male friendships, do something about it.

My obsession with flowing water seems to be following me around now. We stopped the flooding but a weird drain has started flowing onto the path.

Slightly annoying but hopefully it will stop as quickly as it started.

Just for fun, I asked ChatGPT to create a picture of the greenway.

If we look like this in the summer we will be very happy…

Lastly, we have a new tool!!

Tool Talk Wednesday

This beast allows us to reach across or up, and get the bits that we cannot normally clear.

It’s a bit unwieldy and works the arm and shoulder muscles very well, especially when fully extended. I had a free half-hour this afternoon so went back and lopped off some of the higher stuff.

That’s about it for this week.

Next one is on Friday at Dunchurch and then next week is our last session cutting back for this season.

Until then!

Paul