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Six of us turned out today with the promise of a bacon roll. Steve, Matt, Reece, Dave, Martin, and Paul (we also had a cameo from another Dave who was interested to see what we get up to). We came armed with strimmers because all we can do at the moment is keep the path edge pushed back.

The thing that really is starting to become evident is that our strips, or margins, are simply not wide enough. The wildflower-rich grass is squeezed between scrub and the path edge. It’s not a problem, we can manage the scrub in the autumn and create deeper scallops.

I needed a little help, so I visited a railway path managed by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.

The grassy bit is so much wider. This gives us a bit of a plan for later in the year.

We also need to be coppicing 10% of the trees every year on a rotational basis. We have far too many trees that look like beanpoles because they are all fighting for the same space.

It’s going to be a busy winter!!

We’re strimming to stop the vegetation encroaching onto the path.

It just makes it a far better walking or cycling experience, and means that people can enjoy the views, rather than having to watch where they are walking all the time. The woods are in the background of the third picture. Somewhere that I would truly love to get my hands on…

We broke for the aforementioned bacon rolls.

Scranelicious.

We also strimmed around the benches. Remember that each bench is supposed to be a little oasis in a sea of gently waving wildflowers.

We can kinda see that starting to shape up even now. And we have a load of rosebay willowherb pushing up, so the height will be there very soon.

The grass is as close to the ground as possible because the last thing that anyone needs is critters going up trouser legs and biting the fleshy skin on the back of their shins, or worse, getting ants in their pants.

It’s a good place to be if we keep wildlife and man in their lanes. It’s when these two come out of their lanes that things start to get messy.

Lastly, we litter-picked 1.6 miles of the trail.

A pretty empty bag, which is very pleasing.

A good morning with a lot of ground covered.

Dunchurch Bridleway

Just me and Ian on this last Friday and we went back to the start and carried on just knocking the path back.

We’re just making it about 1.5 metres wide and not bothering the nectar-rich wildflowers and wildlife on the rest of the path.

There’s plenty of space for man and nature to share together and not get in each other’s way.

We broke for coffee and biscuits and enjoyed the views.

Photo number three is the woods, again.

There is an AllTrails path that takes people along the greenway, then along the bridleway, and back through the woods, as a decent circular walk. Click the AllTrails link to see it.

Next week we are back down Berrybanks doing a bit more rainwater management.

Until then!

Paul