We were back up to our normal numbers this week. Eight of us turned out. Steve, Mark, Martin, Ian, Dave, Reece, David, and Paul. Five of us went southwards to keep the connector between the Cawston path and the Dunchurch path open.

Loads of people coming past so it is getting the use that we hoped for. It’s all about people having a safe traffic-free environment to enjoy, whilst connecting the communities of Cawston and Dunchurch.

The remaining three of us did a bit of bench maintenance. It had become a bit too wobbly so we battened it down.

It was pretty solid after we had put in about 60 screws!!

We also cut back a load of bramble.

This stuff just never gives up. We can see where we cut it back last time, and it just throws out more shoots, almost in defiance. Our old mate, Mick, would take ages kinda weaving his way back along the stem all the way to the root and hit it there. It would take him ages, but I am starting to see that there was a method in what seemed like madness.

We broke for brunch and enjoyed sausage and red onion batches, and a good old slurp of hot coffee. The views here across the heath are good. I could quite easily bring the stove, a good book, a decent bit of scran, and just while away a few hours doing absolutely nothing…

Very nice…

If someone would like to sponsor our bacon batch brunch next week, just smash the buy-me-a-coffee link and we will love you forever. If you do, please leave your first name so we can give you a shout out on the blog next week.

I visited a reserve north of Rugby later in the day to give us a bit of an idea of what we eventually want to look like in the cuttings.

I acknowledge that we need to be careful with the tree cover acting as a buffer for the road noise, so don’t panic if you think that we are going to start chopping all the trees down. We are just trying to create the zone between the path and the scrub and trees that is wildflower-rich and attracts butterflies and bees.

I also visited the other end of our railway path. We are on the disused Rugby to Leamington Spa railway line and a lot of work has happened at the other end.

At some point it will connect with us at Potford Dam, our most southerly bit. The bridge spans the line of the HS2 (High Speed Railway) that is being built, and the mounds of gravel are the foundations for the cycle bridge to get across the Fosse Way, an old Roman road. We can see how the path is raised slightly to get over the flooded bits, with ponds on either side so wildlife can thrive.

It’s all good stuff!!

Dunchurch Bridleway

Ian, Ruby, and Paul turned out last Friday and kept pushing the path back so people are able to see where they are going and feel safe using it. Apparently, if people cannot see a good 100 metres ahead of themselves on a country path, they start to feel a bit unsettled and anxious. This is why we aim to push our paths out to about three metres in width, eventually. And it’s all about cyclists and pedestrians having space to share without bugging each other.

There is plenty to do on this bit, but I think this is our second year, so it feels like we are slowly making progress, and again, plenty of people walking past, so it is getting used.

The real work starts next week. We need to get rid of the overhanging trees so that sunlight can get to the path edges to allow flora and wildlife to thrive.

I have been chomping-at-the-bit to get going so really looking forward to us getting on with it. You can get an idea of what we need to do here – September Jobs.

Well that’s about it for this week. Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Paul