Who would have thought that we would be turning out once a week, every week, for such a long time? Sixteen years under our belts – 832 workdays (appox 10,000 man-hours), and 52 more workdays for this coming year. Incredible commitment.

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We have the northern part of the path turning eastwards. If east to west is our flat line, we are at 31 degrees to it. This means that the northerly bank will get sun for most of the day.

And the northerly-facing side gets a little tickle of sunshine in the late afternoon, from about 3pm as far as I can tell, and the evening, but the main part of the day has our southerly-facing side awash with sunshine and a real hot zone.

We started the week by calling in the professionals.

We just needed that little bit of oomph to get us going.

It was a cold start.

We need to get rid of the overhanging trees on the edge of the path, so that sunlight can get to the path floor and the bank on the other side.

At the moment, it is always in the shade and just a pretty dead and damp space.

Jamie at JR Tree Care did a superb job on the first 150 metres. We now have to decide if we can afford to have him back to do the remaining 150 metres before the bird nesting season starts.

Thanks to all the buy-me-a-coffee donations over the last few months that went towards this.

We couldn’t do it without you.

We regrouped today to tidy up and kinda get a focus on what we are trying to achieve.

What we want is the whole of this bank to be a prime habitat for bees, butterflies and moths. Bear this in mind, and I will show you what we hope to achieve towards the end of this post.

Seven of us made it today and cracked on. Marcus, Steve, Matt, Reece, Mark, Martin, and Paul. We’re trying to manage all the brash into some sort of a hedge, and the bigger logs into piles.

It just seemed like an endless task today…

We’re trying to make scallops that will keep the warmth in pockets along the edge as the sun pushes around throughout the day.

It looks messy. There is no two ways to say it, but just have a bit of faith.

We broke for coffee and bacon rolls at half-time.

Much-needed hot food, and then cracked on…

We can see the sunlight starting to work its way in, even with it being so low in the sky.

It will all green up. Trust me…

This is what an established butterfly habitat looks like.

The path runs in a north-westerly trajectory, which gives us a lot of hope with our near south-facing aspect.

Loads of work to do, so we decided to camp on our section for the next few weeks/months and just get it as clear as possible.

It’s gonna be worth it.

We also litter-picked to keep it a pleasant place to walk, unwind, and de-stress.

Lastly, a new fungus popped up

Sheathed Woodtuft, according to my ID app.

We’ve got loads to do over the next two months, but with our “can-do” attitude, I’m sure we will get to where we need to be.

Here is something funny to keep us laughing.

Next one is this Friday on the Dunchurch bit, releasing the veteran trees from the scrub, and then back here for the foreseeable…

Until next time!

Paul