The days are slowly getting longer, and the temperature is slowly rising. I think we were at about 11 degrees C today, but the mornings always start pretty cold at about 4 or 5 degrees.

I had ordered my weekly quota of sunshine from the weatherman, and eleven trailbusters turned out for 22 man-hours of work.

Reece, Dave, Ian, Andrew, Martin, David, Matt, Steve, Mark, Ram, and Paul made it, for some final crown lifting of mature trees before they start to bud up, strim the sides of the path so people can walk two-abreast, and put in a very special bench.

The bench has a history. It was given to us by a lady in Cawston. Marcus and myself carried it from her garden to Marcus’s garage, where Marcus restored it. We then carried it to the greenway and had a few years of use out of it. It then became worse for wear and we used it for bits for other benches that were failing, before a lad called Max wanted to do his Duke of Edinburgh Award with us in 2022, so we asked him to make something of the bits of timber that were left of the bench. He made three small benches that stood the test of time for a few years.

Sadly, some heavy-footed oaf decided to smash the benches up, probably about 18 months ago, so we made a bench out of the bits of broken wood and gave it its fourth incarnation in 2024.

Once again, some big-footed berk decided to kick it over, and it has been left hidden in the undergrowth for 6 months or so.

That is, until now…

It’s not the prettiest thing, but it has been with us, in one form or another, for a long, long time. And the view from here makes it even more special. This is its fifth go, so you can see, we recycle, repair, and reuse as much as we can.

The bench will have huge significance in early May. I cannot say anything more than that at the moment, but just keep that date in mind…

We broke for coffee, and Matt brought some rather nice chocolate as a treat.

Very nice with Easter just around the corner.

And then we cracked on with getting the path width to where it needs to be.

The birds are now actively looking for nesting sites, so this will be the last one where we are getting into the scrub. From now onwards, it is just about keeping the path width and enjoying the spring and summer.

Luckily, we have a lot of batteries for the strimmers.

I think there are about 17 in total, and we used 15 of them. The strimmers are very power-hungry.

Lastly, before-and-after shots that Martin took.

We are so happy to see this bench back in use.

In other news, Nathan and Steve did a session of crown lifting at the weekend.

This will allow sunlight onto the path and also allow people to look out across the countryside. A really good job.

Jacquie, the lovely lady who gave us a bench last year, has done ten buy-me-a-coffees, so that is £50 that we can do something with. We have plans, so watch this space, and thank you so much, Jacquie.

We have started staining the benches – remember, this month is all about getting the trial ready for the wow factor in April and onwards.

And the usual litter-picks, of course.

Dunchurch Bridleway

Three of us met up and tried to herd water.

It actually started to make a difference, so hopefully it will help to dry the ground out.

Down the path was looking better, but still pretty waterlogged.

Only warm weather can save us…

But at least we had some decent biscuits to munch on.

I can safely say that they saved the day!

Next one is putting Mick’s Sunset Bench back in, which is next Wednesday.

Until next time!

Paul