I’ve never known anything like the weather that we’re getting at the moment.

It’s glorious wall-to-wall sunshine, and the temperature easily got to about 34C (93F) at the peak of the day.

Eleven sun-seeking superheroes turned out to add twenty-two man-hours of work to our lovely railway path. Reece, Dave, Marcus, Ian, Steve, Ram, Mark, Andrew, Matt, David, and Paul.

We split into two groups. Bench fixers and path strimmers.

For the strimming, we possibly did about 400 metres because it was more about getting the entry points clear and welcoming.

There really is no point in making the path nice if people have to fight to get on and off.

We fixed the first of two benches that were showing signs of wear and tear.

We stained the new wood so that it blends in and looks the part.

A much-needed coffee and biscuits at half-time.

Reece did the honours with the coffee whilst we all enjoyed the views up and down the path. The rosebay-willow herb is looking divine.

We cracked on with more strimming to keep the path edges clear.

We really don’t want to go back to that narrow path where everyone was brushing past the nettles and getting stung to death.

The second bench got a good stiffener.

Again, the wood stain makes it all blend in and look natural.

The picnic benches are getting on for 10 years old, so they are doing really well, but we are all starting to feel that they are getting to that point where they are beyond repair.

We also stained the rest of the benches on the northern end.

It’s a horrible job, but one of my major bugbears is wooden benches that don’t look fresh and welcoming.

The harsh sunlight is making some of the photos look a bit washy, but they all looked much better.

We litter-picked on the southern end.

It’s just about keeping it welcoming and decent for our users, so they actually get some benefit from using the path. If there is litter everywhere, people are going to get really wound up when they are trying to chill out…

Lastly, our flood defence area has totally dried up!!

I’m just waiting for the hosepipe bans and drought warnings to start.

Far Popehill Spinney:

The path to the National Cycle Network 41 seems to be open and passable, and the person doing the work where it floods is cracking on with it.

I think using old tyres to raise the path level??

Further south, it is looking a bit more settled.

The first two photos are the Right-of-Way that crossed the railway path and goes into the spinney.

Drainage issues need to be overcome here.

Loads of stuff in the pipeline, and fingers crossed, we get a few decisions that go our way. One of the nice things about being an eternal optimist is that you never give up hoping and pushing forward.

The next one is at Dunchurch this Friday, starting at Windmill Lane, and then we are back next week at Potford Dam.

Thanks for being here if you got this far.

Until next time!

Paul