We can now have workdays but only with two people and very limited tasks. I am not doing anything until the kids are back at school anyway. When they are back I will put my phone number on the workdays and if anyone wants to join me it will have to be on a first-come – first-serve basis. This is a pleasing step in the right direction.
Today I put our third batch of rocks out. They are absolutely superb and hope that they bring a smile to your face.
I hope you enjoy searching for them.
Paul
Batch two of Maggy Anne Rocks have gone in…
A link to the facebook page is here https://www.facebook.com/Maggy-Anne-Rocks-102238844924141/
Some are well hidden and some are easy to find. Go have fun searching for them!!
Paul
Not really a workday, just a stroll and seeing what needs fixing…
Got permission to create a hole in the hedge to connect with a Right of Way up to Dunchurch Nature Trail.
This is Right of Way R168x which has been the bane of my life for the last 10 years…
We have a new partner Maggy Anne Rocks https://www.facebook.com/Maggy-Anne-Rocks-102238844924141/ so please like the page and spread the love.
Loads more good stuff coming your way.
We keep trying to make this place the best ever experience for everyone.
Paul
This week was just a bit of “light touch” maintenance. Actually staining one of the picnic benches.
I will give it another coat and do the underside, on my next visit.
It was a good time to enjoy the path. Over the last ten years, we have cleared a horribly overgrown and nasty rubbish tip and turned it into an interesting biodiverse nature trail.
We have permission to route around the corner of the field near the irrigation pond to get to Dunchurch Nature Trail, and all of the Right of Way paths that lead from this. Please do not trespass onto the land around the irrigation pond.
There is further to venture, or just enjoy the Cawston Nature Trail for what it is.
These are the guides that we work from. Written by experts who understand how to create a balance between totally wild, managed scrub control and a path that is usable by the general public.
Sustrans are still advising that no group workdays can take place. As soon as I hear that we are allowed back as groups I will post up regular weekly workdays again.
Plenty of good stuff in the pipeline that I am just itching to share, but I do not want to spoil the surprise. Keep your eyes peeled!!
Paul
Sustrans have given us the green light to work on the disused railway, but not as a group (unless from the same household) and only to do very light work. A great step forwards.
I started at Potford Dam and have been slowly making my way up the path snipping back brambles. I have got to Berrybanks so far.
There is plenty of evidence where others have been lightly cutting back, or picking up litter, so well done everyone.
The greenway is getting a huge amount of use over this last few months and this is keeping it pretty open and wide. Plenty of people thanking us as a team for creating it, too.
I have tried to capture the amazingness of the path with a couple of video-clips.
It is just another level of interest that might engage people. I will get a handlebar camera for my bike and see what fun I can have with that.
THE DUNCHURCH BIT
Those who know me, will know that I am near-obsessive that a path must lead somewhere, and not just peter out in the middle of nowhere.
With this in mind, I have hooked up to the Dunchurch Bridleway that connects with National Cycle Network 41 and takes the route onwards towards Leamington Spa, or cuts back into Dunchurch with plenty of Rights of Way paths to get back to Cawston.
I snipped back bramble runners on the Dunchurch Bridleway bit so it is all good to go.
Great to be back out there and really looking forward to when we are allowed to become a working group again.
Paul
Just managed to catch up with my emails and Sustrans are asking for no volunteering that involves social interaction.
We can do stuff on an individual basis, but not together.
Dave, Marcus and Paul made it this week and we got a load of wildflower seeds down. It was hedge bedstraw and lady’s bedstraw that David from Sustrans gave us last year. This is a good food source for our bloody nosed beetles. I also had a load of locally collected wildflower seeds. however, I cannot remember what they are apart from ox-eye daisy.
It will be a nice surprise in the summer!!
Other than that, we just had a general tidy up and coffee break.
And kept the bird feeders topped up.
Well, that’s it. I feel quite deflated but our health is the most important thing to consider.
I will keep everyone posted.
Paul
Spring has sprung, right out of a railway carriage. It must have been a bumpy ride for the rest of the journey…
Our great friend Andrew has made us five more bird-boxes. We have placed these between Berrybanks and where the path that runs behind Henry Hinde Junior School, from Apple Grove park, and joins the greenway.
As an aside, I went to Henry Hinde Junior School and us children would wave at the passing trains pulling a cargo of whatever to Rugby Portland Cement (now Cemex). We always got a friendly wave back.
Anyway, Jana, Danielle, Aaron, Marcus and Paul got the bird-boxes up. They need to be facing between North and East so as not to catch the sun and cook any eggs, be high enough to deter human tampering and have a clear flight path in and out so predators cannot sit outside the box waiting for chicks to fledge.
Marcus and Aaron tried to move a fallen tree, or cut a path around it.
Trying to move it was impossible. The whole tree is being held up by a much smaller tree. People have started to go under the tree as they walk the path. Please go up and over. If it suddenly gives way you might be trapped under it for a long time!!! We made a path over at the root end.
We have done loads of work on the northern end of the path. We have benches and clearings, bird-boxes and bridges. We are committed to making the whole length of the greenway a really good experience.
Next one is Wednesday starting at the clearing where the Cawston Bridleway crosses and putting down an annual cornfield mix in the bench clearings. This will add a blast of colour and attract insects and birds.
I would like late spring and summer workdays to have an element of identifying and recording flora and fauna. I appreciate that this is not for everyone, so we will work out a way to accommodate everybody.
Great work today,
Paul
This was our much-awaited workshop day for young autistic adults. It was also creating our group seating area.
Firstly, many thanks to the people who supported us with these two projects. We could not have done it without you.
Chris, Reece, Kerrie, Marcus and myself turned out for the morning and what a great morning it was.
Chris learnt loads of new skills that he can reuse on the next workshop.
We got the four benches made and in the ground. I like the look of it. Groups can use the space to meet and chill.
The coffee was a welcome relief, with coconut macaroons this week.
Chris getting his first-ever pay-packet!!
The end result.
Here are the video links for the morning.
Loads to take in and lots to take forwards. We all really enjoyed the workshop and look forward to the next one.
Paul
We have our young adults with autism workshop, on Wednesday 4th March – more about this later.
We had Matt, Tom, Mick, Marcus and myself on our weekender and we carried on chopping back the ground-ivy. It’s a tough job because the stuff just does not want to give up!!
However, we have cleared a good stretch and if we mow it once or twice, we should be able to keep it pushed back. Hopefully, grass and violets will grow on the bare earth but if there is no sign of life by the end of March, we can seed with a cornfield mix. We will try and extend the cleared ground by a few more meters every year.
The little stretch needs a bench, and by chance, we have a spare one. The view is to die for.
The bird-feeders are topped up and keeping the birds happy and the squirrels out.
We have a busy March with fallen trees to clear, more bird-boxes to put up around the new benches on the northern end of the path, thanks to Andrew for kindly making them, and we need to seed the bare earth around the benches with all the local wildflower seeds collected last year. We also need to map where all the nesting boxes are before the leaves are back on the trees and the bird-nesting season starts.
Myself, Kerrie and Marcus have put together a project to help young adults with autism to build benches. After a bit of trial and error, we are ready to go with our first workshop on 4th March. It has been a crazy learning experience and put me out of my comfort zone quite a few times. The aim is to teach new skills, build confidence, help people to feel like they are contributing towards their local community and, earn a bit of cash. We are massively new to this so any pointers, advice or support would be very much appreciated.
Weather for Wednesday is looking OK and the location is on the photo.
Massively looking forward to this and creating a little bit of workshop space where we can sell the benches locally.
Paul
Cawston Greenway 