Cawston Greenway

Seek and you will find…

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

The wildflower plant ID app (Seek) that David from Sustrans told us about is really coming into its own.

The purists might say that we are cheating and should be scouring books and ID guides, but a lot of what I am seeing and recognising via the app, is actually going into my head and I am retaining it. Half the time, I am just using the app to confirm my first thoughts, so that must be a good thing…?

Today, Marcus, Aaron, Kieran and myself cut back anything trying to jump across the trail, from the underpass to Berrybanks, after Aaron buzzed any low-lying growth with a strimmer.

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This is definitely the lull before the storm. In the autumn we need to cut back the overhanging trees in this section and get some sunlight onto the path.

The banks are doing a pretty good job of looking after themselves though, with a mass of wildflowers, butterflies, damselflies and bees. At some point however, we will need to establish a cutting regime on a three-year cycle, or it will all just turn to unmanaged scrub again. We can work out which 1/3 sections to clear back in September and then create five or so deep scallops across the winter season.

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It’s pretty amazing when we think about the man-hours invested in this section to initially clear it. As soon as we have our benches at either end it will be ‘job done’ and another section that we can be rightly proud of, as we just manage the scrub.

Wildflowers Spotted:

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There are plenty more but just no time to really get into a wildflower or insect hunt today.

Great coffee and cookie break today. There seems to be so much going on and loads to talk about, both with the greenway, the various projects that are linked to it, and the extended path to Leamington Spa and beyond.

All will be revealed as and when things start to come to fruition.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bees, Berrybanks, Black Medick, butterflies, cawston greenway, Damselflies, nature trail, photography, self-heal, wildflowers, Woody Nightshade | Leave a comment

Another Day at the Office

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Victoria, Tom, Marcus and myself managed to cover about half a mile on the trail today. We started at the underpass and worked southwards to the Drummond Road entrance.

We are just keeping bramble runners off the path and picking up any litter at this time of the year.

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Up and down shots looking good.

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I did indulge myself in a little bit of wildlife habitat creation.

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We need to thin the young trees all along this section to get as much dappled sunlight onto the path as possible.

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Our coffee and cookie break was on-the-hoof again, due to no benches on this stretch, but we have a plan, so watch this space.

Loads of people using the path with many showing an interest in joining in. Lots of benefits in doing so and plenty of different things to engage with.

volunteering benefits

In September we are making an insect hotel to enhance the area around bench #2. This adds another layer of interest and biodiversity.

Here is how to make one…

With this in mind, we need to start collecting logs, bricks, bamboo canes, and anything else that creates nooks, crannies and burrowing holes.

Bench #1 has our bird-feeders, bench #2 will be the insect hotel and bird-boxes, bench #3 is our living hedgerow and bench #4 is our wildflower mini-meadow and reed-bed. It’s a pretty diverse and interesting run of different habitats to enjoy.

Until next time!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Bee hotel, bug hotel, bug-life, railway paths, Rugby to Draycote Railway Path, Rugby to Leamington Spa Railway, volunteer work, volunteering | Leave a comment

Thank Heavens For The Coffee

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Well, that was another twenty or so minutes of my life that I will never get back as, once again, I tried and failed to put up our basecamp tarp.

At one point, a passer-by enquired, “What’s it going to be?” I really couldn’t answer because I had become a wrapped-up mess of tent-poles, guy-ropes and a blooming tarpaulin that thought it was a spinnaker in the 2019 Around The World Yachting Final!!

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So I packed up the basecamp kit, cracked open the coffee and comfort-ate all the biscuits, as I stood there in the drizzle, before stomping off northwards with my shears.

I managed to snip back loads of bramble runners, eagerly reaching out onto the path, for about half a mile.

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It also gave me a chance to think about where we are heading with the wildflower meadowy bits.

The annuals will only come up next year if we cultivate the ground. I would rather do that just on the edges and let the grass and perennials develop into a decent wildlife-rich meadow that flip-flops either side of the path. That way we get to keep the scrub and bramble that already plays host to many insects and small mammals, and add-to rather than replace what is already there.

I stopped off at the bird-feeder clearing and watched for activity. Plenty of which there was, but it was people rather than wildlife.

Lovely to see families walking and enjoying the path though, even in the rain!!

Wildflowers Spotted:

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All-in-all, a decent morning despite the early frustrations.

Paul

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Loads Going On…

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Loads going on… Where to start…

David from Sustrans had been in touch – he recommends a new phone app called Seek which helps to recognise wildflowers and wildlife. I used it today and got a Greater Plantain ID. It is down there in the blog… It is fantastic!!

Martyn from Sustrans is organising us signage that will explain the history of the path and what we are doing.

We have CAWSTON GREENWAY workwear tops on the way – this is massively important for people who want to feel part of something. Admirals and Cawston Councillors have earned a place on our SPONSORS page!! Thank-you so much.

Loads more bubbling away… WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Today was rushed, again by me. I am having to pack in too much stuff before the workday and I need to change something. I don’t even have time to put up our basecamp tarp at the moment.

Sharon, Marcus and Aaron got on with snipping back the path from the Drummond Road entrance to the bird-feeder clearing. Loads of fresh bramble trying to grow across the path.

I filled the bird-feeders with Harty’s spicy fat-ball mix. No time to sit and wait for the squirrels though!!

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A decent coffee and cookie break once I had caught up with myself.

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And this is what it’s all about, keeping the path clear and finding the time to chat and connect and stuff.

WILDFLOWERS SPOTTED

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I will probably have to keep muddling through until I move house. After that, I will start to get a bit more with it.

Please bear with me!!

Paul

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Complementary Colours

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It was like nature had put out the bunting to welcome Reece, Marcus and myself back to Berrybanks, a rather appealing purple and yellow theme, and the butterflies loved it too.

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An attractive mixture of St. John’s Wort and Tufted Vetch at first glance.

Loads of bug-life but no time to start chasing them about today.

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A nice curvy path creates little micro-habitats for all sorts of things. Good to see a pair of Bloody-nosed Beetles this far down the path. We just snipped away anything that was looking at growing inwards, which was mainly bramble, and picked up any discarded litter.

No benches in this area so we need a log circle or something like to sit at. I have an idea so watch this space!!

Nice to enjoy a coffee and chat after a good morning of work though, despite some dummy forgetting the biscuits!!

Until next time!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bloody-nosed beetles, chatting, community, cycling, hobbies, mental health, mental well being, photography, Railway path, rambling, Rugby to Draycote Railway Path, Rugby to Leamington Spa Railway, running, St John's Wort, sustrans, tufted vetch, volunteering | Leave a comment

It’s a Balancing Act

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Trying to balance and spin all the plates on the greenway is tough… A bit like life in general I guess, with so many things pulling at you for time and attention.

With the path, it could just be a green corridor from A to B, but we try and balance it with the wildlife habitat bit. This makes it hugely interesting for a wider audience, and the picnic benches help to attract families and encourage people to stop and enjoy the wildlife and views. The workdays themselves are a regular bonding event where we share a coffee and do a bit of work. This is massively helpful for our mental well-being.

It would be incredibly easy for any of us to follow our own biases, preferences and values, I suppose a question that is worth asking is, do we have the balance about right and is there enough on offer to satisfy all of our users’ needs?

If you’re a mountain-biker, a trail runner or a budding botanist, or just enjoy being outside, drop us a comment and let us know your thoughts. It’s always good to get the opinions from the path users.

The workday was mainly just litter-picking and snipping back anything trying to grow onto the path. We also did a bit more on the path down to the reed-bed and we are really looking forward to developing this later in the year. I am hoping that this creates a safe exit point rather than the treacherous path down the side of the bridge. It will create a nice short loop for people who want to stay on the Cawston side of the Coventry Road.

A well-deserved cuppa and biscuit for Reece, Marcus and Paul at the midpoint.

Our colourful meadow is looking good and full of insects.

And I guess this is what we are looking for – wide and open grassy path, wildflowers and grasses allowed to flower and seed, scrub and shrubs, with trees on the edges.

It seems to work and the butterflies, bees and other insects are all over it.

And when we get right down into the bit between the scrub and the mown path, as you can see, it is rich in colour and food.

Wildflowers spotted:

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As always, any ID errors please just shout them out – it’s a steep learning curve…

Hopefully, in August we can add butterflies and bees to the spotted and recorded bit. At the moment I just don’t have the mental capacity and time to start chasing winged beasts up, down, and all over the place.

I think that’s about it for now. Next one is at Berrybanks and if we can get that section looking as good as this bit, then we really will be rocking!!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bees, beetles, birdsfoot-trefoil, butterflies, cycling, field poppy, Great Burnet, jogging, Lesser Knapweed, nature trail, Orange Hawkweed, outdoors, Railway path, Rugby to Draycote Railway Path, Rugby to Leamington Spa Railway, runners, running, St John's Wort, summer, walkers, wildflowers | 1 Comment

And finally…

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

….it’s starting to come good.

We have reds, blues, pinks, yellows, whites, and purples in our mini-meadow, and a fantastic backdrop in the distance. All this colour will be the annuals in the seed-mix with the perennials taking over in the second year.

It was worth all the hard work!!

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A good weekender with Tim, Marcus, Phil, Sharon, Aaron and myself pitching in, and plenty of people using the path to run, walk or cycle.

In my excitement, I forgot to take a “team-photo” around the bench. Plenty of them on previous blogs though.

The other meadow areas are a little behind this one. Probably not enough direct sunlight, but we are all taking note and making plans to adjust in the autumn

We made a tentative path down to the reed-bed.

This just allows us to get down there and see what is what. In the autumn we want to clear out the stream and really help the reeds to flourish. We can then see what wildlife this brings in.

Wildlife and wildflowers spotted:

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The wildflower bit is not for everyone, which is why there is plenty of other stuff to do.

And sometimes it’s just good to get away from time on a screen and enjoy a bit of green time.

Plans that we are formulating going forwards: I have storage for wild-bird food. We just need to make the feeders squirrel-proof now. We need to clear a load of ivy from the Drummond Road entrance moving south. We need to move a line of trees from between the underpass and the Drummond Road entrance and plant them into a hedge. We need to work on our hedge at bench #3 and get a lot more sunlight onto the ground. We need to harvest the seed from our wildflowers and extend our meadows on each side but retain a bank of scrub at the back. We need more sunlight at bench #2. At the moment it is damp and cold. We need a circle of logs (for seating) at various points from Berrybanks to where the bridleway crosses – probably about three in total. Personally, I would like to clear the area where the bridleway crosses the path and encourage the bluebells to spread, whilst planting some wild daffodils – this area reminds me so much of Edmund and I would like to keep it that way. We need to clear out the bird-boxes and modify the bat-boxes.

Most of this work will become our winter works program, but now is the time to be thinking about what needs doing and planning it in.

Great to see our work from last winter starting to pay off.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, community, corn chamomile, cornflower, creating a wildflower meadow, cycling, field poppy, hedge woundwort, nature, nipplewort, oxeye daisy, photography, Railway path, rambling, rosebay willowherb, running, self-heal, tufted vetch, wildflower meadow, wildflowers, wildlife | 2 Comments

Base Camp Is Operational

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Our base camp opened for the first time today, and was much needed as the rain thrashed down, yet again!!

It provided welcome shelter for Marcus, Phil, Aaron, Sharon and myself, plus all of our kit.

A Blue Tit was our only visitor at the feeders. This was from the observation bench/hide. I would really like to get different types of food for the feeders, but just need to sort out some kind of storage. I have an idea so watch this space!!

The lack of sunshine seems to be delaying most of the wildflowers from actually flowering, so I took some photos of grass instead… (slideshow might take a minute to load)

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The couple of wildflowers that did provide a photo:

Hedge Woundwort

White Clover

I must admit, I am finding it hard to adjust to the weather. The plan across the summer was to be searching out wildflowers, butterflies and other insects, identifying them and making records. So far, for me, it has been more than disappointing. However, I am sure it will come good eventually.

But as they always say, it’s amazing what a brew can do…

And we are not looking too bad as a green space.

Well, that is about it for this week, next one is SATURDAY 29th JUNE looking at a path down to the reedbed and a bit of a litter-pick.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged base camp, coffee and biscuits, conservation, green space, hedge woundwort, white clover, wildflowers, wildlife | Leave a comment

Furry Friends!!

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Our furry friends are back… Or did they ever actually leave?

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Cannot help but go, “aah, cute…” but when we are getting through a bucket of fat-balls every other week, maybe the novelty wears a bit thin.

Great use of our observation bench, that’s hidden away on the opposite bank, though.

This is the view without the zoom.

This adds yet another facet to the path. I cannot tell you how peaceful it is to just sit with a cup of coffee and a camera, and just chill-out with nature, identify what is spotted and then update iRecord.

We had a bit of storm damage in the next clearing.

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Luckily, the blue tits in the fallen box had recently fledged, and the upside-down box did not get used this year. Maybe worth thinking about how securely the boxes are put up in the first place, and yes it was me who put these ones up!!

Other than that, it was a pretty chilled out day where we avoided most of the rain, for Phil, Sharon, Aaron and myself.

We just snipped back anything that looked like it was growing across the path in an effort to keep the balance between a great path for walking, running or mountain-biking, and a fantastic habitat for wildlife.

Wildflowers spotted:

Dog Rose

Plenty more, but being very wet and cloudy meant that most flowers did the sensible thing and remained tucked-up in bed.

Well, that is about it for this week. Our coffee and cookie break was on the hoof this week, due to a lack of picnic tables in this bit, but still good to enjoy a warming drink and super-nice biscuits, thanks to Phil and Sharon.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged biscuits, coffee and cookies, dog rose, iRecord, photography, squirrels, wild birds, wildflowers, Wildlife Photography | Leave a comment

Volunteers’ Week 2019

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Yeah, would you believe it, Volunteers’ Week happens every year and everyone is supposed to thank volunteers for their efforts this week.

Marcus, Aaron and myself got loads of thanks this week, as we do every week, so we were OK.

But it got me thinking about why I volunteer so much of my time to various different things, to the detriment of the things that I want to do for myself a lot of the time. I guess there is an over-riding factor to make things better, or give people the opportunity to maybe break-out of a situation that they might not be comfortable with, and possibly cannot see a way out themselves? I don’t really know. But I do know that our weekly workdays are there for everyone, no skills required, just turn up, have a bit of a laugh, do a bit of work and enjoy a bit of company over a coffee and a biscuit.

And that is probably it, what I get out of volunteering is probably very different to what other people get out of it, but there is a bit of my story if anyone is interested.

Our mini-meadow looked a bit more “meadowish” this week.

And plenty of wildflowers when we started to look.

Yellow Rattle

Common Vetch

Germander Speedwell

Herb Bennet

Red Campion

Common Dog Violet

There are loads of mini-beasts, too.

Bloody-nosed Beetle

I spotted a bug-hotel that we put up years ago.

We could do with a lot more of these as we move into the summer.

One of our bird-feeder poles, from the observation bench on the opposite bank.

So there it is, volunteering is good for the soul, creating things that help others is also good for the soul. Come along and give it a go. There is always plenty to do and there is always plenty of coffee and cookies to share.

Paul