Cawston Greenway

March Workdays

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I am really struggling to shoe-horn in workdays at the moment and probably will be until the end of June.

I can only manage three in March:

Sunday 11th 11:30 to 1:30 (DofE youth working with us)

Wednesday 14th 11:30 to 1:30

Wednesday 28th 10:30 to 12:30

If anyone else wants to take the helm for a bit then please be my guest.

A few critical things to do over March which are mainly getting bird boxes up and just getting it ready for the bird-nesting season.

Feel like a bit of a let-down but it is what it is, unfortunately.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged community, conservation, cycling, embankment, friendship, mental health, Mountain-biking, nature, outdoors, photography, Rugby, walk, wildlife | Leave a comment

Fun(gi) day

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It seems fungi are like buses, wait around for ages and nothing, and then suddenly loads come along all at once.

What a great haul – I could of rooted around in the undergrowth for hours once I got the bit between my teeth. Plenty of brackets, jelly brain and others.

Aaron, Linda and myself donned our wildlife-superhero suits and tackled the fallen trees between The Bear and Berrybanks. It was quite depressing to see all the litter around The Bear bridge, but I guess we just need to get into a regular litter-pick routine to keep on top of it.

This is up and down pics, personally I would have it three times as wide…

…ha-ha!! I am joking!!

We cleared all the dumped scrub off the path and cleared up the litter. We probably need to spend a good few days around this section to clear it up. However, Andrew, who made us our super bird-boxes last year, has kindly made us some more. So we need to get them up ASAP. We have eight to put up so my electric screwdriver is on charge!!

The bird-feeder clearing has been hammered by the local grey squirrel population. I have seen some slender steel poles to replace the rough wooden ones that the squirrels can climb up. As soon as we change them over the bird-feeder area will be functional again. It is all about learning as we go and trying to be as economical as we can, with our funding.

Thanks to all today, great conversations, friendships being formed, this is what life is all about – doing things where we can make friends and stuff!!!

Next one is next Wednesday with a 10:30 start and then try to get into a rhythum of Wednesdays and Sundays.

We have one youngster doing a Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award this year. We need more, so if you are reading this and are looking for something to do, or have children looking for something, we have successfully got groups of youngsters through their Bronze and Silver awards in the last few years. I am fully CRB/DBS checked and certified.

And thanks for the fun(gi) day….

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Birdwatching, butterflies, community, conservation, cycling, Duke of Edinburgh, friendship, fungus, Limestone, mental health, mountain bikers, Mountain-biking, nature, photography, Picnic, rambling, Rugby, together, wildflowers, wildlife | 1 Comment

It is all about getting wide

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Great day today with Mick, Marcus and myself. We created a glade that will be full of sunlight in the spring and summer.

It was lovely to see so many groups of people able to walk two, three or four abreast and really just enjoy this fantastic amenity.

The plant life that happens in this cleared area will bring in so much wildlife and be so rich through the summer.

Every bit of advice that I have had over the last eight years or so has said that the path needs to be at least three meters wide. This will let the sun hit the ground and encourage so much wildlife.

Here is my hammy video-clip of our progress..

Next one is at Berrybanks and then I hope to get back into a regular Wednesday and Sunday routine again.

Thanks all who made it today.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged community, conversation, cycling, friendship, mental health, nature, outdoors, photography, rambling, running, wildlife | Leave a comment

Back On It!!!

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

After the set-back of surgery, I am back. It was great to get back on the greenway and ease back the scrub south of Potsford Dam.

If the path is narrow and the scrub is high, it makes it intimidating for users because they cannot see where they are going or what is around the corner. Aaron and myself pushed back the path and just made it a little bit more friendly.

We also cut the scrub right down where the benches are. This means people can sit down and enjoy a view across open countryside, rather than feeling hemmed it.

Hopefully the pictures show how we have created windows out to the lovely countryside that is part of our greenway.

I found no fungi today but a lot of lichen.

And great to see new buds on trees. It is like – here we go again.. Lastly, I just played around with my phone on video today and just had a go at trying to make things a bit more real for readers.

This is the first cut and probably nowhere near the finished article, but just trying to show you a work in progress.

Our little slice of paradise is looking pretty good.

Paul

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Workdays For February

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Back on it!!!

Wednesday 7th Feb – 10:30 to 12:30 Down at Potsford Dam trimming back the scrub.

Sunday 18th Feb – 12:45 to 2:45 Tidy scrub that has blown onto the path just north of picnic clearing.

Thursday 22nd Feb 10:30 to 12:30 Tidy Berrybanks to underpass.

See you there!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | 3 Comments

The Boys Done Good Without Me…

Posted on January 20, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It was a bit weird knowing that there was a workday on the greenway but not being allowed to attend, due to my back still having a load of stitches in. However, it was in safe hands with Aaron, Marcus and John beavering away.

mms_20180119_222733 The redundant picnic bench from the bird-feeder clearing now has a new home down the path a bit.

mms_20180119_222705

We probably need to brush-cut around all the benches at some point and then keep on top of the areas that we want to stay as path, over the spring and summer. We have funding for another brush-cutter from the #fieldgoodgrant so we will have the tools to keep it all down. I am looking into tool storage options because quite a few times we have been caught out with the wrong tools for the job.

I have added to the bird feeders during the week and we now have fat balls, seed mix, sunflower hearts and peanuts. We have a commitment to keep the feeders full, once the birds start to rely on them over the winter months. I cannot wait to find an hour or so to just sit at our communal bench with a coffee and see what birds use the feeders.

John discovered a new fungus:

We could really do with someone on the team who enjoys identifying all of our fungi finds.

Thanks guys for the hard work and thanks John for sending me the photos. Looking forward to getting back on it in February.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bird watching, birding, Birdwatching, butterflies, community, conservation, conversation, cycling, friendship, fungus, mental health, nature, outdoors, photography, rambling, running, volunteer work, walking, wild birds, wildflowers, wildlife | 4 Comments

Out of the game for a few weeks

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Tomorrow I go under the knife for my back. This means that I will have stitches in for two weeks or so. Whilst my back is healing I cannot drive or lift, or the stiches will simply rip out or get infected and I will be in all sorts of trouble.

There are jobs that need doing so if anyone wants to run the greenway in January, feel free to organise workdays and get on with what needs doing. The last blog post outlines what needs doing.

I will be back in February and will really be hoping to make our part of the old railway-line the very best it can be for as many different groups as possible.

I am thinking that maybe we might ask Sustrans if we can have a small container on-site somewhere for tool storage? It would cost around £1,700 but would be a great place to store tools and make it so that the correct tools are always available for every workday.

Let me know your thoughts… There are pockets of funding available.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged sustrans | 4 Comments

Community Bench

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We have our community bench. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA This is in the bird-feeder area and the point of it is so people can sit and watch the birds feeding, have a bit of fun recording what they see and most importantly, it gives people a subject to talk about. A nice ice-breaker. When people start to chat about what they are interested in, it leads to new friendships being formed and that could be a big thing for anyone who is feeling a little lonely, or simply does not have a support network of friends or family.

You would be surprised at the number of middle-aged men who find themselves in the above predicament and simply have lost the skill to reach out to others and make friends. The stats are pretty shocking and it leads to serious Mental Health issues.

Thank-you to the developers of the Elliott’s Field retail park for making this happen with the #FieldGoodGrant.

I am going to get two more feeder posts and a few more feeders. We want to have a regular seed mix in a couple, peanuts in a couple, sunflower hearts and suet balls in the others. This will ensure a maximum number of visitors and hopefully make it a really busy little clearing.

We have planted over one hundred tree saplings and have a load of bird-boxes in the area and up the path.

Jobs for this month are, clearing the wind damage. A couple of trees are down and a load of scrub has blown onto the path. Litter pick – there are a few drink cans lying about. Posts for bird-feeder area. Move the rectangle picnic bench from the bird-feeder clearing down the path a bit and create a little clearing for it. Pollard the mature trees where we planted saplings up on the embankment.

I am having surgery on my back next week so I will be out of action for the rest of the month.

There is probably a few other things but it was so wet that I couldn’t really get a good look today.

Lastly, a big shout out to Pete, who was out walking his dogs, and helped me carry the component bench parts up to the clearing. I was really struggling.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bird watching, community, conversation, cycling, friendship, fungus, meadow flowers, mental health, Mountain-biking, nature, outdoors, photography, rambling, Rugby, running, volunteer work, walking, wildflowers, wildlife | Leave a comment

Penultimate Workday of the Year

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We are fast approaching the end of the year and Marcus, John and myself put up two of the four bird feeder posts.

I have made these so that they have as little value as possible, so if they go missing, we will not be too upset.

The feeders cost just over £1 each.

The posts cost just over £2 each.

It is all very cheap and cheerful, however what we have is the start of our hub. We had a couple of walkers come past today and the conversation started around the bird-feeders and then meandered on about benches and how tame robins are. It’s great to have a conversation starter.

534251875 We cleared off the other side in readiness for two more posts in the New Year.

I had to get a fungi picture in, of course…

The last workday for this year is Sunday 10th December 12:30 to 3:30. We will be building our communal bench.

Thanks all today.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged bird watching, cawston greenway, community, conversation, cycling, friendship, mental health, Mountain-biking, nature, outdoors, photography, rambling, Rugby, running, walking, wildlife | 2 Comments

We Planted More Trees

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We got the rest of our tree pack from the Woodland Trust, planted today. Somehow we found ourselves north of the picnic clearing but it just seemed an ideal spot to start putting them in. In total we have planted 105 native British trees. The birds and other wildlife will love us for this.

John, Marcus and myself worked on getting the trees in whilst Aaron worked on the path widening.

I must say, it is looking rather good.

We planted some up on the bank as well. We are going to pollard all the other trees around the saplings so everything has a chance to grow.

A quick look up and down shows how lovely and wide the path is.

And lastly the obligatory fungi picture.

Next one is making our big round bench in the bird-box clearing, after that we will be cutting back the trees where we planted saplings today and then we will do some widening on the southerly part of the path. We are bringing the bench on-site via the gate way down past the clearing.

The bench has been funded by the Elliott’s Field #fieldgoodgrant and we are extremely grateful for their support.

Thanks all for today.

Paul