Cawston Greenway

Temperamental Brush Cutter!

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Well it was a nice dry day, we had the brush cutter so it seemed like this was going to be a mammoth workday. Unfortunately, the brush cutter decided that it did not want to start, after it had used its first tank of petrol.

I think it was flooding and I did not have my spark plug spanner to dry it out. Eventually it got going again, but I wasted a lot of time and energy messing about with it.

We had a good turn out today with five of us. Dave and his wife tackled the bench, which was looking good, whilst Chris, Phil and myself continued with the clearing.

What I am trying to do, is cut scallops into the west bank. Because the path runs north/south on this bit, the south facing bit of each scallop should become a micro-habitat for insects, butterflies and flowers. The clumps of scrub also create a windbreak along the path.

These are the three scallops that I managed to get cut today. The pictures don’t really do them justice, but hopefully you get the idea.

Thanks for all who came along today, nice to see some new faces.

Next workday is Monday 30th March at 9am. This is the last one where we can do scrub clearance, due to the bird-nesting season starting. I will give the brush cutter a service and we can try and push on.

After this, workdays will be just cutting back anything that starts to grow over the pathway, clearing nettles, picking up litter and general maintenance.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston, cawston greenway, conservation, conservation work, grizzled skipper, NCR 41, small blue butterfly, volunteer work | 1 Comment

Picnic Area Cleared.

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Well we did it, we finally finished the clearing of the picnic area.

These are shots up and down the greenway showing the cleared areas. There are a lot of nettles ready to spring up so as soon as the clearing season ends, guess what… We will need to pull up the nettles, too. Good strong gloves required and it is really therapeutic and not as bad as it sounds. But that is a job for later on, so don’t panic, yet.

It was Mick, Phil and myself today. Chris got lost between the bus stop and the greenway, so ended up going back into town. However, it was a good session and we gave the ground a good raking over, to try and encourage any dormant wild flower seeds into germination.

Next workday we will be in the area that we named the bird-box clearing. It is a little further down from the picnic clearing and we need to rip out all the scrub. We have two workdays left where we can clear scrub, so I guess we just have to see how we get on.

Ideally, we need to remove most of the scrub, in the areas that are in cutting. We will need to leave a bit, to act as a windbreak and shelter, and also help create a winding path. Once the areas are cleared, it will be relatively easy to keep clear, as long as we work on a ‘little and often’ basis.

Longer term, we want to introduce plants such as Agrimony, Creeping Cinquefoil, Wild Strawberry, Barren Strawberry and Dog Rose. These are the larval food-plants for the Grizzled Skipper butterfly. The adult butterflies feed primarily on Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Bugle, Buttercups and Ragged Robin.

This butterfly is on the endangered list, so it is pretty important that we create a habitat that will encourage it.

Next workday is same time, Monday 23rd March at 9am working in the next clearing along the path.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston greenway, conservation, greenway, grizzled skipper, NCR 41 | Leave a comment

Good Workday

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Nice productive workday today with Chris, Mick and myself getting stuck in.

We tried to fix the picnic bench first, but need to drill new holes on the wooden bits. My Ikea electric screwdriver proved woeful, too. We need screws that are super strong and thick, the slightest movement causes everything to bend.

We quickly went back to clearing and made good headway along the west bank.

We have quite a few piles of brash, which we would normally burn off, but leaving them will provide food and shelter for insects.

Great to get out today, despite being a little cold.

Next workday will be 9am Monday 16th March. Same place and just continue to clear before the bird nesting season kicks in at the end of the month.

To fix the bench we need proper tools. If anyone fancies putting it back together again we would be so grateful. All the bits are there, it just needs someone suitably skilled.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston, cawston greenway, conservation, greenway, path, volunteer work | 2 Comments

Pulling up Brambles

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Just the three of us today and we spent time clearing scrub from the area south of the bridge, that crosses the greenway. Rather than just wildly hacking back, we tried to pull the brambles up, roots and all. This will help to slow their growth over the summer.

We had this area totally cleared a couple of years ago and saw some lovely wild flowers coming up. Unfortunately, the scrub has been allowed to grow back, but being relatively new, it clears quite quickly.

We have one more month of clearing before the bird nesting season starts. I guess the best plan is to continue clearing this area until the end of March, then walk the whole length of the greenway to cut back anything encroaching onto the path, do a litter pick and then identify a couple more areas that we can completely clear in the autumn. Realistically, I think we can keep on top of three to four large clearings. We have the picnic clearing and the bird-box clearing already, There is an area that we started working on a few years ago, with a very steep southerly facing bank, just past the underpass on the section that heads towards the Bear pub and lastly, the grassy area by the Home Rule for Crick bridge that we want to try and establish the growth of Kidney Vetch, to encourage a colony of Small Blue butterflies.

Next workday is Monday 2nd March at 9am at the same place, working southbound. CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston, cawston greenway, conservation work, cycling, kidney vetch, national cycle network 41, Rugby to Leamington Spa Railway, small blue butterfly, volunteer work, walking | Leave a comment

Monday 23rd Feb Workday – CHANGE OF START TIME

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Due to work commitments I have had to pull the start time to 9am for this Monday’s workday.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Leave a comment

Soggy Workday

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Soggy old day on the greenway today, but got the last of the picnic clearing done.

It was just Mick and myself today, but we got a bit cleared. The heavy rumble of the earthworks on the Cawston Extension led me to have a peek. They just seem to be moving piles of earth around, but I guess there is a plan.

I have pulled the broken picnic bench out of the undergrowth and it looks like all the bits are there. Does anyone fancy putting it back together for us? Or know of a youth or school group who might like to restore it as a bit of a project? It would be great publicity for the group within the local community and, I am sure, a nice story in the Observer would follow.

Next workday is Monday 23rd February at 9am. We will be working on the other side of the bridge, southbound, towards the bird-box clearing. We need to get the bottom of the cutting clear and the western bank.

This is where we need to start next week!

Great to get out there today, despite the rain. Would wholeheartedly welcome anybody to join us. It is just nice to be doing something without expecting anything back. Good for the soul.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston greenway, conservation, cycling, national cycle network 41, volunteer work | Leave a comment

Great Workday

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Lovely day for a workday today and great to see two new volunteers, Chris and Phil.

We cleared the opposite bank in the picnic clearing and raked over the ground to assist any wild-flower seed germination.

If we just keep clearing scrub for now, we should soon start to see some nice wild flowers coming up in the spring.

Next week will be at the same place, starting at about 9am. We can probably get this area finished and then move on to another section, the week after.

Next workday: Monday 16th February at 9am.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Leave a comment

Great Way To Start The Week

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

What a wonderfully crisp and cold morning to be doing work on the greenway. We cleared some of the bank on the west side of the picnic clearing. Mainly just scrub, bramble and tree saplings coming up from the roots of previously removed trees. It is amazing how quickly we warmed up and started taking outer layers off.

It is important to keep these banks clear because the scrub blocks out sunlight and nothing will ever grow on them. We also raked the bank to disturb any wild flower seeds and hopefully kick-start a bit of germination.

: Before

: After

I have purposefully kept the scrub and leaf mould in piles at the bottom of the bank. This will provide cover for insects and small mammals. Normally we would burn this but that can wait for another day, when we have more time.

Something that we have talked about in the past, but never really tackled, is clearing the raised ballast that runs next to the path. This, I assume, is the original trackbed from the railway. Why it got pushed to the side of the path is beyond me, but it is dry, slightly higher than the wet path and really well compacted. If we start at the area that we worked on today and simply push, up the line, towards Rugby. And we only need to do the bits where we are in cutting and it is wet. The bits on embankment tend to be pretty dry.

From this picture you can just about see the raised bit on the left. If we have a crack at it next workday and just see how easily it clears.

Next workday is Monday 9th February starting at 9’ish and finish at 11am.

I will organise some weekend workdays very soon. Really good to see the greenway getting a lot of use and, thank-you Mick for helping today.

See you next week.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged butterflies, cawston greenway, conservation, national cycle network 41, railway paths, volunteer work, wildlife | Leave a comment

We Are Back!

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Finally got back onto the Greenway this morning and we had a really good session.

It is quite muddy at the moment but managed to clear a lot of scrub from one side of the picnic clearing. We made piles with the trees that we cut down and these will be good cover for small mammals and insects.

The cleared bank after a couple of hours work. Mick and myself were quite pleased with how much we got through. We saw quite a few familiar faces whilst we were working and it is good to see the greenway being used so much.

The groundwork for the Cawston Extension started this morning. Great big earth-movers trundling back and forth as they start to level the ground.

You can just about make out the silhouette as I peered through the trees. It was like watching modern day dinosaurs on the plains of some prehistoric Serengeti.

Next workday is MONDAY 2nd FEBRUARY in the same place and starting around 9am. I will bring cutting tools and rakes. I will also see if I can get the brush-cutter going. If I can, I will bring that too.

Hope to see you next time.

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged cawston, cawston greenway, community, conservation, cycling, greenway, NCR 41, volunteer work | Leave a comment

Next Workday

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

The next workday on Cawston Greenway will be Monday 26th January starting at about 9am, at the picnic clearing by the bridge that goes over the greenway.