Battling With Stinging Nettles

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Whoever suggested doing this? Boy, do those stingers know how to fight back! Somehow they found their way up my arms and down my gloves, leaving me tingly at best and itchy at worst, for the rest of the day.

The bare ground should hopefully yield some wild flowers. Just the movement of pulling up the nettles and walking over the ground may well kick-start some dormant seeds into germination.

We are just about finished in this area now. Don’t know if I dare risk trying to burn off the piles of nettles and getting the Fire Brigade out on full alert, again. I will see how dry they look on the next workday.

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Next week I think a litter pick might be a good idea. I will bring some black bags and we can start at the underpass and head south. This will also give us a chance to snip back any encroaching undergrowth. Bear in mind that we only have one litter pick stick. I will see if I can acquire a few more during the week.

Next workday Monday 18th May at 9am, as per usual.

Paul

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Drama!!!

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We started burning off the very damp brash that was left over from last week. Just me and Chris today, until we were joined by the Warwickshire Fire Department.

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But there was little to worry about. I have been doing this for six or so years..

So yeah, I kinda know what I am doing..

Next workday is Monday 11th May at 9am just looking at the other side of the underpass and seeing if we can cut back a bit.

See you then…

Paul

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Careful Cutting

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Four of us today and we carefully pushed back the bramble on the banks of the new clearing. We checked to make sure that there were no nesting birds, and then slowly cleared back the scrub.

IMG_5273You can see from the picture how sunny the right hand side is. This will be awash with wild flowers over the summer.

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Butterflies spotted today were an Orange Tip and loads of Speckled Woods chasing each other in a mad spiralling frenzy.

Next workday is the same place on Monday 4th May at 9am. We can finish off tidying this side of the underpass and burn off all the brash, and then do a bit on the other side.

Thanks for today.

Paul

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New Clearing Area Identified

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It started off a bit cool on the greenway today, but as the sun burnt away the cloud, it soon warmed up. Four of us today and we met at the gate with a view, and pushed on towards the Bear pub.

IMG_5231The westerly view is quite outstanding and gets better and better, as the crop comes into harvest and turns bright yellow.

We just snipped back any bramble that looked like it was threatening to come over the path, and picked up a black bag full of litter.

Some wild flowers are starting to come up on this raised part of the path.

You can see from the next photo, what a pleasant morning it was turning out to be.

IMG_5235The area where we want to create a new clearing is either side of the new underpass. The soil has been greatly disturbed when the underpass was put in and this means that a lot of dormant wild flower seeds will have been disturbed and kick-started into germination.

We just need to knock back the bramble at the moment. The path subtly changes to a north-easterly direction, in the section leading up to the underpass, so this gives us a deep southerly facing bank that is drenched in sunlight for most of the day. Perfect for wild flowers, butterflies and bees.

IMG_5243This is the Bear side of the underpass. The cutting gets deeper and deeper, and very wet, before emerging onto flat ground and joining the path that runs along the Western Relief Road.

An encouraging sign that we are on the right track.

IMG_5245Possibly a male Common Blue?

And just to finish, this is the wonderful contrast of the blossom on a Blackthorn tree.

IMG_5247Next workday will be Monday 27th April at 9am. Working on the area around the new underpass.

Thanks to all who made it today.

Paul

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Litter Pick and Trim

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Lovely morning on the greenway. We worked on the area where the gate looks over the countryside to the west, down to the picnic clearing.

IMG_5173Basically, all we can do in the bird nesting season is litter pick and keep the edges of the path trimmed back. This is a picture of Chris with the litter picker and a black bag full of pop bottles, beer cans and crisp packets.

Our picnic bench is back together, and just needs something to give it some rigidity. A cross brace would do the trick.

IMG_5167Glad to see some more wild flowers coming up. This is some sort of violet.

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It will not be long until the greenway is awash with butterflies and bees. There are lots of nettles starting to come up on the banks. We will clear some of the nettles, to allow other plants to grow, but leave a lot so that Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma and Peacock butterflies and, Burnished Brass, The Spectacle and Beautiful Golden Y moths have plenty of food source.

All in all a very relaxed morning, warm when the sun was out, cooler when the clouds came over.

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For me, is is just about keeping on top of the path as it really starts to green up and everything starts to grow like crazy. There is mixed opinion as to when the bird nesting season finishes but the RSPB suggests the end of August.

Next workday is Monday 20th April at 9am working from the gate, up the track towards The Bear pub.DSC02055Thanks for today.

Paul

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Smokin’ Workday

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Well what a day! Five of us in the end and we really managed to have a good old tidy up and burn off the piles of brash. The day started foggy and damp, and I really thought that I was going to be on my own. I did not really relish the idea of trying to start a bonfire with damp timber.

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Luckily the Bear Grylls in me kicked in and I soon had a roaring fire on the go!

IMG_5148And then we had a second one, and then a third.

Great to get all the brash cleared though, and bonfires under the cover of the fog meant nobody called the fire brigade, which was a bonus.

The bench is fixed, but needs to be attached to the side of the bridge to stop it moving.

Lastly, signs of life – wild flowers are already taking hold in the areas that we have cleared.

IMG_5155Brimstone and Peacock butterflies were spotted in the hedgerow in the fields next to the greenway too.

Next workday is Monday 13th April starting at 9am. We just need to snip back any scrub that is making a break for it over the path. If we start at the entrance and work down the path, we should get to the end.

Thanks to all who made it today.

Paul

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Very Lucky or Very Unlucky….

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Today I was brush cutting my way through the last clearing, when the cutting blade shot off the brushcutter!!

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It was quite a shock to see the blade flying across the path and I don’t quite know how it happened, the thread on the bolt is left handed to stop it unwinding. Luckily nobody got hurt or injured. Unluckily I had to resort to manual cutting.

We created a new clearing just up from the bird-box area and cut scrub back on both sides of the path. Again, there is a big emphasis on making the southerly facing parts of the clearing as large as possible.

You can kind of make out the south facing parts of the scallops that we are cutting into the scrub. The last picture shows how far back we are from the picnic clearing. There are about five scallops cut into the path, from the bridge. The north facing parts of the scallops look very different.

You can see a much damper habitat where moss and fungi will thrive. Biodiversity is the key here. It will make the greenway a much more interesting place to visit.

Our picnic bench repair is in progress, so thankful to the guys who are doing this.

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And here is a picture that I thought was really good.

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Mick passing on his knowledge to Chris. Absolutely key if the next generation are going to keep up the good work that we are doing.

Next workday is Monday 6th April starting at 8am. The aim is to burn off all the brash that is sitting in piles along the path. We can also gently trim back any brambles that look like they are about to break out of their managed scrub sections. Earlier start time due to it being Easter Monday. I know that there are other events going on, later in the day.

Great day today.

Paul

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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

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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

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