Cawston Greenway

We has a lovely turn-out today with seven or so of us all arriving on our bikes. It just feels great to cycle down to a workday with minimal kit. Real bare-bones stuff. We got down to the what is probably the goods yard of the old Dunchurch railway station. Another 100 yards or so and we will be there.

Everyone working hard to cut back the nettles and scrub. Once we get to the station the terrain changes and we are confronted with a lot of standing water. However, we really need to pull back and maintain the path in the Cawston bit of the greenway on the next workday. 

You can see from the picture, what a lovely path to Draycote this is. I urge you to come along and get involved. It’s fun, it’s exercise and it’s community – the very thing that keeps us all rubbing along and making friends along the way. And once we recognise that we are a community, we will start to see skill-sets and attributes in each other that we can draw on and utilise. 

The next workday is Thursday 30th May at 10am thrashing the nettles on the Cawston bit of the greenway. Meet at the picnic clearing and work down towards Potford’s Dam.

Thanks to all who made it today. I do believe I have a bit of a tan so a good day all round 🙂

Paul

I am just putting up the pics of the flooded bit to see if anyone who sees them, has any ideas about how to tackle this bit.

Thanks for looking and any ideas welcomed.

Paul

Just me and Margaret on Sunday, but we got a bit done and also had a good look around on the section between Potford’s Dam and Dunchurch Station. This section is dry and just needs the scrub pushing back in places.

This shot shows scrub that needs to be cut back. It is just a bit too close for comfort.

This shot shows areas that are naturally clear already. It’s not a big job on this section but there are some big jobs further on. 

In this shot you can just see the glint of Cawston Reservoir. It is going to be a big ask to get a zig-zag path down the steep bank to allow access and then further on is Cawston Bluebell Wood. 

As I mentioned in the last blog, I have found drainage on the section from Dunchurch Station to Draycote. There is also a stream, so getting the water off the path should be manageable, in theory.

Priority now though is to cut back the bit to the old station. Just ease back the scrub so people can get through without getting snagged on brambles.

Next workday is Saturday 18th May at 11:30 meeting at Potford’s Dam and pushing on. Next workday after this one is Sunday 26th May at 1pm and I reckon we could have it done by then.

Finally as a little teaser, this is a pic of Cawston Reservoir close up. It will be well worth creating an access down to it.

Paul 

Interesting workday with us burning off loads of the fallen leaves. With hindsight I don’t know if this is good or bad. I remember reading about how the fallen leaves are great in the cycle of nature, but also how they put nutrients into the soil to encourage nettles and discourage wild flowers. So a bit stuck with that one..

We also picked litter from the entrance to the picnic clearing and got a whole bin liner full.

The greenway is wide and open now and lots of people are using it. This is great news for us.

The bigger a space we can make it be, the more people will use it.

To finish on a good note – I found our missing picnic bench…

I need muscle to get it back up the bank so will look forward to a good turn out on the next workday.

Next workday is – Thu 2nd May at 11am, pulling up nettles in the picnic clearing.

Paul

Quite a relaxed workday today with four of us turning out. Working in the picnic clearing, cutting back new growth from the stumps of trees that have been left. We need to drill deep holes into the tops of these stumps and drip in some weed-killer or we will be going round in circles doing the same job every year.

All the cut timber has been stored under the bridge so it can dry out and be used as kindling for fires. We also got a lot of the litter bagged up and removed.

We raked off a lot of fallen leaves to reveal loads of wild flowers starting to grow on the banks. The amount of people using the path has increased massively and this is because it is cut back so that it feels open and people feel safer.

We saw our first butterfly of the year, which was a yellow Brimstone. It has been a tough year for butterflies in 2012 so we need to encourage as many nectar rich wild flowers as possible, which means open clearings.

All-in-all I think we have salvaged a good cutting season on the greenway, despite not being massively active over the winter due to bad weather and my family and work commitments. However, things are getting a bit easier for me and if we work on keeping the path pushed as wide as possible over the summer, we will be in good shape to really let rip on the clearings an ballast path come September when the bird nesting season ends.

Next workday is Friday 19th April at 11am. Rake off the remaining leaves from the picnic clearing banks and have a massive bonfire!!

See you there.

Paul

For Easter Sunday we had quite a good turnout with five or six of us.

We cleared a load of the brash from the area that we have been working on over the last few months and made a lot of headway.

We are coming the end of the cutting season so we will switch to just keeping the path tidy very shortly. Last summer we were a bit cautious about cutting back the flowers close to the path but this summer I think we need to be bolder and just keep a clear nine foot wide path. If the wild flowers are going to grow, then they will grow on the outside bits of the path too. 

Next workday is Thursday 4th April at 3pm. Back in the clearing just giving it a final tidy and rake off the banks of the cutting.

Paul

Just me and young Paul today but we got a bit of the link between the picnic clearing and the bird-box clearing tidied. Boy-oh-boy was it cold out there and I worked hard to get a warming fire going.

But we did get a fire going and we managed to burn off a fair bit of brash. Still loads to do in this area and we have run out of time. The bird nesting season starts pretty much next week so we can no longer be clearing. However, I have planned a workday for this Sunday just to finish off this bit. If we can just burn off the piles of brash then at least we will have moved forwards.

Moving out to the wider picture, we really need to cut the path back as far back as possible. The next picture is of the ballast ridge v. the muddy path. I am sure you will agree that the ballast ridge is a better place to walk. If we can clear this off totally then we can see what happens with the mud. We will either get pond-life or drying out and grass growing.

I had a meeting today with the Probation Service and we will have some help via Community Payback to keep the path cut right back in the summer and clearing areas in the winter. This is most welcome muscle and will help enormously. 

Next workday is Sunday 31st March. 3pm just to try and finish off the area between the two clearings. 

Hope to see you there.

Paul