Hot on the Greenway

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Really good session pulling up nettles on the greenway. This is to give other wild flowers the room to spread and get a good mix of colours and variety.

One of the piles of nettles that we pulled up.

There are quite a few wild flowers starting to appear and a lot of insects and butterflies buzzing and fluttering around.

Bird-box clearing.

Wild flowers are everywhere.

Blue, purple, yellow and red seem to be the colours that we have.

Another wild flower that is becoming quite abundant.

We still seem to have a problem with nettles encroaching onto the path and we cannot just swish them because of all the wild flowers intermingled with them. There is also a lot of hawthorn trees that we have cut back but left the top overhanging. This means that there is still a lot of shaded dead areas. The profile of the greenway needs to be in the shape of a V but with a flat bottom.

Butterflies spotted included Speckled Wood, Orange-tip, Small White and Large White.

Next workday is Thursday 31st May starting at 11am working at the bridge that goes over the Coventry Road. I want to see if we can cut some steps into the rough and very steep path that goes down onto the Coventry Road, and also look at the verge that runs up to the path along the Coventry Road to see what it would take to clear it.

Thanks all who made it today.

Paul

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Volunteers needed to help with wild flower sowing in Cawston

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Rugby Borough Council have asked us if we can help them to seed the three wild flower borders in Cawston. If you remember last year, the wild flowers were an absoloute riot of colour and attracted a lot of wildlife to the estate.

If you would like to help seed the borders then meet at the play area off Cawston Grange Drive at 3PM on Saturday 19th May. Bring a rake and gardening gloves and suitable footwear. We aim to pull up a few of the weeds that have appeared, then sow the seeds and rake over.

Weather permitting of course.

Look forwards to seeing you there.

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Three years in and we are now starting to reap the benefits of our hard work!!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It was a lovely day for our workday today and about time too, after the last few have been rained off.

We returned to the picnic clearing that we made all that time ago and have been pushing out wider and wider to let the sunlight hit the ground. Remember that this area was covered in scrub and trees three years ago.

Well today we were rewarded with a truly fantastic riot of wild flowers, as well as a lot of nettles.

The picnic clearing, the picnic bench is behind the shot.

We need to pull up as many nettles as we can so that the wild flowers can spread and create as much diversity as possible along the greenway.

Red Campion. Last year this was scrub.

Forget-Me-Not has made a huge comeback this year.

Don’t know what these white flowers are and really need to take the book down with me to identify them. See the nettles around them that need to come away.

So there it is. The job that we started is really starting to pay dividends. The more we push on with pulling up the nettles in the summer and pushing back the shade in the winter, the greater and more diverse our greenway will become.

I cannot stress how exciting today was. From looking at bare earth for so long, it seems that things are starting to wake up and grow. We spotted loads of Orange Tip butterflies and I am sure I saw a Small White.

Thanks to everyone who has got us to where we are today.

Paul

 

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Dodged the rain but still got wet!!!

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Oh what fun on the greenway today!!!

We tackled the flooding that has been causing us problems and finally made some headway. Andy and Adam discovered an old drain going over the culvert and we were able to route the water overflowing from the other drain into this one, so effectively we dammed the flooding and made a stream across the greenway.

We dammed the bank on the left and dug out a stream.

The standing water slowly started to flow into our new stream and drain away and, the water that has been flowing down the greenway and into the farmer’s field finally stopped. We continued to rod the culvert to try and unblock it but there seems to be a section that is totally blocked. Personally I think it is better to have the water running over the top so that we can create a pond. This will be fantastic for wildlife and we saw today that the standing water was full of  tadpoles and frogs, as well as other creatures.

Quite hard to see but a lot of tadpoles in there.

We can route the path around the stream on either side so that people won’t get wet feet like we all did today. It feels really good to have gotten this bit sorted out today. I think there is a huge potential to make something of this area and I really like the idea of a pond. We need to cover the first drain again to make it safe and then work on the stream to make it  permanent.

Good turnout.

Great turnout today and whilst it was wet, horrible, muddy and smelly – it was really good fun!

Next workday is next Sunday 1pm to 3pm at the same section. Working on the dam and try and create a backwater. I will put some more dates through May onto the blog so that everyone can plan, and I will try and mix them up a bit so that people with other commitments can join in. CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER!!!

Cannot stress how much I enjoyed today!

Paul

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All our hard work is paying off

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Aaron, Mike and myself did a lot of nettle pulling today in the picnic clearing. There are loads of shoots coming up underneath the nettles and we just need to give them a helping hand.

Lots of wild flower seedlings coming up.

It’s going to be really exciting to see what these wild flowers are, and what wildlife they attract. We saw an overwintered Peacock butterfly today and a lot of Orange-Tip butterflies, as well as bees and a Buzzard feeding on a dead rabbit.

We have the pleasure of  John Walton, the Plant Recorder for Warwickshire Flora Group coming along with a group of Botanists on Sunday 29th July to record all the plant life on the greenway. I have suggested they park at The Bear and work southbound. They start at 10am and we are very welcome to join them. I for one will be going.

Things are really starting to look good in the cleared areas and I think this summer will be a good time to see what a difference we have made.

Usual bonfire.

My fire starter skills are getting better because we soon had a roaring fire.

The next workday needs to be at the section where the brook runs under the greenway and has flooded (Next to the housing development called Berrybanks opposite The Bear). Matt has done a lot of work here already, but we still have not solved the flooding. Bring a spade and suitable footwear and remember, many hands make light work. There is some piping that had been left from when they were building the houses and maybe we can utilise this?

Sunday 22nd April at 11am is a good a time as any and will leave the afternoon free for anyone who wants to watch the Formula 1 on Sky.

Lastly, if you want to know what is going on with other paths and cycleways visit www.sustransrugby.wordpress.com and see how we link up with the bigger picture.

Thanks for today!

Paul

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Litter Pick on Cawston Greenway

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It was a lovely day for it and we had about seven of us turn out at varying times across the day. We picked about ten bags of litter, some old litter that we missed last time, and some much more recent.

Some of the bags of litter.

There is a problem with dog walkers using poop bags and then just slinging them into the undergrowth. I will see how we can go about getting a dog waste bin put at the entrance to see if we can stop this happening. Other than that, the general litter was drink cans, sweet wrappers and crisp packets. Despite there being ten bin bags of litter picked up, it was actually quite litter-free. Comparing how it was when we started and I think most people using the greenway are not littering.

In the areas that we have widened the feeling of space is really good and grass is starting to grow on all but the central strip.

Grass is starting to grow on the path.

Personally I think we need to keep pushing the edges back so that we have a really usable  wide path that will cope with the trampling of feet and bicycles.

I have taken on the position of Group Coordinator for the Rugby area at Sustrans. If you remember, it is Sustrans who had the licence for Cawston Greenway from Railway Paths Ltd, and that licence was granted to Friends of Cawston Greenway, to enable us to do what we have done. I am now responsible for the upkeep of all the Sustrans National Cycle Networks in and around Rugby, and the Volunteer Rangers who look after them. I think this will benefit Cawston Greenway because we will have a wider understanding of where we fit in with the other routes, and hopefully be able to connect with some of the proposed routes that intersect with us.

The blog for this is at www.sustransrugby.wordpress.com and I really hope that I can make it as successful as we have all made Cawston Greenway. If you would like to get involved just let me know.

Next workday is Tuesday 17th April at 11:00am meeting at the picnic clearing and going over the newly cleared areas to grub out bramble roots and pull up nettles.

Thanks to all who made the litter pick a success.

Paul

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The bird-nesting season is finally here…

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

…and that means that we have to stop chopping away at the scrub and let spring roll into the summer. It also means that we can have our Sundays back too 🙂

I think moving forwards we will probably have a workday every fortnight, one on a Sunday and one on a weekday. There are various jobs that we can be getting on with like litter picking or trimming back any brambles that grow into the path. We will probably spend a lot of time pulling up nettles and digging out the roots of brambles in the areas that we have cleared. What we need is to keep the clearings open and bramble free, so that when we get to September, we can crack on with the rest of the scrub clearance up to The Bear pub, and beyond. There are steps that we need to put in by the bridge over the Coventry Road and also some work to do where the two gates are, and the flooded bit! We also need to start recording flowers, plants and butterflies that we see.

Anyhow, today’s workday was lovely due to the warm weather and we had five of us turning out. We saw a couple of Brimstone butterflies and the noise from birds around us was good to hear. We did a lot of work on the second clearing in the section between the new underpass and The Bear pub.

Second clearing.

If you look at the picture on one of the last few blogs you can see a picture from the end of the first clearing looking towards this clearing before we started work on it. it’s amazing what a difference we are making.

We still need to clear the south-facing bank and hopefully that can be the first job in September.

We also tried to direct the path around a little thicket of bramble. This will provide cover for birds and mammals and also provide nectar for insects that prefer bramble to what ever grows in the cleared areas. It also gives us a windbreak too.

See how we have directed the path to the right of the bramble as well leaving the original path on the left hand side. By doing this it makes the path more interesting and fun for children.

Well that’s about it. Thank-you to everyone who has played a part in where we are up to with the greenway. It really has been a terrific adventure and a really steep learning curve. The last picture is looking up the path from the new underpass and it really does look good.

Looking up the path.

Next workday will be on Sunday 1st April 11am to 2pm and I think we just need to have a good old litter-pick along the whole path and also revisit our management plan to see how we are getting along with it. If we meet at the entrance and I will bring bin-bags and litter-pickers. We also need to plan our AGM for April.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported Cawston Greenway 🙂

Paul

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Cracking day on the greenway

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Me, Margaret and John turned out today and burnt off all the brash left from the previous work day, and we also made some good log-piles from the chain-sawing that Ed had done for us.

Start of a new log-pile.

We pretty much finished this clearing now, and looking from both ends. it looks really open and sunny.

Looking north.

Looking back towards the underpass.

Now that the sun can hit the ground, the puddles should dry out. However, if not there is dryer ground on the left that will become a new path.

Aaron started work in the next clearing and this is where we will be on Sunday, again clearing the bank.

Next clearing along the path.

Hopefully we will have good weather on Sunday and can plan what we are going to do in the bird-nesting season.

Thanks to all who worked on this bit over the last month. It looks really good.

Paul

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Pushing on…..

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Great workdays today and yesterday. Lovely to see that we are making a real difference on this really overgrown section.

Looking back at the new clearing.

Looking back towards the new underpass, the bank on the right is pretty much south-facing. If we can keep the nettles at bay then we should see some really nice wild flowers on this bank.

Looking forwards.... Daunting!!!

Really nice to see Aaron and Ed today. Not seen you for quite a while and also thanks to Margaret and John for your continued support.

Ed chain-sawed the tree stumps that we had left on the last few workdays. We really need to clear the ballast bank on the eastern side of the path, and then let the muddy old path dry out and grass over.

It seems like we have loads to do in very little time!!

Paul

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Confusion on the Greenway!!!

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I totally forgot that we were supposed to be working at the Two Gates Clearing today, and so did everyone else, except for Christa and Phil, who were left scratching their heads wondering where everyone else was. However, they made a good start on this area and we can finish this off tomorrow. Apologies for the confusion. I do feel a little silly..

Two Gates Clearing.

The rest of us gravitated back to the section north of the new underpass and carried on clearing scrub and burning brash.   Eight of us turned out in total and it was great to see Ed and also young Paul who was back for half-term.

Today we had a lot of sunshine and it was lovely to see it hitting the south-facing bank. I did notice a few nettles coming up and maybe we need to think about what action we are going to take to try and manage this. There is still a load of work to do on this stretch and once again we are torn between trying to blast down to get the distance, or do a quality job on a much shorter distance.

Burning off the brash - look at the sun on the ground.

We have probably got two weeks into March left before we have to stop cutting and clearing. Over the summer we can tend the cleared areas by pulling up nettles and bramble so that wild flowers have a chance to grow. This will then mean that we can really hit the ground running in September with this stretch to The Bear pub.

We also really need to clear the trees on the ballast and make this the new path. It’s slightly higher and dry so it will be well worth it.

Thanks to all who turned out today. It was really pleasant and so many people were walking or cycling past, so we are making a huge difference for our community.

Tomorrow meet at the Two Gates Clearing at 10am to clear the scrub, release the trees and create a new access that is much safer than the current muddy trench that people have to jump over.

Paul

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