Cawston Greenway

…and we didn’t burn down the greenway!!!

Thanks Ed for making this happen. It made life so much easier.

Ed tending the bonfire

We had about 10 people turn out and had a really good day pushing on with the central glade that is going to become the picnic area. Still a bit to do but most of the work is now done.

Busy clearing the brash

Great to see some new faces today, conservation work makes you feel so good!!!

This area was totally covered with thick canopy three weeks ago

I am working next Sunday and have the Monday off so next workday Monday 15th November 11am to whenever we have had enough. I hope to have the hedge trimmer by then so I can push back the paths between the glades a bit.

Great day, fantastic effort from everyone, really starting to see some rewards from all our efforts. Well done!

Remember our sister-site at www.cawstonwood.wordpress.com

Until next time.

Paul

Wow!! What a workday!

Great to see some new faces along with the regulars. Twelve or so of us turned out, we had great weather and a good clear work objective.

We cleared a whole load of trees around the Victorian bridge and really let some light in. Still a fair bit to do on this clearing, but we made such a massive difference.

Jason doing a bit of logging

I would like this section of the greenway to be the centre of it. As I have blogged before, I want pub style picnic benches put in and make a feature of the Victorian bridge because it connects the greenway with its historical past as a busy commuter railway-line between Rugby and Leamington Spa. It is also the crossroads with Cawston Bridleway, which brings me to the fantastic steps that Brian has started to build up the side of the cutting, so access to the bridleway is a whole lot easier. There is a circular walk that is on www.cawstongreenway.org that starts and finishes at The Bear and incorporates both the greenway and the bridleway.

John posing with a branch

We want to leave some of the fantastic specimen trees, but clear out the bulk of the canopy. It will be great to see what grows next year, and what wildlife is then attracted. We will have to keep back nettles and bramble to allow the wild flowers to really get going.

I have another project which is clearing Cawston Wood of all the litter. I am trying to get the unofficial path that runs off the greenway, just past the bridge that crosses the A4071, and goes around the edge of a field before connecting with the path that runs around Cawston Reservoir, made into an official Right of Way. This will then connect  the greenway with the woods and make another fantastic circular walk.

You can find details at www.cawstonwood.wordpress.com

Lastly, I am looking into how we can incorporate the unfarmed triangular field that is at the end of the run of fields that lie between the greenway and the Western Relief Road, into a wild flower meadow.  This is just before the bridge that crosses the A4071. Early days but it will be a real bonus if we can get this to work out.

Next workday Sunday 7th November (next week!!). I will have the litter pickers from the Cawston Wood litter pick so we may as well make use of them. Meet at the Victorian bridge and finish clearing it plus do a bit of litter picking along the greenway so something for everyone next week. We can have a bonfire so we can get rid of a lot of the brash by burning it. 10am to 12 noon or longer, if we really get into it.

Thanks to everybody who turned out today. We really worked hard and got loads done.

I would like to clear the area around the Victorian footbridge which is Cawston Bridleway and, as a matter of interest, leads up towards Lawford Heath. A great circular walk of about 3 miles that incorporates part of Cawston Greenway and starts and finishes at The Bear, so refreshments available upon completion. We started to clear it on the last workday, but due to the size of it, it will need quite a few people. Sustrans suggested that we cut steps up to the Cawston Bridleway and use some of the logs that we cut down as soil retainers for each step, using pegs to hold them in place. An interesting project for someone who enjoys maths and engineering, or maybe Cawston Grange school would like to take this on?

clearing around the bridge to make a feature of it - plenty to do but nice to see more sunlight getting through.

It would be great if we could make this the biggest clearing and eventually get a couple of pub style picnic tables put in, to encourage people to stop and take in the nature and also learn about what we are doing on the greenway. Maybe an information board with a map showing the greenway, the bridleway and the WRR cyclepath and how all three interconnect and maybe the wider picture of how we connect to NCN Route 41??

Remember that we do have a facebook page at  however the best way to keep up to date with workdays and the like is to subscribe to this blog. You will then get a polite reminder by email that the blog has been updated. I am going to email the distribution list twice this time around from two different email addresses, so if you get two emails you will know that your email is OK, if you get one or none, you need to tell your email to accept emails from paul.hart@europe.com. Also if you don’t want to get emails, just let me know and I will remove you from the distribution list.

With regards to power tools, our insurance does not cover power saws, domestic chainsaws or alligator cutters. I have been advised by the insurance company that if people wish to use these tools they do so at their own risk and advise that non-users stay a safe distance away but not so far as to leave anyone lone-working. I hope that is crystal clear.

We should all be really pleased with what we have done so far. It is really starting to take shape and we have all stepped up and taken on board the learning points that Mike and Shirley have been so kind to share with us.

Look forward to seeing you on the day!

Paul

Today we had a little under 20 people turn out. Good to see some old faces returning as well as the regulars.

This blog is where it is at. The email distribution list is so unreliable with various people getting it occasionally and others never getting it. You can subscribe to the blog, or the facebook page (type Cawston Greenway into the facebook search) by clicking on the subscribe button. You will then get a polite reminder by email that the blog has been updated with the next workday.

If anyone wants to be an admin on the blog, just let me know. I will gladly add you.

Today was organised and worked really well. We split into smaller groups and cleared the glades between the meeting point and the Victorian bridge. These glades, or clearings, are so important for the wild flowers. Sunlight will encourage them to grow and they will attract insects and butterflies, which will then attract a whole host of other wildlife such as birds and the like. I really feel that we made some tangible difference on the last couple of workdays.

lots of sunshine on the greenway after making a clearing

another cleared area almost finished

clearing around the bridge to make a feature of it - plenty to do but nice to see more sunlight getting through.

With regards to the paths between the glades, normally known as woodland rides, I will sort out a hedge-trimmer this week and we can gently trim back the paths and follow the existing curves to keep the undulating snaking effect.  I think this will be earlier next year. I feel that it is better to work on the glades first and then work on the paths between them later on.

Thanks Margaret for the First Aid and helping me to A&E. God bless you… Big lesson here – cut away from your hands when sawing.. obvious but in the heat of the moment….

Great work today. Next workday will be in three weeks time on the Sunday, unless someone else would like to organise one beforehand.

Thanks again, it’s starting to look good.

Paul

Slight change to what was agreed at the committee meeting, due to me being back in time for a 2pm start on the 10th.

If we push on down the line to create another glade or two, depending on how many people turn  out. We need to work in small groups of four or five, and take the scrub back. There are a few natural clearings that we have identified and just need a bit of work to open them up again, so a bit of planning beforehand will give us a clear objective.

Meet at the usual place. I will bring the tools that we have, feel free to bring your own if you like.

Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Paul

A fewer number turned out today but we got so much done. We cleared a load of brash and canopy, and made a bright and open glade. We pushed the logs way off the path, cut the stumps neatly and it looked like a really professional job.

Next workday I will bring some polythene tape to tie around the trees and branches that need to be removed and we can break into organised groups, because working in a smaller group with a clear focus on what we were aiming to achieve seemed a lot more productive.

The path between the glades can remain pretty much as they are for now, with just a gentle trim to keep them clear in the summer. There are natural kinks and twists along the path so this keeps it interesting, and also some lovely specimen trees along the way.

 We have a committee meeting at Cawston Grange School on Wednesday 29th September at 7:15 pm. Feel free to come along and see what we are up to or, get involved. We are a new group who are at the bottom of a huge learning curve so any suggestions or direction is always helpful.

Meet at the place where we used to meet, see the website for details (www.cawstongreenway.org)

Working on the clearings this time so we will probably be working in quite a dense group. With this in mind, we need to think about safety if we are taking trees down.

We need to organise ourselves so that the trees are cut into logs and then stacked as far back off the clearing as possible.

I have some wild flower seeds that Action Earth kindly donated so we can sow some of these, if we clear the ground, I also have rakes that BTCV kindly donated, these should help clear the scrub.

Some fantastic news – Hinckley and Rugby Building Society have donated £100 for us to buy a pertol hedge trimmer, this will allow us to rip into the scrub and get it cleared in no time.

I think we need to be a bit clearer on what we are looking to achieve on this next work day, so planning is key.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Paul

Golly gosh – a few of us are going to ache tomorrow!!

Fantastic turnout again with about 20 people turning out. thank-you so much for your hard work.

We cleared a fair bit of the canopy by cutting down a load of trees, and also cleared the scrub to the sides of the path. It’s so rewarding when the sunlight finally makes it through. The whole feel of the greenway is transformed from a dark and damp narrow path to a light and airy open space.

The greenway after a lot of trees taken out…

… and looking the other way.

A few learning points from today, some of which we knew (if you look at previous posts), and a few new ones.

We need to work in a more organised way. We are all a bit gung-ho at the moment, probably because we have all been waiting to really let rip on the greenway since March. Fantastic to see such enthusiasm, but we maybe need to think about what we are trying to create, which is a series of woodland glades or clearings, linked by a series of woodland rides or paths. We somehow need to try and steer the path away from the straight line that it is, which is quite hard to even imagine seeing as it used to be a railway-line. The reason for this is we will end up with a huge wind-tunnel effect that will discourage butterflies. My thoughts are to alternate from cutting away to the left and then the right of the existing path between clearings to try and create a snaking effect. So in future maybe not string out quite so far, but work in denser groups with a clearer objective.

Second point is what to do with the felled trees. We need to stack the logs and branches further off the path, so maybe if we allocate jobs, such as cutting down trees, cutting them into manageable sections and stacking off the path, and then rotate so everyone gets a go at everything? Just a thought.

Tree stumps need to be cut as close to the ground as possible or they become a trip hazard, and when cutting overhanging branches from remaining trees, we need to cut as close to the existing trunk as possible, and the cut needs to be clean and even. The reasons for not doing this is it looks odd, the tree will sprout a load of stems from the cut branch, which then looks even odder, and it’s probably not healthy for the tree.

Lastly, don’t wear shorts and a tee-shirt like I did! My arms and legs look like I have been dragged through a hedge backwards…

Hopefully some good news in the pipeline regarding a some funding for tools. Next workday will be back down the greenway where we normally meet up, and we will concentrate on the clearings. Provisionally I am thinking 25th September, but will confirm nearer the time.

Again, thanks to everyone who turned out today. It was hard work but we got a lot done and, learnt a load of stuff on this great adventure of ours. Remember that we are all new to this so it will be a steep learning curve with the more technical points, but keep the faith and we will get there.

Until next time…

Paul

It’s gonna be a big one!!

We need to rip the canopy out. No more gentle pruning and cutting back. it’s gonna be brutal!

Me and someone else will lead and go down the path felling the trees and pulling them length-ways along the path.

They are low value Ash so don’t worry about loss of habitat. Any nice specimen trees will be left and the path directed around them.

Everyone else can work on the felled trees. They need to be cut into manageable lengths and stacked off the path in neat and tidy piles.

We need to be careful with falling trees, hence only two people doing the felling and getting a good distance ahead of the group.

I spent about three hours on the section between The Bear and Cawston roundabout this morning and did about twenty five trees, felled, chopped and stacked. It’s hard work but the wood is quite soft so it is not too difficult to saw through, or cut the thinner branches with loppers.

In the small area that I did, about 20 metres along the path maybe, the difference was rewarding. Sunlight streamed through the opening and the dark dreary undergrowth was suddenly bright and airy.

We have six bow saws, three pairs of loppers and 5 pruners in our tool-box. If you can bring your own tools, all the better. Gloves are a must and wear old clothes, it’s a dirty job!!

Meet at The Bear car park and push southbound into Cawston.

Look forwards to seeing everyone on the day at 12 o’clock.

Great day with a great turnout of about 20 or so people. We pushed on past The Bear pub and cleared all the rubbish under the Victorian bridge. It was really bad so a good job done.

Bags and bags of litter and also lots of random items dumped over the years.

We also dug out the original steps, which made life a lot easier getting back up to the top.

And finally this is the path as it runs past The Bear northwards to link up with Sustrans cycle route 41 on the Western Relief Road. The  canopy above the path has got to be cleared to let sunlight in to encourage plant life, and then wildlife. At the moment it is a very dark, very wet place. 

Thanks to everyone who turned out, we seemed to get loads done and slowly we are making good progress. As a priority I think we need to clear the canopy and open up the natural clearings to encourage grass and berry producing shrubs to grow. The scrub clearance should ideally start in October and run through to February in the following year.