Cawston Greenway

Howdy!

Next workday is Sunday 20th June 1pm to 3pm.

Really just a bit of litter picking and general maintenance for now. However, come September and the real work starts.

In my mind’s eye (with inspiration and pics from BTCV)….

We need to cut back the trees and scrub to make a three metre wide path. Ideally this needs to be curving from left to right in gentle arcs to stop any wind-tunnel effect that we might get if we have a straight run, and allows us to incorporate any wet or boggy areas which are so important for wildlife. It also makes it a more interesting walk and we can keep a dense sandwich of trees between the greenway and the new road.

The natural clearings or glades need to be cleared right back and planted with wild flower seed and encourage the existing berry producing shrubs to thrive on the edges. Hopefully the rabbit population will keep the grass in check, making any mowing unnecessary. It would be great to see deer on the greenway too. A couple have been spotted in the past, so they have come from somewhere.

The paths between these glades need to be cleared of scrub and be managed as woodland rides. Whilst the railway-line is not a wood, it would be such a shame to lose the feel that it is, and if all the trees are cut away, then the view becomes the whole run of the Western Relief Road!! 

Now that I have a bit of a plan in my head I really cannot wait to turn the greenway into a lovely nature walk. It really is going to be a fantastic achievement for all of us, and great for Cawston.

Great to see about 14 volunteers turned up and got stuck in. We cut back the path to ensure a nice clear way through for cyclists and walkers, without getting stung by the nettles or snagged by the brambles.

Many thanks to Michael for all his advice about the wild flowers that we were spotting.

This is one of the clearer sections that we will plant with wild flower seeds.

Some of the gang making their way back!

View to the west from one of the clear areas.

Meet at 11 o’clock and spend a couple of hours cutting back the brambles encroaching on the path – join in, do some conservation work, feel good!!!!!

Great News!

We have tools… BTCV (thank you very much) have given us a tools grant. We have bow saws, loppers, rakes and pruners. They are all shiny and brand new and I for one am champing at the bit to get down onto the greenway and really start to rip the scrub out and chop the canopy back. They have also sent us 100gms of wild flower seed (2gms seeds a square metre from memory) which Acton Earth paid for and we have a donation from the co-op and also a donation from a very kind resident that will be very well spent on more tools and seed. HSBC have also agreed to help with tool costs so we should have a really good selection for when the real work begins after August.

Looking forward to seeing as many people as possible on Sunday 23rd May to give the path a pruning.

Paul 🙂

It’s time to bang the drum again for Cawston Greenway…

Whilst we cannot do any major cutting back due to nesting birds, our lovely litter-free greenway is in need of a little bit of a trim. There are brambles starting to encroach onto the path which is making it quite unpleasant to cycle or walk along.

So I propose a couple of hours on Sunday 23rd May 11am to 1pm, bring your own secateurs and maybe gardening gloves.  Meet at the usual place (see www.cawstongreenway.org for link) and lets see what we can do!

Look forward to seeing you then.

Paul

Had a really exciting meeting with Sustrans, the land owners. There is a lot of work going on to get the bit of the line from Potsford’s Dam to Draycote opened up and the drainage sorted out, and I suggested a ramp to allow access to Cawston Reservoir and Bluebell Woods. This is an amazing walk and I recommend it (click on the walks tabs). They are really pleased with what we have done so far and the next step for us is to get a licence agreement that clearly states what we can and cannot do. Basically what they are looking for is a three metre wide path along the greenway. They are also looking at the bit past the Bear pub, and linking this up to the path that runs over the Leicester Road on the viaduct and onwards to Newbold nature reserve. Google Sustrans and Connect2 for details if you want more info.

It’s all good news!

Me and a friend spent an hour on the greenway looking for butterflies. It was fantastic with a lot of insect wildlife flying or scurrying around. It really looks so much better with the litter cleared.

We spotted a Small Tortoiseshell and we think, a Holly Blue but couldn’t quite catch it resting for long enough to be 100% (Sue, if you are reading, it was probably the same sort that you saw).  A really great time and so nice to see how a little bit of warmth really brings the greenway to life. It will be fantastic when we cut back the canopy and get the wildflower seed down.

We did it!!!!

A massive thank-you to everyone who came and helped and boy, did we pick some litter! I reckon there was about 20 of us in all.

From beer cans to car tyres, cider bottles to sweet wrappers…. there was a load of it and I think we all deserve a cup of tea, or something stronger, after what was a back-breaking day. The hardest bit was getting all the bags to the pick-up point.

The greenway looks so much better already and it was really good to see the instant impact that we made today. Superb to get out and do some conservation work and lovely weather for it too.

Sunday 25th April

11am to 3pm

Meet at the opening by the new William Davis homes being built (not the gated entrance, the one down from that)

Pickers, bags and some gloves provided

Lovely weather forcast

hi,

It’s been a long time since the Cawston Greenway project was started. A lot of work and meetings with various people, a steep learning curve in all aspects of conservation and biodiversity. However, we are now at a point where we can actually get on site and do something.

With this is mind, we are having a litter-pick day on Sunday 25th April 11am to 3pm. The first step in converting the site into an interesting and exciting nature reserve, with access to Draycote Water and Country Park, as well as Cawston Woods and Cawston Reservoir.

Funding wise, we have funding from Cawston Parish Council, Action Earth, BTCV, the co-operative, and HSBC so far. It’s great that these organisations are keen to get involved and I am so grateful for their support. Thank-you so much.

Moving forwards, we are going to be making hedges and cutting back the trees to allow sunlight onto the site. We will be planting wild flower seeds to encourage butterflies and bees, we have the largest badger population in Warwickshire so we need to look after them and make sure whatever we do, doesn’t impact them.

There is plenty to do and sometimes it looks quite daunting, however the end result will make it worth while.

Rugby Observer are running a story on the greenway this week in the paper so look out for that. And I hope to see you all on Sunday 😮