Now We’re Cooking…

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Eight wildlife warriors made it today (Marcus, Reece, Dave, Ian, Steve, Nathan, Martin and Paul) and we thought we might try something a bit different on the first workday of each month.

We’re a pretty well-bonded group, but we thought we might like to get even more bonded and share some greenway brunch once a month.

I put out the call for help in the local village, and The Butcher’s of Bilton came to our rescue.

They gave us a huge pack of bacon. To be honest I have never seen so much of the stuff.

It was a beautiful moment. The bacon was cooked in batches and tasted so good. It was such a brilliant thing to do. Please click on The Butcher’s of Bilton to see their facebook page. They do some amazing hot food, breakfasts and of course, meat. Please try the bacon – it’s out of this world for flavour.

Once again, thank you so much for keeping the troops fed.

We cracked on with the scalloped pockets between the bench and the bridge. We have made them really deep to maximise the shelter for wildlife and get as much sunshine as possible.

We raked up the brash to give the seeds in the ground a chance to germinate. It’s already happening in the scallops that we created a few weeks ago.

My wildflower identifier is saying it’s Fragrant Bedstraw. We will see when it eventually flowers, but good to see that we now have “path – grassy edge – wildflower rich margin – scrub”. We just need to be really careful not to strim into the scallops.

The views up and down are lovely with the autumn colours.

Even on a dull day like today, it’s just a great place to be.

Here is our YouTube showing the scallops and progress.

When it all greens up it will simply blend together perfectly.

I did a bit earlier in the week and also started putting up our new bird nesting boxes.

Hanging off a ladder with a nesting box in one hand and an electric screwdriver in the other is probably not the best look, but coffee and biscuits made it worthwhile.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We had our Friday workday on the Dunchurch bit and covered about 200 metres.

We’re doing our best to bring as many of the mature trees into play as we can. It just makes it so much more interesting and a real pleasure to walk or cycle along.

I’m liking this bit very much as it starts to shape up and the path breaking out into wider glades before meandering onwards.

Winvic, the contractor doing the construction work have cleared the connecting path.

The two paths that we look after are now connected, via public right-of-ways and permissive paths.

This is such good news and what we have been waiting for. People can now walk or cycle between Cawston and Dunchurch on a completely safe off-road route. This is what “Connecting Communities” and “Active Travel” actually mean on the ground.

I’m really happy that the link is working again between the two paths.

That’s it for this week.

Until next time!

Paul

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The Triangle Is Back

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Five wildlife warriors made it today and lugged the heavy bags of Postcrete to get our triangle of benches back in the ground.

No matter which way we look at it, there is absolutely no pleasure in carrying the 20 kg bags of the stuff – they are just awkward, dusty and heavy.

But we persevered up and down the path numerous times, to eventually be able to actually crack on with the job-in-hand.

As you can see, it was all hands to the pump. Luckily there is a livestock water trough in the cow field next door so we had a ready supply of water. I, of course, had the very important job of taking all the photos. Oh, how my thumb ached towards the end of the morning.

The triangle is back in place.

Whilst the benches are for everyone to enjoy, our main thought process is for small groups of youth to have somewhere to go, sit, drink a beer and have a smoke, without having to hang around the local park or shops and create friction with other local people.

Please bear that in mind before trying to knock them over!

Whilst we might have enjoyed a beer at the halfway point, we had to settle for coffee.

We had a bit of a French theme this week. Don’t ask me why? It was one of those “ooh la la they look nice” moments in the supermarket the day before. They did indeed go down a treat.

Here are the up and down photos.

Here is a Halloween bench-to-bench walk.

Come on down and energise your body and clear your mind! We are helping to protect peaceful walks where wildlife, nature and people thrive. It really is all about helping to create healthy habitats for people and wildlife.

I think we have the balance between the two about right.

Loads of people coming past today, both walkers and cyclists, which gives us a nice fuzzy feeling inside because just knowing that what we are doing, is used and appreciated by local people.

Tool Talk Wednesday

We had a bag with all the batteries in for the strimmers and hedge-trimmers. It really was the bag of doom that everyone avoided like the plague because it was so heavy and uncomfortable. I replaced it with a duffel bag.

It’s so much better for all of our kit. Still weighs a ton though!

We also have a few more bird nesting boxes that John Lewis (the department store) offered to us at an amazing discount.

We will get them up in the next week or so.

And lastly, our good friend Andrew “biscuited” my car.

Hopefully, my children will not discover them and we can enjoy them on next week’s adventure. Thank you, Andrew, for your kindness.

That’s about it for today. On Friday we are on the Dunchurch bit and next week we are back at the other end just finishing off the wildflower glade and scalloped wildlife pockets.

To finish, here is a nice quote that I got from somewhere…

“Support your local greenway and rediscover the pleasures of walking and cycling, whilst knowing that you are doing something really positive for the planet.”

Until next time!

Paul

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Active Travel

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Nine wildlife warriors turned out today (Kerrie, Marcus, Reece, Dave, Matt, George, Steve, Martin and Paul) and cleared off the last wildflower glade.

If we don’t rip it all out it becomes scrub, and the scrub will eventually give way to trees as it becomes dense unmanaged woodland. We are giving it yet another year of wildflower glade to keep the biodiversity as varied as possible.

We rebuilt our habitat stack made out of an old pallet and then covered it over.

It’s too much of a temptation for naughty squirrels if we leave it as a visible stack, and I’m sure the wildlife won’t mind an extra layer of warmly decomposing brash as a roof.

The phrase “Active Travel” is thrown about quite a bit at the moment. What it means is travelling from one location to another in an active way, like walking or cycling. Obviously, this only works if there is kinda somewhere to travel to, and is massively useful if the routes are traffic-free.

Here is a map that shows where we are, and the bits that we look after (in yellow) and the connecting Public Rights of Ways and Permissive Paths (in red) that connect Cawston with Dunchurch.

I’m not sure if this is helpful, but it kinda shows the bigger picture. We are about 300 metres away from connecting the two yellow bits up, thanks to people simply walking and cycling on the paths to keep them open and usable. Watch this space.

We broke for coffee and ginger crunch cookies at 11 o’clock. If you want to get involved but are not sure how to approach a bunch of, in some cases, tall and burly blokes (not me…) just get over the anxiety and come down with biscuits. We’re a nice group and just rub along.

Reece did the honours with the coffee…

And if it was me and I saw a large group of people standing around slurping coffee and scoffing cookies, I would probably leg it, so I get how it might feel intimidating, but honestly, we are not going to hold you upside-down by your ankles and shake you until the biscuits fall out of your pockets.

After filling our faces, we finished off and made it ready for winter.

It’s going to be full of wildflowers again next summer. As the brambles start to shoot up we will dig the roots out with our mattocks. The more we disturb the ground, the better.

Our YouTube just showing our progress is here.

Notice the path edge nicely greening up.

The wildflower meadows next to us have been cleared and really churned up. This will be so good next year and maybe we need to open up more windows in the path edge.

See how everything is interconnected with different groups adding to the mosaic of biodiverse habitat.

Tool Talk Wednesday

We actually managed to clean down our tools today (thanks to Steve for the suggestion) with our new brush. Our new tool for this week is a third hedge-trimmer, so we are able to really get into the scrubby bramble and release more trees.

And lastly, I put up a few of the bird nesting boxes that had come down.

And moved a box that our good friend, Andrew, made for us. It’s a robin nesting box, but for some odd reason that didn’t register with my tiny brain last year.

Robin nesting boxes need to be about 2 metres high and hidden with ivy and other vegetation.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We re-worked about 120 metres on the Dunchurch bit. We probably could’ve done a lot more, but we were too busy chatting when we had coffee.

Who cares, it’s all good and it will get done on our next session. The whole point is all about having a laugh, chatting, and just enjoying the moment.

One before and two after photos. We will keep pushing the width as we go.

These are the views as soon as the farmer cuts the hedge.

Next week we are down past The Bear pub putting our triangle of benches back in. A naughty squirrel somehow managed to kick them over despite them being set in concrete. I hope your squirrel foot has recovered!!

Until then!

Paul

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Scallop Management

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

I have been banging on about “scallops” for ages now. I revisited my woodland management guides and when they talk about scallops along a path edge, they are talking about 50 metres in length and 15 metres deep.

I think what we are doing is making pockets, or bays, which is still good because it creates a wavy edge to the path which is great for wildlife, but maybe we need to move away from the term “scallop” or actually make some bigger scalloped areas where clearing out is done on a rotational basis?

These images are from the Butterfly Conservation website which can be seen here.

So it’s all a bit confusing and a bit contradictory with wildflower glades needing to be cleared off every year, scallops cleared every eight years and bramble cleared every third year!!! No wonder my head hurts!

Today we cleared out the huge wildflower glade that is the centrepiece of the whole greenway.

Me being an utter clot forgot to take photos after we had finished. I will get them tomorrow when I’m putting up the birdboxes that have fallen.

[Photos of clearing added in – hard to believe that this is full of wildflowers in the summer]

We can now see the grass margin on each side of the centre path. What we need to do is add a zone between the short grass and the scrub, which is longer grass and full of wildflowers. The good news is that we have a whole heap of time to create this, and in some areas we already have. We just need to remember not to strim right up to the scrub edge in the spring and summer next year.

The coffee and cookie break was very welcome this week. Raking all the cuttings is the worst job ever.

For me, this is one of the best bits. We chat about stuff and it’s just that simple human interaction without egos, targets or any sort of hierarchy getting in the way. Just a bunch of folk rubbing along and having a laugh. So simple yet so good.

Our base camp is starting to get a bit overloaded but I kid you not, there is a load of other stuff that I would like to bring, but we don’t have the capacity.

Which leads us nicely into Tool Talk Wednesday – Everyone gets a bit irritated with me not cleaning the strimmers down after each workday, so I bought a brush.

To be honest, there is nothing worse than the smell of cut grass after it has gone past that euphoric freshly-cut smell. The wretch-inducing odour is awful, so I will gladly brush off our strimmers with our new “tool” and not be heaving and gagging, as the clumps of wet grass fall off the strimmers and take up residence in my car.

Here is a YouTube of the bit we did last week.

In my mind we need to get behind a few of those trees and bring them into play along the path.

We also did a litter-pick on the southern third and I was really pleased to see hardly any litter.

The path is a pleasure to walk and I really enjoyed wandering up and down. The width is really making a huge difference.

We have some incredibly exciting news hopefully in a week or two, and a curveball or three, so watch this space. Next week we’re at Potford Dam clearing out the wildflower glade and this Friday we are trying to connect the Right of Way through the woods to create circular routes. It should all come together next week.

Until then!

Paul

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A Window Of Sunshine Between Days Of Rain

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It really seems to have been raining non-stop for ages. Silly me left my wellies out in the garden and I could literally pour water out of them yesterday when I realised. I was dreading the soaking that we were going to get today, but somehow it stopped raining this morning and we even had a few glimpses of sunshine. Sadly it started raining again this afternoon, but the God of the weather looked down on us and gave us a little break for the first half of the day.

Seven wildlife warriors met with the main task being to clear out Charlie’s wildflower glade so it comes back next year, rather than turning to scrub.

We stacked the cuttings on the old pile from last year so burrowing insects and mammals can find a nice warm home.

And because there were so many of us, we spread out up and down the path to make it wider and more open.

We are going to go a little bit wider and incorporate some of the trees, similar to what we have done further south, but for now, it’s just about getting a decent width and creating scallops in the scrub.

We made the entrance to this point nice and wide so people can get on and off easily.

It’s always been a bit tight and a little bit snaggy so this should help loads.

After a very welcome blast of coffee in our all-terrain mugs we cracked on.

I added to our living hedge that I sort of tried to do hedge-laying with a couple of years ago.

I somehow don’t think that I am going to make the Midlands Hedge-Laying Team, but it is alive and is yet more varied habitat for mini-beasts.

We have a new tool, so this bit will probably be called Tool Talk Wednesday and it’s a humble rake from our sponsor Wickes.

At this point you are probably thinking “why?” But with wildflower meadows there needs to be a lot of ground disturbance to encourage seeds to germinate, so we will keep raking it, grubbing out the bramble roots and giving it a generally good kicking, a bit like what would happen with a meadow previously where livestock would have grazed.

It’s also important to get as much of the cuttings up as possible or the nutrients will go back into the soil and this will encourage nettles, docks and more bramble to grow and outcompete the more delicate wildflowers that prefer a soil that is not so nutrient-rich.

So that is why the humble rake is so important. Now that we have this one, I will, no doubt, find the one that I hid somewhere months ago and have been unable to remember exactly where I put it.

We sent Nathan over the top to trim the hedge and the view literally goes on for miles.

This is going to be so good as the leaves turn golden through the next month or two.

I repaired the bench that got nobbled last week at Berrybanks and really need to find the enthusiasm to rebuild it with a decent frame.

It will probably be a job for November.

All-in-all we covered about 500 metres today, so great progress.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We got our rebuilt picnic bench in. Thankfully it is out of my garden!!

When I say we, obviously I had the very important job of being the photographer whilst Ian and Nathan technically did all of the work. But I did bring coffee so hopefully I added some value.

Thankfully, Andrew saved the day with the weak legs. He made us some blocks to increase the footprint of each seat and really beef up the flimsy supports. Once we screwed it all together it really felt solid. I will stain the whole thing soon so it all blends in.

This is an absolute sun trap and as we edge out the glade it will be such a decent spot to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet, right in the middle of nowhere.

I have made contact with Tritax Symmetry (the warehouse developers) about clearing/joining the paths but didn’t find the time today to see if anything has been done. Hopefully they will clear off the bit that is their responsibility and Cawston Greenway and Dunchurch Bridleway will once again be connected and be a fantastic off-road route between the two locations.

Next week we are at the birdfeeder clearing stripping out the wildflower glade.

Until then!

Paul

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Jaguar Land Rover Day

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We had another team from the world-famous Jaguar Land Rover this week. Their task was to clear the scrub between the underpass and Berrybanks.

It was, unfortunately, a bit of a wet day, but they cracked on regardless.

They installed a rather lovely bug hotel, repaired the steps by The Bear bridge, cleaned up graffiti, cleared the path, and picked up litter.

Thank you for making a massive difference to our little nature walk. It really is massively appreciated.

Someone has started to sketch a painting on the bridge by the underpass. I don’t know if it was the JLR crew or someone else?

I really hope that they are able to come back and finish painting the picture. It looks lovely.

I reminded the JLR folk of my conversation with the previous group back in April, and how my suggestion of an old Land Rover model would be very much appreciated, if they had a spare one at the back of the car park. I explained that there was some confusion around the word “model” with the previous group…

…and how I felt like I had been a bit mugged off.

Well, there seems to have been yet more confusion!!

I know, I know… Whilst I find it slightly amusing – “don’t give up the day job…”

Today we cracked on with clearing the wildflower clearing. This one did very well through the summer and clearing it off gives it a chance to go again next year, rather than turning into bramble scrub. We could do with grubbing out the bramble roots with our mattocks over the winter.

We stacked up the cuttings on the old piles from the previous years to make warm habitat for wildlife that like to burrow.

And then it was time for a much-needed pick-me-up slurp of coffee and ginger crunch cookies.

It also gave us a chance to test-drive the new mug…

We then worked northwards, actually the path is going off to the east here, but it is so gradual that it really doesn’t feel like it.

We need to thin the trees on the south side so the northern side gets full sun. We have time on our side so we can really go for it during this cutting season.

We have another new tool, this is a pair of bypass secateurs with Japanense-steel blades.

I like them. Incredibly sharp and the second green switch is an adjuster for smaller hands so my wife will be happy, too.

Incredibly, they cost just £3.79 from temu.com.

Lastly, some naughty squirrels have tried to move our round three-seater picnic bench out of the rain, and just like last time, have broken it.

You had your chance with the seating under the bridge…

But some silly squirrel decided to smash it all up and now there is nowhere dry to sit and chill when it rains.

Quelle surprise!

I will pop down later in the week and try and patch the bench back together. At some point, we are going to turn it into a four-seater anyway, so I’m not massively bothered about this.

But it does slide us nicely onto our other three-seater bench that got smashed and rebuilt as a four-seater. On Friday we are putting it on the Dunchurch Bridleway. I’ll be glad to finally move it out of my garden.

I’m sure my neighbours think that I’m operating a micro-pub and beer-garden from my house.

Until next time!

Paul

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Scallops and Stuff

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Six of us wildlife warriors met up today and pushed on with the path on the slightly higher ground, ready for when the main path becomes a mudbath in winter, and we also continued to scallop the path edges.

The path runs almost north to south at this part, it’s slightly NNE to SSW but not by much. It tends to curve off to the east after the underpass. Because of this, none of the path edges are getting full sun all day long.

By creating the scallops, we are making little south-facing micro-climates that will be protected from the wind. This is perfect for wildflowers, butterflies, bees and a host of other insects.

Luckily we had a bit of sunshine to kinda show what we’re on about.

We also tidied up the scallops south of where we were today to keep it all looking smooth.

We need to rake in some wildflower seed mix, but that’s a job for next year in the spring.

Our YouTube of the southern end.

This shows how the scallops are on each side of the path and one side will get the morning sun and the other will get the afternoon sun. It will be interesting to see how busy each side is with insects.

We need to remember not to strim into the scallops next spring and summer. Ideally, we need a transition like this.

Path – short grass – longer grass and wildflowers – scrub.

I think we’re on the right track.

We enjoyed coffee and flapjack in our usual all-terrain mugs.

And then powered on getting the width and stacking up the cuttings.

As the vegetation slowly rots down in the piled-up stack, it creates heat which is good for burrowing mammals in the winter.

Lastly, we had the Bilton Beavers (6 to 8 year olds) visit and learn about the community and volunteering aspects of what we do.

It’s good to see that most of them had used the path for walking or cycling previously with their parents.

Tree Survey

I did the tree survey for those that are interested.

 The DAFOR Scale is a way of measuring the number of animals or species present in an environment.

D = Dominant, A= Abundant, F = Frequent, O = Occasional, R = Rare.

Maple (O), Alder (O), Birch (R), Hazel (A), Hawthorn (A), Ash (A), Aspen (R), Cherry (R), Blackthorn (A), Oak (A), Buckthorn (R), Willow (O), and Elder (O).

  • Maple
  • Alder
  • Birch
  • Hazel
  • Hawthorn
  • Ash
  • Aspen
  • Cherry
  • Blackthorn
  • Oak
  • Buckthorn
  • Willow
  • Elder

I don’t think that there is anything unexpected in my findings.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We made the clearing for the picnic bench last week.

We will widen it out into a decent wildflower glade over the winter. At the moment we just made the space big enough for it to fit. We will be installing the bench Friday next week.

We cleared back the scrub on the other side, just to create a feeling of airy space around the bench. When the farmer cuts the hedge it should be a beautiful spot for a ploughman’s lunch and a glass of decent beer.

The rest of the bridleway does need a trim back since we last cut it. We are aware so don’t panic.

There’s another Right of Way that has piqued my interest. At the corner of the windmill loop, there are a few paths that branch off. One of those paths goes through the woods and back to Cawston. There is only 300 metres that needs a light strim and the route will be clear.

I think this then has us at our capacity in terms of keeping on top of it. We will find out next spring and summer!!

Obviously, it’s up to the team, but I think we should give this a go!

I’ve done a YouTube of the bridleway so people can get a visual idea of what it actually is. Try not to fall asleep!!

The contractors who are building all the warehouses should be cutting the temporary path that connects Cawston Greenway and Dunchurch Bridleway.

Hopefully the connection will be made soon!

Loads going on next week so stay tuned.

Until then!

Paul

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A Surprise But Very Welcome Visit

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Six of us wildlife warriors made it today so we were able to split up a bit with four going northwards and me and Steve going southwards.

We had got towards the end of our run when I noticed this strange thing slowly bimbling towards us. We thought it was a person with a pushchair at first, but it finally dawned on us that it was a mobility scooter and it was our friend, Patrick.

It was lovely to see Patrick and I enjoyed chatting, but it was also lovely to see that he had got on right at the other end, and was able to get to this end without a problem. If you remember, we made a “bridge” where we had a trench going across the path down at Berrybanks and this was stopping the path from being usable for everyone.

I cannot tell you how happy this made me feel.

As we waved Patrick off, I was pleased with the width and to see him move along unhindered.

This really is a path for everyone.

We continued with pushing out the edges, making scallops for wildlife micro-habitats, and trying to pull in some of the trees to give the feeling of an airy space and a woodland walk.

It makes the path massively more interesting to walk up and down and really makes the trees stand out proudly. The more of a wriggly edge the better for wildlife because it creates little pockets of shelter.

We recharged with go-go juice, in our all-terrain mugs, and flapjack (remember flapjack from your childhood) at the bench that we decided to set up and call basecamp.

This is one of the best bits, just chatting and stuff. So important for mental wellbeing. We also admired a couple of new tools from the lovely people at Wickes.

They got a hell of a good first workout and stayed the course perfectly.

Our YouTube of a bit of the nearly 700 metres covered today.

We are liking where we are at very much.

We also litter picked the south end.

Happy to report a rather feeble attempt due to an obvious lack of litter!!

Next week we are pushing on from the Cawston Bridleway bridge, so parking in Carroll Close, and then we need to clear out our wildflower glades in October.

We have lots going on over the next couple of weeks so keep yourself tuned in.

This Friday we are back on the Dunchurch Bridleway making a space for the bench that was smashed up, and rebuilt.

The thing has been sat in my garden for what seems like months and I really cannot wait to get it back into service.

Lastly, I’m wondering if maybe we should explore the option of a loop back from Dunchurch to Cawston through the woods?

Not sure if we have the capacity. Will have an poke around later this week to see if we can do it.

And with that, until next time!

Paul

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A Bench With A View…

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

A bit of an odd one today where we kinda went sideways, as well as lengthways, along the path.

Our first job was to give the Brook View bench an actual view of the brook.

It’s quite hard to make out in the photo, but there is a healthy little stream at the bottom of the slope. We could have cleared the whole bank, but really we just wanted a little window so that people can sit and simply enjoy the view if they so wish.

Plus, working at what felt like a sixty-degree angle was not the best. Luckily Steve left six-inch stumps to grab hold of and help to stop a bumpy slide into the stream, which would have resulted in a very soggy bottom.

We did a bit more work on the scallops and we really need to make sure that we don’t strim into them next spring and summer.

Hopefully, the photos show how the scallops swing from side to side. We need bare earth so grass and wildflowers will grow in each of the semicircles, and when the bramble greens up it all feels like it fits together and flows.

Personally, I still think we need to go in a little deeper, but this is new and we are just sort of working it out as we go.

The path where we were working today.

It feels like a really safe place to be and we are all really happy with how it looks.

Our YouTube to give a better visual idea of what we are looking like.

It had started raining when I recorded this, but hey-ho!!

After a quick slurp of pick-me-up-juice…

…we did a bit of work on the side path that runs next to the wildflower meadow between us and the houses.

It’s a 200 metre alternative path for people who are not keen on the there-and-back linear path. This is our attempt at making a circular path along a very straight railway line. And opening up this side of the path to sunlight is, of course, superb for wildlife.

Down the line a new cycle bridge has gone in.

This is just south of Marton and if the new cycle path follows the old railway it will connect to us at Potford Dam. I’m just not sure about the last bit between the A45 and Potford Dam.

Dunchurch Bridleway

I don’t know who started cutting back the bridleway west of the new road by the warehouses, but I finished it. The whole bridleway is open, but goes nowhere. In days past it would have been a spur from the A45 London Road to Northampton.

One cannot help but imagine how many people have trudged up and down this path in times past.

We also strimmed around our benches and trimmed the first loop (Windmill Loop) to keep it open. Thank you Wickes DIY for the ongoing support.

I’m really grateful to the farmer for keeping the Public Right of Way open.

This was the last bit – before and after…

Every single person who I have met on this bridleway, whilst working to clear it, has heaped a ton of praise on me. You know what, sometimes it can feel like we’re changing the status quo or just doing stuff and people don’t like it. But here, everyone seems very happy to have this path back in use.

However, still a lot of grumbling about how it connects to the railway path and the state of the scrub south of Potford Dam, but I’m working on a solution.

Next week we are at the Oak Tree bench pushing back those scallops.

Until then!

Paul

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Let the adventure begin…

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Six of us met up at the Potford Dam end and started to shape and mould the path like a fine sculpture.

We have twists and turns, kinks and corners, and best of all, we have scallops.

We’re getting behind some of the trees so people can walk on either side if they so wish. It just makes it way more interesting. The scallops where there are blackberries will be pushed deeper back once the fruit has gone. It was our first outing with our new hedge trimmer and will take a few weeks for us to get to know how it works and get a feel for it.

The general idea is, a scallop to the left, followed by a scallop to the right, and then back to the left, so the path edge becomes wriggly and full of little sheltered micro-habitats.

If we have a big tree we can try and form the scallop around it.

We covered about 400 metres today so good progress and the grass where we strimmed last week has not grown, so we can really push all of our attention towards the scrub at the edges.

The width is so important for the mental well-being aspect of the path. If people can see a good 100 yards ahead of themselves they don’t tend to feel anxious whilst walking alone, or sitting at the benches, and if people are walking with others, it means they can walk two or three abreast and have an actual conversation. And because that conversation sometimes might be a bit difficult, the fact that we are doing something else whilst having it, makes it a little easier than say, sitting face-to-face across a picnic bench.

I kinda hope that everyone gets where we are coming from and knows that there is a place where it is safe to chat about stuff, especially us men who are pretty rubbish at opening up about the things that are weighing heavily upon us.

And on that cheerful note, we collected a bag of litter which, to be honest, was more full of litter from outside the path rather than on the path itself.

We are back at this part of the path next week working on the canopy above the Brook View bench, and the view down to the brook.

The bench needs more sunlight and believe it or not, there is a brook down there at the bottom of the slope that will look lovely from the bench.

The wildflower glades need clearing out so I guess we can start on this next week, too.

This one has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but I think this was because spring was so wet and the grass simply took over. I have a huge amount of wildflower seed collected last year so we can give it a boost.

Our YouTube of a bit of the path where we worked today.

Hopefully, it just gives people a gist of what we are looking like.

We are back at Dunchurch Bridleway on Friday and back at the start, keeping the path grass short and the width wide and open.

Until then!

Paul

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