Cawston Greenway

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Access To Nature, Active Travel, community, Connecting Communities, conservation, cycling, flowers, gardening, nature, running, Traffic Free Travel, walking, wildflowers, wildlife | 14 Comments

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Active Travel, butterflies, community, conservation, cycling, Jaguar Land Rover, JLR, nature, outdoors, running, volunteer work, wildlife | 10 Comments

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Active Travel, butterflies, cawston, cawston greenway, community, community space, cycling, Dunchurch, Dunchurch Bridleway, mountain biking, outdoors, volunteer work, walking, wildlife | 12 Comments

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Active Travel, community, community space, conservation, cycling, nature, outdoors, volunteer work, wildlife | 7 Comments

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Active Travel, butterflies, cawston greenway, community, Connecting Communities, conservation, cycling, nature, outdoors, Paths For Everyone, Traffic Free Travel, wildlife | 9 Comments

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

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Access To Nature, Active Travel, Adventure, community, Connecting Communities, cycling, Exploring, Fresh Air, nature, Paths For Everyone, Sustainable Transport, walking | 10 Comments

Thank You, George.

Posted on August 28, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

This week is the last week of the school summer holidays and also the last week that George is with us for his six-month Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award. It’s been great having you on the team, George, and your little bit of legacy is your bench.

We look forward to seeing you at half-term.

We strimmed back the path, fanning out from the JLR bench and started to think about the deep scallops that we need to cut onto the scrub now the bird-nesting season is all but over.

We can see how this is starting to take shape and how we are using mature trees as a feature within the scallop if we can.

The deeper we go in, the better, because each scallop will be a sheltered little micro-habitat for biodiversity. It also makes it far more interesting for people who enjoy walking or cycling on the path.

I had my litter-picking crew today, due to the school holidays, and they did us proud.

Two kilometres covered (there and back that’s 4 km) so well done, kids. A well-earned McDonald’s followed…

Not a regular thing so don’t worry!

We enjoyed coffee and Goerge made us all some banana loaf, which was delicious.

This is probably one of the best parts of us getting together every week and doing what we do.

Next month we have Bilton Beavers helping and also a group from Jaguar Land Rover, who might try to do something with this bench as part of their day with us.

If not, we know how to turn it into a 4-seater.

Here is our YouTube of some of the progress today.

The reason that we use YouTube is because I am unable to load videos directly onto the blog without signing up to the next tier, which will cost me even more money. Of course, I would love to be a YouTuber with 500,000 subscribers and enough imagination to put out interesting and engaging content every week, but sadly, I’m not.

Lastly, here is a rather nice photo from Matthew Gordon (Cawston resident) of the sunset behind one of our benches.

I love it.

Dunchurch Bridleway

Somehow we continue to push on westwards and there are just 70 metres of path snipping back left, until the bridleway meets the railway. When we see 70 metres against the whole length of the bridleway, it looks like nothing.

I’m not really that bothered about this bit, preferring to wait until the cycle path along the new road connects us, but someone unknown seems to want it open and accessible.

The temporary Right of Way that connects to the greenway has been cleared by about 50 metres, so slowly it’s kinda coming together.

If it gets people walking or cycling between Cawston and Dunchurch, then I guess it’s all good.

Next week we are back at Potford Dam and for me, this is Dream Street because we can start to create the deep scallops with our hedge trimmers. Butterflies and bees, thank me later…

Until then!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Access To Nature, Active Travel, butterflies, cawston greenway, community, Connecting Communities, conservation, conservation work, cycling, nature, outdoors, running, volunteer work, wildlife | 12 Comments

Time to Visit the September Jobs List

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We have one last week until the birdnesting season ends and we can visit our list of jobs to do (top right of menu bar) over autumn and winter.

Six of us made it today and trimmed the path back about 400 metres, fanning out from the bird feeder clearing.

We’ve got the width that we need so cyclists and pedestrians can share the path, we have kinks and curves so we haven’t created a wind-tunnel effect, we have plenty of benches for picnics, or just to sit at and enjoy the birdsong and green space. All-in-all, it has a great feel to it.

The next stage, which just so happens to be a winter job when all the berries have gone, is to cut back the bramble and start to manage the blackberries.

The lifecycle of bramble is – loads of runners but no fruit in the first year, bumper fruit in the second year, stems die in the third year so need to be cut right back to ground level.

It will look something like this – winter 2024 cut back – summer 2025 new growth – summer 2026 fruit – cut back winter 2026/7 so the cycle starts all over again.

If we work out a rotation strategy we will always have a bumper crop of berries every year.

We also need to cut really deep scallops into the path edge. This year we have been a bit quick to get to the edge of the scrub when strimming because we didn’t really have the time and manpower to knock the scrub back into the scallops that we needed. Once we have these, they will be full of longer grass, wildflowers and basically we will be creating little micro-habitats up and down the whole path.

We have been awarded a grant from Warwickshire County Council for a new strimmer and a hedge trimmer so we will have the tools to do the job.

We also litter-picked up and down.

Considering that it’s the school holidays – not a lot of litter at all!!

Someone called Simon gently snipped back the path from Potford Dam down to the A45. No idea who Simon is but thanks for keeping this bit usable.

Here is our YouTube of the area that we did today.

Hopefully, you can see what we are trying to achieve.

Dunchurch Bridleway

Lots happening on this bit of the path. We got the two loops open and also pushed on to the new spine road cutting across the bridleway.

The next jobs are to get the Geocaching trail re-done so it goes past Solstice coffee shop and hopefully encourages people to pop in for a cuppa, and to install our rebuilt picnic bench, once all the berries have gone over and we can cut an area to accommodate it.

Someone has pushed a further 350 metres westward from the spine road. No idea who this is, but good work if it means people have further to walk and cycle.

It comes to an abrupt halt at the last photo, but I am intrigued to see if it will carry on to the end, which is about 250 metres or so. Thank you, whoever you are.

Here is a kinda updated map of the paths to give you an idea where it all sort of fits together.

My plan is to get a Geocaching trail around both loops, and hopefully connect the Dunchurch and Cawston communities somehow, or maybe it will just happen as people naturally forge a traffic-free way through.

Next week we are at the JLR picnic bench snipping back, and after that, it’s all hands to the pump!!

Until then!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Access To Nature, Active Travel, Adventure, cawston, Connecting Communities, cycling, Dunchurch, Exploring, Fresh Air, nature, Paths For Everyone, Sustainable Transport, walking, Wheeling | 6 Comments

Forest School Area

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Hopefully, this will be the last session down this end for a couple of weeks. I for one tend to get itchy feet when we are committing a lot of our time in a single place.

Six of us met up and we made a second triangle of benches, and made an area that we feel is suitable for Forest School and Bushcraft skills.

Thanks to Andrew, who let us use his driveway to drop off all the heavy stuff, and the lend of a sack-barrow and wheelbarrow to get said heavy stuff onto the path.

We had to make our way across the cow field.

That was errr, interesting, in a buttock-clenching sort of way… But actually, the young bullocks showed nothing more than a slightly bemused interest.

George and Dave got the benches in, whilst the rest of us cut a massive pile of sticks to allow dens and shelters to be built.

If you ever find yourself lost in the wilderness, there are three things that you need to guarantee your survival – FOOD, WATER, and SHELTER.

Thank me later when you’re tucked up in a wooden teepee feasting on a roasted grey squirrel.

The benches are the usual “goalpost” design and made with tanalised (pressure-treated) timber to ward off any rot, and they are each held together with eleven 80 mm screws, so if a naughty non-grey squirrel tries to damage them, there is a high chance of personal injury.

My poor neighbours probably think I have turned my back garden into a timber yard!!

We broke for coffee and flapjack at the halfway point.

And gave the benches the usual baptism of caffeine.

Hopefully, the school that we are behind will allow the kids to do a bit of Forest School, or mums and dads can just enjoy a cheeky coffee whilst their children build things and play.

Many thanks to Pauline, Wendy and Andrew for the buy-me-a-coffee donations to make this area happen.

Here is our YouTube of the path.

We now have 75 subscribers so we are growing very slowly.

Dunchurch Bridleway

I had to cancel the workday due to childcare duties on Friday, but I did grab a few little pockets of time here and there.

Just 200 metres to go until the Solstice turn and then about 50 metres on the path that leads off to the cafe. It’s just really tough and coarse grass, so progress is slow, but once it’s done it’s just a case of keeping on top of it and slowly widening this part to about 2 metres.

I also strimmed around the three benches to keep them accessible.

It’s coming together nicely and I think the next session will have the path totally open.

It was good to finally try out our hedge-trimmer and it really works well.

We need to open up the two loops and then work out how to connect with the greenway.

The point of the westerly red dot is where the new spine road goes from the roundabout, northwards to the Potford Dam roundabout. We can follow the cycle path along this new road, or push on westward and try to connect to the greenway somewhere.

Something to think about over the winter.

Until next time!

Paul

Posted in Newsreel | Tagged Access To Nature, Active Travel, Adventure, cawston greenway, community, Connecting Communities, cycling, Dunchurch Bridleway, Exploring, Fresh Air, nature, Paths For Everyone, Sustainable Transport, walking, Wheeling | 6 Comments

Back in the Gutter

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

No workday for me last week due to a well-earned holiday. I swapped my usual view for this.

However, the guys did a load of work on the path width from The Bear bridge right to the northern end.

It’s made a huge difference with grass starting to grow at the edges, and we have our flop zone when everything goes over and starts to wilt, it is no longer going to fall towards the middle of the path.

Seven of us congregated this week with drain rods, spades, a length of pipe, saws, and all sorts to try and get the source of the overflow sorted and the path flat again.

Sadly, the blocked drain remains blocked, but we did fill in the gully with the bit of pipe.

This is one of our core values – a path for everyone, so people with a pushchair, mobility scooter, or just a child on a small-wheeled bike can use the path whilst the water quietly drains away.

Let’s hope it works!! We will not know until late winter, probably.

We had a break and enjoyed a coffee in our all-terrain mugs and a tasty flapjack.

We then litter-picked, and decided that this bench really needs work.

It’s a terrible design and not suitable for public use whatsoever. But it does lead me to the one that got smashed up by the naughty squirrels.

I had an old pallet, a bit of timber from my local DIY store, and a window of time.

You guessed it – reuse-recycle-repurpose kicked in…

I’m happy with that, and the timber, with my Wickes Trade Discount, cost just £13.50. We will probably stick this one on the Dunchurch part of the path. But more importantly, we know how to fix the other one when it finally falls apart.

Forest School & Bushcraft Area

This area has kind of grown in my head.

We are keeping the triangle of benches and will probably put a tarp up above it to keep the area dry, and then start a bushcraft area where kids can build a shelter, have logs to sit on, and generally learn some forestry skills.