The Last Post(crete)

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

This really is the last time that I am going to hump bags of Postcrete about.

If not, it will probably be the end of me!!

We cracked on with the smashed-up picnic bench replacement just north of The Bear bridge. Rather than fork out for a new bench, or try to fix up the broken bench and get into a cat-and-mouse game with the naughty squirrels, we used Rich’s very kind “buy-me-a-coffee” donation to fund building three benches that are as strong as heavy plow horses. If these bad-boys get damaged then I’ll be the one blowing the bugle, because I ain’t spending no more time and money at this end trying to make it nice for people.

And no need to send the grammar police, the double negative was on purpose. I’m far too much of an optimistic fool.

I was a little worried that the triangle would not be equilateral and my OCD would surface and bug me for an eternity. Luckily, we got it there or thereabouts, and we all thought it looked pretty good.

Marcus did a massive litter pick from Berrybanks to the northern end.

Reappearing just as the coffee was calling out “drink me…”

It’s always nice to see a new bench set launched with coffee and tasty treats. A little bit of a baptism and a welcome to years of loyal service, and a commitment from us that we will look after them.

The little stream is back!!

However, when I popped down later in the day it had stopped flowing and was starting to dry out again. I sat at the new benches and the birdsong was utterly magical.

This trio of benches is of course for everyone, but hopefully like the quad of benches, it’s somewhere that local youth can hang out and just chill without causing conflict with anyone else. I’m going to make some seats/stools out of old pallets to go under The Bear bridge so they have somewhere to sit when it rains.

All-in-all, a cracking morning.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We did a fair bit of work on this during our Friday workday. A total of 230 metres strimmed back to allow people to walk side-by-side and not be brushing up against bramble, grass with bitey things hiding in it, and nettles.

We really are deep into the countryside here, with a wood to the north and plenty of public right of way footpaths going from the path, into the wood.

We only want to go as far as the RofW path R168, which connects the bridleway to the greenway.

The easterly end of the Dunchurch Bridleway connects to the National Cycle Network 41, so it really is our umbilical-cord to the big world out there.

And that really is that, for another week.

Please do pop along if you want to see what we’re all about, or just fancy a coffee and a chat. We’re all pretty much laid-back and chilled. I would hate to think of anyone wanting to join in but a little bit of anxiety is holding them back. I know, because that is me all over.

Next week we are at the Cawston Bridleway bridge ploughing on northwards with the path edges.

Until then,

Paul

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Last Week Of Men’s Health Month.

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

If you didn’t know, it’s been Men’s Health Month in June. I like the mental health, or mental welbeing aspect of this and has been something that I have been banging on about for literally years and years.

One of the core reasons that we do what we do is for mental wellbeing, both for us and the people who use the path.

Getting out into a green space reduces stress, anxiety and thoughts of depression. Doing something with purpose and passion builds self confidence and gives us a reason to get up in the morning, and just the action of giving without expecting something back is so good for the soul.

Today five of us met and carried on with keeping the path wide so people can walk side-by-side and have a conversation, or mountain bikers and walkers can pass each other without the walker having to leap into the scrubby margins and suffer stinging nettle stings and bramble clawing at their legs.

It looks and feels really good. So good that as I did a litter pick, I lost all track of time until my phone buzzed with a WhatsApp message telling me it was coffee break time.

I was about half a mile away so had to get back to the coffee double quick. Luckily there was not a lot of litter.

On my trek I came across a Bloody Nosed Beetle, which was nice.

He was ambling along in the middle of the path, so I moved him to the side to save him being trampled.

David has made name plates for the picnic benches and they look absolutely fantastic.

There is no excuse for us not to know where we are meeting now. There are a few more to do next week on the northern benches.

Wildflower wise, we are looking good. Ox-eye daisies have started coming up and Rosebay Willow-herb is about to bloom with beautiful purple flowers.

Lastly, we have finally dried out and no longer have the stream running down the northern end of the path and forming a lake.

This was a good six to eight inches underwater for ages. We just need to get the path flat around the Berrybanks bit so access is for everyone, again.

That’s about it for this week.

On Friday we are at the Dunchurch Bridleway and next week we are putting in the replacement benches north of The Bear bridge.

Until then,

Paul

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Last Day of Spring…

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We found ourselves back at the start today, in what we thought was going to be a quick strim over the path edges. However, the growth since the last strim has been really heavy and progress was slowish. We managed 250 metres and it’s 1.6 km to the underpass. I think we speed up as we progress onwards.

Lots of lovely dappled sunlight where we have eased the tree canopy back slightly.

Some might question why we are keeping the path cut back. If we don’t, it very quickly starts to look like this.

Which is no good for walkers and mountain bikers sharing, and also pretty rubbish on the legs as brambles, nettles, and insects that bite, will be hiding in the greenery.

Our coffee stop was a welcome break.

And gave us chance to chat about a mini-tornado that swept across the path at the weekend and brought down some trees.

Ian, who is standing, and his daughter, Wendy, cleared the branches as much as possible so people could clamber over the trunk, and then someone came along with a chainsaw and chopped the rest of it up. Thank you, whoever you are.

Our little bench took a direct hit and the loose bit was flung quite a distance.

We did an ad-hoc repair, just to keep the bits all together, really. We can fix it properly at some point in the next month or two. I’m sure there is a sponsor deal somewhere with DeWalt tools, seeing as every other blog post has one of their tools photobombing the pics.

We also had a group of lads from Bilton Grange Prep School doing a bit of a community session. They cleared the Hawthorn Trail and started to level the path.

Our YouTube of the Hawthorn Trail.

Fantastic work and a really hardworking group of decent young men. Thank you.

Someone has been pushing back the trail past the point where we stop at Potford Dam.

They have even put up a sign, no clue who this is, or how far they have got, but it does bring us neatly onto the Dunchurch Bridleway, which is where the path leads to, via a public right-of-way footpath.

We installed our benches on the Dunchurch trail and the quality is right up there, as is the comfort because of the wider top.

They’re made from reclaimed scaffold boards, which reminds us of the industrial heritage of the railway, and the bridleway that would’ve been used to ferry people to and from the Dunchurch railway station, back in the second half of the 1800’s. And it also gives us that shiver of “feel good” down our spines knowing that we are recycling and reusing stuff.

That’s about it for this week. Loads going on and loads to do.

We got to this bench today, so will be pushing on from there next week.

Until then!

Paul

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We Drained The Lake

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

Or rather, Reece and David did.

I just paddled about in my green wellies trying my best to look like I knew what I was doing, which lasted for about five minutes before I was rumbled, and was sent off to do some strimming.

If we get no rain for a few days/weeks/months we might dry out completely.

We can see what is left of the great lake and the bed of the stream that snaked down the path. We’re going to push the left-hand side back by about a metre in the autumn so that we always have the higher ground to walk on, which is packed down with ballast from when it used to be a railway. That should keep us dry. We also need to cut back some of the overhang. Deep joy with that job!!

We got to The Bear bridge, which is only about 300 metres, but it is what it is.

At the half way point we broke for some go-go juice in our all-terrain mugs, and had a deep and meaningful conversation about benches.

We need to stiffen this bench and my rudimentary engineering skills (yes that’s a joke – I couldn’t engineer my way out of a wet paper bag!) seem to suggest legs and a frame under the table top, and something to make the seat leg footprint bigger.

We also agreed to put the three new benches in at The Bear bridge to replace the smashed up picnic bench, so that will be our first job for July.

We then had a visit from Liz and Andrew, who made the Bethel bench, and loads of bird-boxes, amongst other things.

These things are truly built to last – proper engineering!!

Great to see you guys.

And whilst we are on the subject of benches, I got a sticker for the bench that we put in for Mick, who passed away last year.

He would come to this spot to admire the sunset of an evening, and the sunset double meaning kinda makes me, I don’t know, a bit melancholy maybe, but so blooming grateful to have had him as a friend for 14 years.

We also litter-picked the whole two miles of track.

And the Geocaching trail is so much better with proper water-tight containers and there are now 17 caches to be found along the path.

Thank you Andrew (another Andrew) for sorting this out.

We have nice wildflowers in the bit between the path and the scrubby bramble.

We do have a heck of a lot of grass in some of the wildflower clearings. Maybe this will change as it gets warmer?

Loads of people came past today, and everyone looked happy, although nobody wanted to stop and share our coffee. If I saw five random men sitting around a picnic bench, I would probably leg it the other way, so I do get the social anxiety bit, but the offer is always there.

On Friday we’re putting in the benches on the Dunchurch Bridleway, which we connect with and this then joins to the National Cycle Network, so effectively, our umbilical cord to the rest of the world.

Come along and help if you want to get involved.

Until then!

Paul

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Welcome To My World…

Posted on June 5, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

…the third rock from the sun.

We had what is called a Parade of Planets this week, where all the planets line up and some can be seen with the naked eye. Quite a sight if you like star-gazing, and another nugget of useless information that might pop up as a pub quiz question somewhere in the Universe.

Back here on Earth we had more pressing matters to deal with. We seem to be in a bit of a race against the rampant growth of everything green.

We started where we finished last week, which was at the Wiggers Bethel bench, which undoubtedly has the best views on the greenway, and ploughed on.

The width is so important if walkers and cyclists are to share the path.

We’re covering decent chunks of ground, with 600 metres done again today, but very soon we need to go back to the start and do it all again. A bit like painting the Forth Bridge.

No… Not that sort of painting, you dummy…

Better.

We have covered 2 kilometres in total and have the Berrybanks bit to do next week, before we go back and start again.

Triad of Benches

We’re replacing the smashed up picnic bench by The Bear bridge, thanks to Rich for his buy-me-a-coffee donation.

Hopefully the triad will last a bit longer than the last bench. People complain that we don’t spend as much of our efforts at this end – Hmm, a little bit of food for thought, right there!

They will go into the ground in this triangle formation and the seat height will be about 45cm.

We also did some running repairs on the bench at Berrybanks.

The design is absolutely awful and we need to build an exoskeleton if it’s going to have any chance of lasting. I need an engineer and I need one fast!!

The recycled bench had a bit of a battering from the naughty squirrels, again.

I found a bit of wood in my shed and repaired it, but at some point we will need to replace the table part with the same timber as the seats, which will cost us just £10. This bench has been with us for such a long time and has terrific sentimental value. Because of that, I would like to keep it in use.

Me, a long, long time ago!!

It will always puzzle me when the very thing that you want to sit at becomes a target for destruction. Is there not a thought process that kicks in and says, “hang on, if we break this we will have nowhere to sit.” Bizarre how that connection is seemingly so difficult to make.

Geocaching Dino Trail Relaunch

We now have a chap called Andrew who has taken control of the geocaching trial. It was never a good match for me with my ridiculously-short attention span. The last time I looked it had something like 2,500 finds along the 12 cache trail, so it’ll be good to see this back up and running, and properly maintained. Thank you Andrew.

Please give it a go. It’s a good six mile there-and-back trek and great for kids and grandkids.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We are hopefully putting a couple of really decent benches in next Friday at 10am. I am slowly getting myself organised with this trail and will be doing work on it every other Friday, to keep it cut back and connected to the Cawston trail. If you want to help just keep an eye out for some dates to appear on the right.

Lastly, I topped up the bird feeders to keep everyone happy.

Next week we are down at Berrybanks trying to impersonate Mosses and get the water to go down the drain. Wellies optional, a good sense of humour absolutely essential.

Until then!

Paul

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We Have A New Toy…

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

It’s something that is tremendously exciting and tells us if the birds are happy, sort of.

It’s an app on my phone that cleverly recognises birdsong and tells us what we have. This is super-important because we can kind of judge how much wildlife we have and tells us that we are on the right track in terms of creating a wildlife corridor, which is one of our three main pillars of why we do what we do.

The good news is, we have loads and loads of different birds identified, and now the automatic photo carousel thing is working again, we can sit back and see what they are.

  • Robin
  • Blackcap
  • Great Tit
  • Blackbird
  • Chiffchaff
  • Goldfinch
  • Song Thrush
  • Greenfinch
  • Bullfinch
  • Goldcrest
  • Blue Tit
  • Chaffinch
  • Dunnock
  • Magpie
  • Wood Pigeon
  • Willow Warbler
  • Sparrow
  • Redstart
  • Jay
  • Wren

It’s super exciting to think that we are creating an environment that balances the needs of nature with the needs of humans.

And with that in mind, we carried on with maintaining the path width so the humans can enjoy walking side-by-side whilst having a conversation, which is really good for mental health, another one of our three main pillars of why we do what we do.

As you can see, we keep the entrances nice and wide, too. And also create a good buffer around the benches so nobody gets stung on the bum whilst sitting at them.

We’re starting to get a decent margin between the path and the scrub, but we do need to manage the tree canopy to allow the understory to really come alive. What we need is really healthy ground flora under the trees, which means getting sunlight onto the ground.

We got as far as “Wiggers” bench which is called Bethel, which was about 400 metres, so about 200 metres left until we get to the underpass.

This is a photo of the wildflower meadows outside of the railway path.

If we can get more of that inside, and we are doing in parts, it will look really good. But not having the usual vegetation flopping into the path is making it feel so much better already.

The way I am visualising it, is path – six to 12 inch short-cut margin – a metre or so of wildflower rich grass – scrub – edge. I’m not sure how this will pan out in September when we start to cut it all back, but looking at it this year, compared to previous years, I cannot see any pitfalls.

We filled up the bird feeding station with my young assistant (school holidays).

So that should keep everyone happy, and we also litter picked all the way to the furthest northern point.

Lastly, we have a few things in the pipeline for the benches. I have taken the pedestal benches off the map and just have the picnic benches on there. You will have to wait and see why. We have very subtle railway stickers for all but one of the pedestal benches. All will be revealed in a couple of weeks.

We have the triangle of benches to put in near The Bear pub, thanks to the buy-me-a-coffee donation from Rich. We also have the two benches to put in on Dunchurch Bridleway, thanks to the support from The Kitchens Inc.

Probably before that happens, we need some rain-free weeks so everything can dry out and the ground can regain the ability to absorb water.

Next week we meet at Wiggers Bethel bench and push onwards towards the nightmare that is Berrybanks!!

Here is our YouTube of a bit of today.

Join us for coffee at 11am or just join in on the workdays. It really is good fun!

Until next week!

Paul

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Flower Moon

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

This week we have another full moon to contend with. It’s called the Flower Moon because it coincides with an abundance of flowers finally bursting into life as we see out the last few weeks of spring, and welcome summer.

However, somebody up there in the clouds obviously didn’t get the memo.

It just rained, and rained, and rained. It was that horribly wet rain that seeps into every space that it can find. It was getting down my neck and soaking my back, into my shoes and soaking my feet, and brushing past the overgrown path drenched my trousers.

But four of us intrepid explorers made it today and battled on.

The first task was to cut back the annoying path that gave my trousers a soaking.

This is the Cawston Bridleway and not even part of our trail, but I thought a good deed was in order.

We covered about 500 metres today and it really is just taking 6 or so inches off the edge of the path to stop all the vegetation making a mad dash for the open space. It’s easy work because everything is new growth so there are no hardened woody stems on anything. However, the constant vibration from the strimmers is quite tiring on the arms and hands.

Just look how wet it is.

And here we can see how the narrow path just opens up a bit.

We had shelter under the Bridleway bridge for a well needed caffeine-boost in our all-terrain mugs, but no bench.

So we improvised with an umbrella from one of our sponsors. We went back to the small flask because I was sure that nobody was going to join us today. Indeed, only one person came past, in the whole time that we were down there.

Luckily, I took some photos on Monday, of what we did last week.

We can see the path.

The short-grass buffer.

The wildflower zone.

And the interesting grasses that are starting to flourish.

There are some lovely grass names including Crested Dogstail, Tall Fescue, Creeping Bent, Meadow Foxtail, Timothy, and Yorkshire Fog.

I look forward to getting on my hands and knees to identify what we have, but overall I hope you can see the method in our madness in terms of path – short edge – wildflower-rich grass – scrub and trees.

I still feel that we need to push the scrub back even further by creating deep scallops into it. It’s all about getting a balance for people to share the path, wildlife to thrive, and for it to look pleasing on the eye. By having the scrub right up to the edge of the path means we lose this wildflower bit and it becomes very mono-green.

Here is our YouTube of most of the work today.

Welcome to British weather. I hate to think what is happening at the Berrybanks end!!

Lastly, we litter-picked from the middle-point, all the way to the southern end.

Next week we are at the Jaguar Land Rover bench pushing on. Please feel free to join us for coffee at 11am if you need a bit of human interaction, or are simply interested in what we are doing.

The benches for the Dunchurch Bridleway are almost ready and we have the buy-me-a-coffee donation from Rich for the replacement bench set-up near The Bear bridge. Hopefully we are looking at early June for installation of both of these.

That’s it for this week!

Paul

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Northern Lights

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

We had the Northern Lights to admire this week.

Thankfully there is no light pollution on our northern side and the view was magnificent.

We met at the most southerly part today and strimmed back the path edge just 6 inches of so, on both sides. This will stop the track feeling tight in the summer as everything sort of droops into the middle.

It feels a bit brutal but it really will pay dividends in a couple of weeks. Already we were able to walk up and down the path side-by-side and have a conversation, rather than the silent single-file column that we normally have to do.

The flooding at Berrybanks is now starting to dry out and is looking a lot more hopeful.

It’s still very muddy, but at least there is no longer a lake in the middle of the path.

Our radio interview from last week is on air.

Just click on the picture to listen.

How amazing!!

We also did some running repairs to the picnic benches. The naughty squirrels had a hedonistic party at the bird feeder clearing so a quick repair was in order.

We also splashed a load of wood stain about to keep everything looking fresh at this one, and the Potford Dam picnic bench.

It only rained a bit, and most of the stain had soaked in by then.

After topping up the bird feeders with fat balls.

We enjoyed coffee and cookies along with the sort of chit-chat that keeps us all sane.

It was a really good day today. We covered about 600 metres, which fills me with confidence that we can keep on top of the path width throughout summer.

Here is our YouTube for the week to give you a feeling of being there.

I’m gonna jump on my bike soon and do a video of the whole path.

Lastly, a few more wildflowers are popping up and butterflies are appearing.

The Dunchurch Bridleway is slowly opening up.

The public right-of-way across the field still needs to be reinstated.

But it is getting the attention that it needs.

This is the map showing the greenway in red, the public right of way and Dunchurch Bridleway in orange, and the diversion whilst the building work is happening, in blue.

It’s a lovely walk when it is all working and a delightful coffee can be had at Solstice Coffee Shop.

Next week we are at the bird feeder clearing. Please do come along for a coffee if you just need a bit of social contact. 11am as always, and there is always some going spare.

Until then!

Paul

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Green Explosion

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

This is the week where it goes absolutely mad.

It really does feel like it would become a jungle if we just left it, which is no good for anybody except the David Bellamy types.

The thought of all those bugs going up my trousers and down my top gets my spine tingling, and not in a good way. Which is why we need the path cut back to about two to three metres.

Wildflowers are popping up everywhere.

It has finally started to dry out and some good news with the blocked culvert.

After months and months of wringing our hands and wondering what to do, we finally managed to get the water to go into the drain on the western side and carry on along the brook where it is supposed to go.

This means that the bog will finally drain and the 800 metres of water that goes down the path can now go three metres across the path and be gone.

Hopefully, no more of this.

This really works against one of our three core values – A Path For Everyone. As I am sure you can imagine, anyone on a mobility scooter, a pushchair user, or someone not particularly steady on their feet is going to struggle massively here.

What we really need is the culvert under the ground being replaced with a 60 cm tube, but for now hopefully the inconvenience of all the water going down the path has stopped..

We also litter picked from Berrybanks to the bird feeder bench.

Loads of empty cans and stuff around a picnic bench tells me someone is having a good time!!

Lastly, we had a visit from Dan from the BBC. He was keen to interview us and get a little bit of our back-story.

It’s all very exciting, but I’m going to hold back until the thing drops and then kinda blog the whole event.

Here’s our YouTube of the section pushed back today.

Next week we are back at Potford Dam doing the same.

Until then!

Paul

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May Day

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Paul - Cawston Greenway

This week, in fact, today, we celebrate May Day.

The time of the year where young ladies and Morris Men dance around Maypoles up and down the villages of the UK, a May Queen is chosen, and green men lurk about doing something or another.

Here is the maypole from the village where I live.

May Day is also a celebration of worker’s rights, a shorter working week and bank holidays. I didn’t actually know that and I’m pleased that I did a bit of research.

Bench Shuffle

The Council had a word in our ear about the new JLR bench. It was very polite and friendly, basically they suggested that it was a little too close to residential houses and if there is a problem with raucous noise from hedonistic squirrels, late at night, we are setting ourselves up for a lot of problems.

They suggested a shuffle, so shuffle we did.

We also took the opportunity to stain the bench, and not the usual poo brown colour. So basically we shuffled the JLR bench to where the recycled bench is, and shuffled the recycled bench down the path. It works well and keeps the Council happy.

We then had a protracted conversation about the shade of brown and came up with some, err, creative ideas. Somehow vindaloo came into the conversation. I cannot think how!!

Anyway, let me steer this back on track with pictures of the views, up, down, and across the heath.

Dunchurch Bridleway

We have started working on the Dunchurch Bridleway, which connects to this path via a public right of way.

It’s important to me to make this connection for a couple of reasons. The bridleway connects to the National Cycle Network, so opens up the path to the larger local area. The National Cycle Network goes past the bottom of the road where I live, so I can literally hop on my bike and cycle to workdays. It also allows me to give something back to the village where I live, which is a pretty good feeling.

We have some really exciting news to share about this trail in a week or two, so watch this space.

Cawston Guides Bench

I stuck the Girl Guide sticker on the Cawston Guides bench and it just gives it a bit of an identity.

I quite like it.

Buy Me A Coffee

We had a wonderfully generous donation from a chap called Rich who bought us five coffees. This is very welcome and will go towards a bench formation towards the northern end.

Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to you joining us on workdays when you can.

Next Week

We are at Berrybanks next week just easing the path back a little. It is still incredibly muddy and all the rain over the weekend has set back the drying-out a bit.

As usual, pop along if you fancy a chat and a coffee. We seriously have some going spare and we really are a light-hearted bunch.

Helping each other to look after our mental wellbeing has always been a big part of why we do this. Go back to the start of the year blog post (actually it’s the second one of January) and look at our three core values – A Path For Everyone, A Wildlife Corridor, and A Safe Place for Mental Wellbeing.

And I know that walking up to five blokes sitting at a picnic bench swigging coffee and laughing about random stuff might appear to be a little bit weird and a little bit intimidating, but if you bring biscuits to help break the ice, you will probably find that you become our most favourite person for the day and we will love you forever.

Until next time!

Paul

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