Paddock

For the work party on 24th September we returned to the Paddock which had become a bit overgrown since we were last there in the spring. 

This photo shows how much has grown up over the summer. This is looking from the steps by the stile near post 12 ...

... and this is a little further in.

This is the 'open' area alongside the fence where the main path goes.

Looking back towards the stile Cathy, Aidan and Graham have made a good start clearing the new growth.

While Chris is assessing what to do next!

Meanwhile, Graham is clearing a path to the dumping area.

While this activity was taking place, I cleared the pathway leading to the lane.

Chris is making a start on shifting the arisings we created ...

... and has thrown himself into his work! 

We cut down and shifted a lot of stuff ...

... to restore this area to a more accessible space. 

Compare these photos with the ones at the top to see how much work was done by the volunteers. A splendid effort. 

 

Volunteers from AtkinsRealis

Last Wednesday we were helped by seven volunteers from AtkinsRealis who came along for the morning.

The volunteers - Jodi, Gemma, James, Dan, Sam, Jack and Karishma.

This is the path along from the woods entrance towards post 2 then left up the hill to the memorial limes at post 3. As you can see, it's considerably narrower than usual because of the encroaching vegetation.

They quickly got stuck into the lower part of the slope ... 

... and were soon around the corner and heading up the hill.

When the left hand side of the path had been cleared they moved across to the other side where the vegetation was lighter ...

... and pretty soon had widened the path to an extent that will make walking much easier. Particularly in the winter months when it gets very muddy.

This is the corner shown in the second photo and you can see the enormous difference they made. 

Round the corner looking up the hill in this photo compared to the third photo shows the results of all their efforts.

The volunteers have made a big difference to this path that not only has saved us some work but also will help the people who visit the woods to be able to get around more easily. We thank all these volunteers for giving us their time and being so friendly. You are welcome to come back to us another day.

Path Clearing - End of Season

As I've said in recent posts we have had to maintain the grassy paths in the woodland by hand this summer - using scythes; because S Glos council have not been able to do this work for us using mowing machinery. This has of course meant that work in other parts of the woods has not been done, as we have been clearing paths pretty much exclusively.

We carried on this work at the Wednesday work party on 27th August when 7 volunteers had a go at the path leading from the top of the pylon field near post 4 where we finished last time. We wanted to clear the path from there back to the top of the hill by post 3 where the three memorial lime trees are growing.

This was the field alongside the edge of the path.

Graham made a start by taking back the long grass alongside the path ...

... while Erika and Cathy got stuck into the brambles on the other side.

Eric had started clearing brambles and other stuff further on down the path with Alan R and they were joined by Graham.

Because there was some rain on the way some of us had been raking up the cut grass and bramble arisings while it was still dry. As you can see there was still a lot left to clear up.

Some of the volunteers had needed to leave early and the remainder of us carried on cutting, raking and moving the grass until we reached the lime trees. Then it began to rain!

For once our timing was good and we completed the work we'd intended without getting wet. Well, not very wet.

 We had a good morning and got a lot of work done. Hopefully we have completed the path scything for this year and that next season S Glos will have a new mower!

Path Mowing Again

For the recent work parties we have concentrated on opening up the paths in the woods. This is work usually carried out by South Gloucester council who normally keep our paths clear from March onwards by regular mowing. They have not been able to do this for the last two years because the machinery they use has not been available - it's broken and not yet been replaced. Consequently we need to to this work by hand as best we can. It's hard, time consuming work and we struggle to keep all the paths open all the time. 

Some work was done at the work party on 23rd July but I was not present and no photos were taken so I can't write anything about it apart from noting that it was done. 

For the work party on Sunday 10th August, eight volunteers tackled the path up the pylon field along to post 4.  This was what we started with ...

The path wasn't completely blocked but soon would be if it was left.

We made a start near the pylon where most of the problem was ...

... while Chris began clearing further down the slope. 

The rest of us carried on working near the pylon making good progress ...

... then stopped for a quick break.

Afterwards, Andy carried on widening the path towards post 4 ...

... while Aiden and Cathy cleared some brambles alongside the path.

Before long the path was much wider and easier to walk along. 

Meanwhile, Chris and Alan R had dealt with the path going down to the entrance ride.

We sorted out all the tools we'd been using and headed back to the store after a successful morning. The volunteers worked hard to get the work done and should be very proud of all their efforts.

Into the Jungle

For the last two work parties we have concentrated on opening up some of the paths in the woods. South Gloucester council would normally keep a lot of our paths clear from March onwards by regular mowing but they have not been able to do this for the last two years because the machinery they use has not been available - it's broken and not yet been replaced. Consequently we have needed to to this work by hand as best we can. It's hard, time consuming work and we struggle to keep all the paths open all the time. 

For the work party on Wednesday 25th June, we tackled the path from post 6 at the top of the steps up from the bridge along to the viewpoint near post 8. Four volunteers went along and opened it up. 

This was what we started with ...

... and this is how it looked when we had finished.

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Six of us went along to the Sunday 13th July work party. That day was in the middle of an official heatwave so working out in the open, in full sun at temperatures around 27 deg C was not a viable option. We took to the woods! It was still hot but we did have plenty of shade and had decided to finish earlier than our usual time. What we did was to clear the path that runs from post 17 on the Jubilee Way along to post 16 in the old plantation.

This is post 17 and you can see the grass and other vegetation encroaching from both sides.

Going past here into the wood we found a fallen willow causing an obstruction ...

... and an overgrown path through undergrowth and brambles. A bit of a jungle!

We started by clearing some of the larger obstructions and bits of vegetation that were hanging over the path.

Aiden and Cathy cleared a lot of brambles alongside the path ...

... and before long we had a pretty decent pathway through the central section.

This was carried through to post 16 which you can see just behind Aiden's right arm.

Quite soon the whole of the path had been cleared to create a really nice short walk in the shade.

The volunteers worked hard to get the work done in trying working conditions. They should be very proud of all their efforts this morning.