Conservation Report – January

We had a great turn out considering the cold week and the weather was especially kind to us.  Thank you to all the volunteers who attended on Sunday.

Our activities were slightly different for this session as WBC are unable to chip more Rhododendron for a while due to soft ground around their access point.  This has allowed us to concentrate more effort on clearing the ditches and pathways.

< In this session we dug out a further section of the large ditch running parallel to Dorset Way.

> We began to follow the course of the hardcore footpath leading from Dorset Way to Limmerhill.  Interestingly the original route of the footpath has deviated over time and we worked on clearing this drier area. 

The next step will be to mark the edges of the cleared area in order to guide walkers, and allow the wetter areas time to develop regrowth

Some areas are very wet and even though we cleared lower areas to one side the water has not drained.  We are seeking advice from WBC on how to tackle these sections.

< Some of our volunteers used wheelbarrows to move the pile of shredded rhododendron from our last session onto the pathway running between the two dead hedge ways.

> A small team worked on cutting back a little Rhododendron and topping up the dead hedges.  It was evident that there was some regrowth and a few volunteers worked on this too. Now you can see the trees not just the Rhododendron!

As always there was a litter pick. Looking forward to the next time – please check the Events calendar.

Stephanie McKay