Workday in Poulton Farm area - 19th July 2014
This time (as we often are) we were lucky with the weather. Thunder and heavy rain were forecast but held off.
We started on the bridge over Poulton Down Lane, where we spent a couple of hours removing ivy from some of the very overgrown trees (to make them less likely to fall); tidying the verges; and clearing round some of the tree stumps still growing on the bridge embankment, and inserting stump killer plugs in a hazel and a field maple. There’s more to do here, so we will be back on a future occasion. I will watch to see what happens to those two trees, and I hope we can deal with the others there.
The hazel (the bush at right centre) …
… with the plugs round its base
We then moved down to Marlborough, where we removed a small (ish) hazel tree which had become quite smothered with ivy and was falling down over the path. This was harder than I had expected, and took the four of us over an hour.
Before we started, you had been faced with this.
We cleared up and to finish off, we cut a way through the nettles and brambles at intervals along the side of the path to allow access to surveyors, who will come and conduct a topographical survey to allow Sustrans to design better drainage at this point (which is badly needed).
Going!
… gone! And with a black bag of rubbish as well.
During the day, we talked to a group of six cyclists with lots of panniers each. They were Dutch, had started riding in Harwich and were on their way to Downton, near Salisbury. We also talked to a Marlborough resident, who may come and help on future work days.
AGM at Three Trees Cafe/Farm Shop at Chiseldon - 17th July 2014
The agenda was as follows...
- Review of the year – (see attached)
- Sustrans update – (see attached)
- Treasurer’s report – (see attached)
- Committee appointments
- Looking forward
Tree Planting - Spring 2014
We applied for a tree planting pack from the Woodland Trust, who gave us 420 trees of their wild harvest selection: Hazel, Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Cherry Plum, Elder and Dog Rose. A team from Twigs (a mental health charity in Swindon) have planted them in two locations to fill gaps in and extend existing hedges, and will look after them as they get established to make sure they don’t get overgrown. We hope that when they have grown up (in a few years) we will be able to lay the hedge. We also hope to get some more plants to fill out and further extend the hedge at Chiseldon Firs.
Between Coate Water and the motorway ... |
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Before ...
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... and after
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At Chiseldon Firs ... |
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Before ...
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... and after
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Scrub Clearance - Spring 2014
We also received a grant from Link 2 Nature, which allowed us to commission some work from LEAVES (a social enterprise, which has recently received a Big Society award). We asked them to clear scrub away from a patch of chalk grassland on the side of the cutting just north of Whitefield Farm which is potentially of high quality but has been getting overgrown by brambles and hawthorn, and invaded by lanker grass varieties. LEAVES did a great job, clearing both the bank on the eastern side, and the former bridleway on the western side.
The eastern side of the cutting at Whitefield Farm ... |
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Before ...
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... and after
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And the bridleway on the top of the embankment ... |
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Before ...
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... and after
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Surface Improvements - Spring 2014
Lastly, Sustrans have been able to make some repairs to the path surface in a couple of locations which have got particularly difficult. We know there is more to do, and we are hoping that Sustrans may be able to do some more work over the next few months. We will also apply for a Landfill Community grant, although this won’t be until the new financial year, when their budgets will be topped up again. In the meantime, there is now a better surface in the cutting at Whitefield Farm, and the small lake near Ogbourne Maizey has been filled.
Path surface at Whitefield Farm ... |
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Before ...
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... and after
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And at Ogbourne Maizey ... |
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