The big event of the quarter was the removal of three trees adjacent to Cricket Lane by Green Escapes, to facilitate work at new lock 24. This was coordinated by Leon Southern who took the opportunity to instruct five of our senior DofE volunteers in the art of tree management.
Approximately six tonnes of wood chip was generated during the operation, which was subsequently laid out on footpaths at our Darnford Park site by the Saturday Green and Grounds Team. The tree trunks and larger branches are currently in our main compound drying out and awaiting further recycling use.
The Fosseway Heath Nature Reserve is always a scene of much activity early in the year. Over several Saturdays, our volunteers created firebreaks in the ever-intrusive gorse and cleared weeds and gorse from along the canal bed up to the boardwalk.
All of this had to be carried out prior to the nesting season, which seems to be getting earlier each year, possibly due to climate change.
Although large amounts of gorse have been cut down, there is still plenty starting to flower for bees and other pollinators.
Unfortunately, the cut gorse does not rot down and cannot be used as compost so was burnt under controlled conditions.
We were gifted 400 bare-rooted saplings from the Conservation Volunteers and these were placed straight into the ground in a nursery created at Darnford Moors by a small Saturday team. Once they become more established, they will be planted out to create hedging along our various sites.
This spring we hosted pupils from Queen’s Croft School, a special school in Lichfield, for various activities. One group cleared brambles along Falkland Road, which became a competition to see who could clear the longest bramble. Another group planted hedging at Fosseway Heath, whilst another planted saplings in our Darnford Moors nursery, as part of their work experience. It’s a privilege to host the school and see the confidence of the young people increase with each session. On a slightly different topic we hosted the school’s metal detector club for a morning down by Wood Lock at Fosseway. Nothing exciting was found but great fun was had!
As the summer school term approaches, we will be losing several of our DofE volunteers, having either completed their service hours or are taking a break for exams. We thank them for their hard work and commitment.
As a result, the Saturday team will be depleted and anyone wishing to spend a morning with us, keeping the towpaths clear will be more than welcome. (Find out more about joining the green team.)
This first appeared in Cut Both Ways, our members’ magazine.
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