Ock Valley Walk, Town End, 7th November 2020

By Andrew -

This session gave us the opportunity to finish off the wood chip path and plant spring bulbs and wild flowers. There were seventeen of us, which was lucky as there was a lot of work to be done.

Two big heaps of woodchip had been delivered, though at the opposite end of the path to where they were needed. Fortunately, we had two wheelbarrows on the go, with teams to load, transport and rake.

We chose two spots within the wooded area to plant our spring bulbs – wild garlic, wood anemones, wild daffodils and fritillaries, varieties which we chose because they will flower before the nettles take over. First, the areas had to be cleared but it was easy to pull up the nettles as the ground was very soft.

We also had decided to plant and sow wild flowers close to the river bank. We chose a spot near the first bench which was fairly clear of nettles and would get a reasonable amount of sunshine. We sowed a wild flower mix, and planted some ox eye daisies and violets as well as some wild daffodil and fritillary bulbs.

That was the more interesting work but there was the inevitable litter picking, which Lesley and Marga gallantly took on.

We had out tea break in our usual spot, which was very sociable, but somehow not the same without communal flasks and shared biscuits.

We set to work again and the woodchip path was just finished when it was time to pack up and make our way back to the car park.

-Eleanor


Barrow loading.

The path renewed.

Raking the path.

Bulb planting.

The litter pickers.

Tea break.

Woodchip barrowing.

Choosing a spot for the wild flowers.



 

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