Sunningwell - 21st October 2023

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    This blog was written by Eleanor. The  photos were taken by Kevin.

                                                                                                                                                We always enjoy coming back to Sunningwell to work on the pond, stream and meadow. Ten of us met in the Village Hall car park, where Bob Evans explained the tasks that needed to be done. We were also joined by two other local residents.

There was work to do clearing in and around the village pond, but not too much clearing, as there needed to be shelter for water voles. We needed to rake the wild flower area, plant new wild flower plugs and two lime trees. Another task was to clear nettles and willow herb from the banks of the stream, which were getting very overgrown.

We split up into groups to begin the work. There were vast numbers of nettles on the stream banks, which we tried as far as possible to pull out by the roots. This was before we even reached the willow herb. We left the purple loosestrife and the figwort, which could be distinguished by their seed pods.

We piled up the cut vegetation to heaps by the wall boundary, and then it was time for our break. We always look forward to this, as Bob and his wife provide us with refreshments in their garden shelter. This time there were sausage rolls, cake and biscuits. We went back to work somewhat reluctantly and it had started to drizzle slightly.

There were still plenty of nettles, so Barbara got her scythe. This brought us close enough to the willow herb to pull some of it up. She also discovered a narrow footpath between the wall and the other side of the stream.

Meanwhile, the tree planters were finding it quite difficult to dig holes big enough as they kept on hitting stones. They also discovered what looked like a arrow shaft buried in the ground. Kevin, our leader, had found that he couldn't open the boot of his car as his electronic key was malfunctioning. Such are the downsides of modern technology.

Thent was time to drag the last loads to the heap and collect up the tools. We look forward to coming back in the new year.


Work by the pond






The meadow. Grass to be raked off.



 




New wild flower plugs





Work by the pond



The arrow shaft





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