April Work Party

Wild daffodils

The sun shone, the birds sang and it was a beautiful morning to be in the woodland. Some wild foxglove plants were added to a path edge to increase species diversity and the den saplings mulched to help their growth and suppress weeds.

Planting foxgloves

A leaning tree was successfully felled with a two handled vintage saw into a neighbouring garden and the brash tidied up.

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Wire netting was added to the bridge as it had been getting slippery and the fantastic recycled glass trophy was toasted in a suitable fashion. Cheers all!

Made by honeypie handmade in Ipswich

winners!

So guess what- we won the Greenest Community section at Suffolk Greenest County awards yesterday. Jeannie collected the award which was appropriate as she wrote the application. Well done one and all!

March work party

Good turn out for this month's work party despite it being mothering Sunday and the proposed filming being cancelled.

The new saw was used to cut up some fallen trees into movable chunks and the fire pit was lit for a bit of warmth and to cook on.

Snowdrops, now in their green state having finished flowering, were planted in clumps to add to the ones already there.

Quick update just to say that thanks to Jeannie's great application to the Greenest County Awards we have been shortlisted for the final in the Greenest Community section. They are coming to film us at the next work party. How exciting!

February Work Party

Hazel catkins 

A chilly morning after a windy night. More brambles were removed from the path edges and a new table /wood store installed next to the glade.

Preparing the site 

Getting the level right!

Job done!

Once the grass has grown up again it should blend in a bit more!

Things are starting to grow, snowdrops continue,

there are lots more primroses and the first leaves of the hawthorn have started to open.

Fire pit

In 2015, our ambitious project was to create a fire pit in the woodland glade for the use of the  group and for public events. It all began in the spring with the fixed deadline of 31st October when there was to be a halloween event in the woodland.
Meticulous planning was required to meet good old health and safety regulations and fit it into the monthly work parties.

First the marking out and the digging of the footings.

That was a wet one!

Another month saw the concrete added and yet another one spent cutting the bricks to fit the circle exactly. This brought us to September and a whole day work party. A local builder lent us his expertise with the bricklaying and all hands were on deck for labouring and refreshments!

This is kind of the beginning, middle and end! 

And this was it all lit up for Halloween and ready for toasting marshmallows 

January work party

This month the ground was soggy but it was a beautiful day to be in the woodland.  The first snowdrops were out and a solitary primrose.
Ditches were cleared, some planting done and more cooking on the fire pit.