Here are the  work party dates for this season.

Additional  participants always welcome,  just bring you own  gardening gloves if you wish to do so.

For  Down Grange Meadow we meet at the Homesteads Rd entrance to Down Grange Park where you can park, for the Hedgerow you will find us on the pathway behind  Coniston Road – usually  by  No. 155 Coniston Rd. –  and  for The Orchard  you will find us by parking in Derwent Road and walking into the green space opposite the  Kendal Gardens apartments.

On Sundays we meet at 10.00am until about 12.30pm and on Thursdays we meet at 2.00pm  until  4.00pm

We will be concentraing on shifting the pile of chippings generated by the Council contracyors felling the diseased beech. If time or resources permit, we may make a start on cutting back the bramble in the Hedgerow Extension.

As always, all tools and equipment is supplied but you can bring your own gloves if you want.

Weather permitting, we will be grass cutting around the flower ribbons and hazel stools

We will also be making a start on coppicing the next batch of hazels

This is the last official  workparty of the 2011-12 season.

We are  scheduled to  make the final breakthough between Down Grange Meadow and  The Old Hdgerow. We have been planning for some time to establish a desirable habitat link between these two sites as it has become clear that for  butterflies their lifecycle  is based on  moving from the hedgerow in winter through to the meadow by full Summer.

To aid this linkage we are cutting and rejuvenating the hedgerow line by the pathway and promoting  elm and ash growth through to the meadow. This gives us another opportunity to  practice our dead hedging skills.

We will be making a start on the hedgerow “Extension”. We will be trimming up the side braches and ivy on a Hawthorn, which is scheduled for felling later on.

As we will be cutting braches, hard hats are recommended!