A short session for some of us today, due to the last of the hot weather. Kudos to Dushyant for arriving early and getting stuck in right away.

The task was to clear pathways around the orchard trees to facilitate access and in preparation for fruit picking later in the year. Following that, there was time to clear pathways up to the rabbit field - and to sample some of the early blackberries.

We finished with some locally sourced apple juice - as is the Manor Woods custom.

A morning spent snipping off and unearthing bramble risings from the meadow space on the edge of the orchard. A few wildflowers starting to emerge now and plenty of hawthorn blossom surrounding us.

A pleasant morning enjoying the sunshine before the rain predicted later

Fact of the day - briar is used in the maufacturing of tobacco pipes.

A group of us met in the rabbit field to cut back brambles and continue the clearance begun by the council mowers.

The area had previously been checked for nests and we were careful to avoid the denser areas to avoid disturbing any birdlife. The hope is that by clearing the space we will open up the area for any slow worms in the hibernaculum.

We had some wide ranging conversation going on as we worked - North Indian vs Sri Lankan paratha, Romanian vs English comedy - and cross stitch techniques

Woodland path today as we were planting trees. Peter had sourced a selection of oak, hornbeam and crab apple from Bristol Tree Forum that we could use to fill in some of the spaces left behind after ash dieback. We clambered up the hill, having to watch our footing on the slippery slopes and cut deep slots with spades to allow the oak tap roots to penetrate deep enough. In all 300 new trees have been planted in the newer section now.

First dry day of the year (at least it feels that way) - and it was even sunny!

We got to work cutting and scything the bramble risings at the entrance to the orchard. These were then raked and cleared into the surrounding borders, keeping the space accessible and encouraging wildflower growth.

A diverse range of conversation topics covered "Zoology - is it just remembering a list of animals?", "Should your barber also be your surgeon?" and "Anatomical enhancement for the purpose of ski jumping".

We finished with Orchard apple juice, listened to nesting Ravens and watched a robin enjoy our newly exposed orchard pantry.

A short video of our morning

A cold start to the day, but things had warmed up a bit by the time Frances and Paul arrived at the task. Rich and Janka arrived shortly after, having come from the Northern Slopes mission a little earlier.

We raked away any grass cuttings allowing for the light to get through and disturbing the top level of soil. Hopefully the wildflowers should get off to a good start.

Plenty of people passed us walking their dogs so we left the gift of a tempting looking stick that we found - not tempting enough apparently.

At the end there was time a glass of the latest batch of Manor Woods apple juice and the very last of the Christmas biscuits and mince pies - thanks Martin!