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!

A crisp but surprisingly sunny day awaited us on the Northern Slopes. Today's task was to cut back a large ensemble of brambles so passers by see the area as less of a dumping ground. After an hour ish we had to stop shearing and you could really see the difference. Just time for a biscuit before heading on our way.

Until next time...

A bright clear October morning saw us gathering to help Manor Woods Valley Group prepare for their apple picking event next weekend. The harvested apples will be sent away for pasteurisation with the juice being shared between volunteering sessions and Withywood food bank.

We used shears to cut away any brambles and undergrowth that might restrict access to the fruit trees.

A productive morning spent in amongst the colourful Autumn leaves with the usual tea break at the end ☕️

Danica has put together a short video of the session here

Three there were to battle the Northern Slopes. The jobs today were to do some scything to help combat fly tipping, the now traditional litter pick and clearing a wildlife path of overgrowing plants. The weather was surprisingly sunny and it’s always a pleasure to help out here.

I only took one picture so you’ll have to take my word for it but the Northern Slopes were looking pretty dope at the end (don’t think I’ve every used that phrase before but the title is a play on it so I had to use it).

Until next time…

Another sunny morning cutting brambles and clearing scrub to maintain access to the orchard and prevent nature completely reclaiming the space. We were led today by Rachel of YourPark, who gave us our instructions and safety briefing.

We used shears and pitchforks, enjoying the sunshine and chatting away as we worked. Afterwards we enjoyed our usual coffee, tea and hot chocolate break courtesy of our hosts Peter and Martin.

It's likely we will be back harvesting the orchard apples in the next month or so, and then sending them off to be juiced.