Working on Sunshine

The Plot 📝

Kash, Madhan and Sevan met Anna this morning not knowing what today's task at Grove Farm would involve. There are always different tasks to do in new areas of the site. Anna led us along the side of some woodland, explaining that we would be helping volunteers create a new path through the woods with dead hedges at both sides.

We were asked to remove the ivy that carpeted the ground and to cut back the trees and vegetation to make a new path safe to walk along. This would also let the sun shine through on to the path, making it more enjoyable for visitors 🌞. We're sure it'll be magical once it's finished.

The Action 🎬

Madhan and Sevan were asked to cut back the branches of a tree and a bush that would otherwise block the path. We started with shears and loppers before being upgraded to a bow cut saw and a lethally sharp saw that Mike carries on his tool belt 🪚. They sliced through the branches, eventually bringing a long twisty one - that is the official botanical term - down, which was around 8 metres long. The offcuts from this and other branches found new purpose in the dead hedge.

In the meantime, Penny had arrived and was raking the ivy around the path, plus someone had decided to give Kash a large hedge trimmer to lower the plants at the wood's boundary. This would allow passers by to see the beauty inside the fence.

Half way through the task, our roles were switched with Mike giving his really sharp knife to Penny to clear branches and a huge dead tree further along the path, while Sevan grabbed a rake and Madhan continued chopping away with some shears. Each branch we cut or patch we cleared felt like a small improvement.

The Director's Cut 📽️

It wasn't until we took a step back at the end to look at what we'd achieved under Anna and Mike's guidance, that we saw the massive difference we'd made! Litter had been removed and the earth under the previously sprawling vegetation was now visible, with a sizeable dead hedge on one side. It was well on the way to becoming a path that could welcome people wearing regular shoes rather than hiking boots and wellies.

Extra Scenes 📀

Anna and Mike are always keen to show off the changes at Grove Farm whenever we visit and today was no different. A family of woodpeckers had made their home up a tree in an area we'd cleared before. Anna led us to the area and we heard the chicks calling to be fed before we saw anything. We looked at where the sounds were coming from and after a few minutes, we saw one parent come to feed the chicks, then the second.