Alison Cottam

Our brand new litter picking rings (kindly donated by David Bilton) were used in anger for the first time tonight. And what a fine bit of kit they were too.....in fact I don't know how I've managed without one until now! Having you bin bag constantly held open whilst you use your litter picker makes the task immeasureably easier!

It wasn't just litter picking on the task list tonight however, there was plenty of other little jobs to be doing on our adopted stretch of Huddersfield's Riverside Way at Snow Island. Whilst Alison Cottam and I picked litter, Kati Law and Louise Galvin bashed some Himalayan Balsam, Ben Godfrey removed invasive saplings from the wild flower area and David Bilton shifted unsightly weeds from the bridge at the entrance to the site.

A supremo performance from all involved tonight....bravo! Our efforts to keep Snow Island looking good are certainly warrant a standing ovation.

There was plenty of pebbles and a good deal of dashing to be done in order to get tonight’s task finished on time. Once again we were visiting our Friends at Growing works to help lay some new paths which would improve access at their community allotment.

Cut a couple of inches of turf nice and level, lay in the weed inhibitor sheet, cover with a section of eco-grid and infill with pebbles...et voila a ready made path!

With characteristic enthusiasm Kati Law and Ben Godfrey got stuck in with one path whilst Louise Galvin, Alison Cottam, Tom Wood and David Pizzey tackled another. Meanwhile Zena Whalley and David Bilton got busy pairing a pitting shed.

It was always going to be a tall order to get the job done in an hour but we managed, albeit with a bit of frenetic pebble shoveling in the last few minutes. But by just after 7:30pm we had two brand new sections of path laid and a much prettier looking potting shed. Our Task Master Rachel from Growing works pronounced herself very happy with the fruits of our labours. Well done and thanks to the entire team tonight, great to be doing good on such a beautiful evening.

Thanks to Alison Cottam for the idea for the report title and David Bilton for his kind donation of 5 litter rings....they will be put to good use next week at Snow Island.

We were bushwhacking tonight at Christ Church in Moldgreen. Supported by the inimitable 84 year old Dr. Michael from the church's congregation, Ben Godfrey, Tom, David Bilton, Alison Cottam and myself got busy cutting, chopping and shifting to thin a thicket in the churchyard.

There was a lot to do, and we cleared a huge amount of vegetation into a big stack, but there is still plenty more remaining. So no doubt we'll be popping back to Moldgreen for a bit more bushwhacking in the coming weeks.

There was plenty of weeding to be done at Ravensknowle Memorial Garden this evening, and fortunately GoodGym were on hand to oblige and enjoy some lovely evening sunshine.

Thanks to tonight's super weeders, Kati Law, Louise Galvin, Ben Godfrey, David Bilton and Alison Cottam who once again helped ensure the Memorial Garden was memorable for all the right reasons.

Fortunately Fartown Forest Garden didnt require too much heavy duty fettling this evening. Thats not to say we didn't have a productive session with Rachel from Growing works, but the cold dry spring has meant that much of the weeds, saplings and other vegetation we cleared last autumn have yet to grow back.

So Kati Law, Ben Godfrey, David Bilton, Thom Wood, Alison Cottom and myself spent and enjoyable hour, lopping, chopping and generally tidying to keep the site safe and accessible for the local people who use it.

And what really capped off a fine evening of doing good was that David had kindly brought along his home made biscuits us all!