Today was much cooler than most weeks this summer, it even threatened to rain, perhaps that was why our numbers were low this week and of course we are still in the holiday season. However, we still managed to achieve a lot. Several of the ladies donned orange tabards and went to clear the pit of litter. They came back with several sacks of rubbish. Mark also did some litter picking of the wood which added another bag to the collection. He also checked out the bat boxes to try and identify where they were within the wood and the condition of them. Sadly, those that were left were not in a state to be moved, these are probably nearly as old as GWCP! Greg was asked if he could make some new ones for us if David provided the wood, he was happy to do so and Mark offered to provide a design for them. The seat in Moore’s Lane opposite the B&B area had been repaired by Paul B and today a team reinstalled it. The legs have been strengthened so hopefully, it will last a bit longer this time. Paul B tried to clear the pipeline feed to the pond which, since the sump was attached, doesn't seem to be supplying water. It will need to have drain rods pushed through. We will need several sets to clear the whole section so we’ll try and borrow some from neighbours. Entrances to Gunton Wood and Foxburrow Wood were cleared of holly growth and brambles but there is more to do throughout both woods. Greg went and checked the state of the railway steps we installed a few years ago. Happily, he reported they were all OK.
With coffee today we had a selection of homemade sausage rolls and cakes, paid for by Mark and made by Rosemary.
David did the listen-up this week, he thanked Mark for the cakes and Rosemary for making them and then listed the work we had achieved today. David mentioned the state of the pond and that he had ordered some new scoops for the duck weed. He went on to talk about the Tesco application and that we are getting closer to getting the money, 75% of the cost of the main path project will be paid by Tesco and 25% by GWCP. He talked about a meeting he had been to on Tuesday with Anglian Water who will be putting in new sewer pipes along the bottom of the farmer’s field near Pleasurewood Hills. The route they will use for heavy plant access will be from PwH’s concrete road through the small wood, across the main path, across the ditch and into the field. This means the main path at that end would be closed while the work is in progress. The current bridge across the ditch is not strong enough for heavy machinery to cross so it would be replaced with a wider, stronger bridge. This would then give the farmer access to his fields from that end instead of through the Burial Park.
After David had finished Janet made an announcement on behalf of the GWCP committee. The committee had met that morning to agree a policy over Suffolk Rocks and afterwards were asked if they would accept David Briggs as Chairman, this was accepted unanimously. Following that decision the committee also accepted, unanimously, a proposal for Andrew Bretton to be Vice Chairman.