SMAWL Working Party – 25th Feb

February 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It’s time for the February working party on Sat Feb 25th. The plan is to meet up at 9.30 and work to approx 12.30.

I think this will be the last morning start and that we can move to afternoon times from the March working date of the 24th. I suggest we meet on March 24th at 2pm and work to 5pm, are there any other suggestions for this?

Susan and Verity organised a planting afternoon on Feb 16th as we were running out of time to plant the new bulbs and Woodland Trust hedging plants. Very many thanks to those who were able to turn up at short notice, we all did an excellent job and have moved our project forward again. You will now notice that several areas on the site are marked off as planted, so please take care were you tread now.

On Feb 25th Susan and Des will be working in the afternoon, so if anyone is unable to attend in the morning please liase with Susan and join in with them.

My ideas for the work day are to start preparing the ground alongside the bungalow to take the new wooden fence panels and to prepare, by digging, the central bed ready for planting.

I am not sure where Brian is at with regard to the Bridges, so there may be some work to do on them.

As we now have a floating pond liner, I would welcome any ideas on how we are going to tackle that opportunity?

Finally, Verity and Susan have taken on the challenge to mark up a site plan with the planting completed to date and their ideas for the next round of planting.

Thanks you all for your support and work over the past months and lets push on to improving the look of the conservation site in 2012.

My regards to you all

Barry Thunder

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St Julians Woodland Opening Photos

November 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On 29th September, St Julians Woodland was officially opened. This event included the unveiling of several specially commissioned items.

  • A mural created by Annette Andrews, in collaboration with pupils from South Marston School
  • Benches made with wood from Hagbourne Copse
  • Plinths with Brass Rubbings
  • A bench and table created by local blacksmith, John Beavis.

For those of you who have not made it down to St Julians Woodland, here are some photos of the artworks created. Click for a more detailed slideshow.

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Conservation area working day – 5 Nov 2011

October 29, 2011 by 1 Comment

With the clocks changing this weekend and several people preferring morning start times we will be starting work next Saturday 5th November at 9.30 until 1 pm.

Some news, we have been given to new bird boxes by Alfie and Donald Jones (thank you very much) we now need a fit volunteer to climb into the tree to fit them into place.

Please bring a spade/fork plus wheelbarrow (if you have one) to the work day and we will allocate jobs dependant of the weather at the time.

Enjoy the sunny weekend to come

Take care

Barry Thunder

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Conservation Site News – Sept 2011

September 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Last Saturday’s September 10th) work day turned out to be an excellent afternoon despite weather warnings. We were able to concentrate on clearing the area for the open air teaching space. We also moved so much soil that we filled a large part of the ditch where a new fence will eventually go. We also welcomed some new hard working volunteers in the afternoon who helped clear so much of the new space. Welcome to Sue and Des and to Cristina’s two sons who worked tirelessly with shovels bigger than themselves. Our thanks to everyone.

The dates for the rest of 2011 are as follows. Saturdays, moving to 10am to 1pm when it gets to dark to work in the afternoon from 2pm to 5pm.

  • Saturday October 8th
  • Saturday November 5th
  • Saturday December 3rd.

To date we planted 95% of the new hedge row (with more to follow in 2012 via the Woodland Trust, we hope). We have placed the pond liner in the ground after much hard digging and are starting to landscape it. DONATIONS of flat natural stone are hoped for so that we can make the pond edges look more natural.

The central island bed has been cleared despite the current crop of natural plants growing in it! We have planted many of the donated plants in temporary beds beside the ditch.

Plans have been drawn to construct the two sets of bridge supports utilising money donated by the F and E Harris Memorial Trust. We are to have the oak seating via Wiltshire Wildlife Trust using money donated by the Nationwide BS.

Some of our future jobs will include the building of willow hides using willow donated by Rupert Burr of Roves Farm and landscaping the ditch to allow rain water to flow into the new pond as well as replacing natural plants alongside the ditch.

Verity is also organising wild-flower seeds for volunteers to grow over the coming months ready for Spring planting.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP US WITH?

SURELY THERE IS SOMETHING FROM THE ABOVE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO FOR THE VILLAGE ?

For additional information please call Barry on 826697

Thank you to everyone who has given support to us since the project started.

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Conservation Group Update – SMAWL

August 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The working day on Saturday 13th August was used to install the pond. A couple of photographs of the installed pond liner are shown below. We still need volunteers to help with future work. If you are interested contact Barry Thunder 826697 or Brian McGlone 826243 to register your interest.

Pond Liner

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Conservation Site News – June 2011

May 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On 19th May we worked on tidying up the new season’s growth. The newly planted hedgerow is growing well with only a few plants lost to the lack of rain. There are a few meters of hedge still to plant next year.

The new path foundations are settling well and we hope to add the finer top layer of grit after the summer. The design for the two bridges is being worked on and we hope to have enough funds to build these toward the end of 2011. Work on the pond sitting is going well and we hope to be putting it in place over the next few months.

We are still looking for native plants to use on the site and welcome any contributions from the village. Any donations, please call Brian on 826243 or Barry 826697.

We always welcome new volunteers and help them in any way we can. Please come along and see what is going on, between 2pm and 5pm on18th June.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

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Conservation Site News – May 2011

May 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On 16th April we completed the majority of the hedgerow planting. There are a few metres still to plant once the ground is cleared of the snowberry growth and roots.

The path foundations and access to the two bridges has been laid and planning is in hand to mark the outdoor teaching and seating area. Many thanks to Hanson and Sansums for the donation and safe delivery of the aggregate .

The pond liner is also on site and we have almost completed the digging work for its new home in the bottom of the ditch. Some native plants have been donated and these have been temporarily planted pending clearance of the areas surrounding the new path.

We are now considering what to plant and looking into the cost for the two bridges. If any one who has native plants that they would like to donate, please call Brian on 826243 or Barry 826697.

The next working dates are Saturday May 21st and June 18th. Please come along and see what is going on, between 2pm and 5pm on both dates.

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Conservation Site Update – April 2011

March 29, 2011 by 1 Comment

The sun shone on a few hearty volunteers on Saturday 19th March. We had two new volunteers for the morning (Karen and Julie). Many thanks to everyone who was able to turn out.

We were able to empty all the bags of stone to build the new path area that Ray has finished laying out. It’s looking really good now and will soon be walkable from the pavement. Read more of this post

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Volunteer work day 5th March 2011

March 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We made good progress on creating the pathway. Most of the main run of sub-base layer has been placed and just needs toping up before compacting. The remaining pathway areas that need to be completed are the top circle, bridge entrances and the main entrance. We were lucky with the weather and thanks to all who made the day a success. The other main activity was to dig out the hole for the pond, still work to be done here.  Here are some photographs taken on the day.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The next working day is 19th March.

 

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Conservation Site – Volunteer Working days 2011

January 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Conservation site on the Highworth road is now in its final stage of clearance. We still have some final jobs to do before we can start to lay the foundations for the pathway on the site. We will need help from our village volunteers to move a large amount of gravel from one ton bags onto the pathway as well as working on the removal of a large amount of tree branches and larger trunk logs for use on the site.

Work is also underway to prepare the planting layout for the site as well as preparing the locations for the two bridges, hides and out door teaching area. The SMAWL group is also putting together our applications for Grant funding to help us raise the additional funds we require to purchase the many items we need in order to complete this years planned work.

In order to establish a regular working routine for 2011 we have put together a list of Volunteer working dates for the year.

These will be on the 3rd Saturday of each month and commence at 10am and finish at 4pm. As usual there will be a morning break for refreshments and a break for lunch. Every one is welcome to join us for the day and a part of the day. A great way to get out doors with the family and help to build something that all the village residents will be able to enjoy.

Volunteer Saturday Working dates

  • February 19th
  • March 19th
  • April 16th
  • May 21st
  • June 18th
  • July 16th
  • August 20th
  • September 17th
  • October 15th
  • November 19th

If there are any questions about these days or if you would like to know more about our group please contact either Brian McGlone: 826243 or Barry Thunder: 826697.

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