September 2017 marked the start of our seventh year of volunteer work on Poets’ Walk. Following is a photographic record of our activities in reverse chronological order …
See also our second year (September 2012 – August 2013), our third year (September 2013 – August 2014), fourth year (September 2014 – August 2015), fifth year (September 2015 – August 2016 and our sixth year (September 2016 – 2017)
2018
August 2018
Church Hill – weeding the green gate bank and clearing nettles in the nearby quarry glade
Hack’s Way tidied; nettles, brambles & feral raspberry pulled in Church Hill woodland glade; remaining dried grass raked off following tractor mowing; site of grass fire tidied.
The badger bridge and adjoining coast path is tidied and swept
Scything, raking and nettle pulling at the Church Hill zigzag path viewpoint. The North Somerset Council contractor mowed the tops of both hills by tractor on the same day.
July 2018
The coast path is tidied and swept again – hot work this week!
After a prolonged heat wave Wain’s Hill plateau is dry and brown. A patch of invasive willow herb is pulled out before it can spread seed and new shoots of scrub trees cut out.
Completing the June cut on the Wain’s Hill ramparts. Small areas of the slope are left uncut as refuges for wild life and to allow wild flower species to set seed.
June 2018
Hack’s Way, public right of way from Old Church Road to Church Hill, strimmed & raked
Dense nettles and rank grass intertwined with cleavers (goosegrass) in the shade of trees at the stoney lower edge of the Wain’s Hill rampart present a challenge to the scythers.
The coast path near St Andrew’s Glebe field is routinely weeded, tidied and swept
Other work on the scythed Wain’s Hill slope includes cutting out elder and pulling nettles
The June cut starts on the Wain’s Hill rampart with a team of four scything. Three days later the dried cut vegetation is raked off and left as habitat piles in the woodland below.
May 2018
The path behind the cemetery allotments (foot of Wain’s Hill) cleared of vegetation
This bank beside St Andrew’s church wall is mown by scythe and raked off. Wild radish in nearby grassland has been successfully reduced by repeated grubbing and scything.
Three large capping stones on the front wall of the Wain’s Hill battery are rebedded while the path to the battery site is cleared of encroaching grass & nettles, and widened.
Hack’s Way, leading up to Church Hill from Old Church Road, mown and tidied
Controlling invasive wild radish on ChurchHill; the population is now greatly reduced due to repeated grubbing out. Brambles, nettles and thistles also need to be controlled.
The path & round seat above Marine Lake and the steps to the lookout thoroughly tidied
Wain’s Hill battery – rebuilding the perimeter wall with lime mortar and nettle grubbing
The tree stump is finally removed from the Wain’s Hill battery wall and the heavy capping stone levered back into place. Stones are replaced and bedded with lime mortar.
The steps to Salthouse Woods and the top path above Marine Lake weeded and swept
Preparing the Wain’s Hill battery site prior to fixing up the ruined perimeter wall, and temporarily replacing stones in the front wall damaged by recent antisocial behavior
April 2018
The paths, steps and seats above Marine Lake swept and tidied
Clearing and tidying work resumes at the gun battery site on Wain’s Hill.
Church Hill old quarry glade – exposing some of the rock face to sunlight to promote establishment of wild flower and grass species. More trimming will be done in autumn.
Forking out nettles from the green gate bank beside St Andrew’s churchyard wall and enhancing the wooded area around the old NW-facing quarry opposite the churchyard
March 2018
Sycamore regrowth & encroaching bramble shoots are cut back at the edge of grassland on Wain’s Hill and a view to Clevedon Pier is improved by removing a small elder.
Church Hill – tidying the edge of the formal path and clearing a few marginal brambles
Dense trailing ivy is cut back to expose the bank and rock face along the coast path to encourage the establishment of wild flowers and grasses by increasing the sunlight.
Improving grassland on Church Hill by grubbing out wild radish
Further enhancing a view from Church Hill by removing three self-set sycamore
February 2018
Brambles and ivy cut back beside the coast path below Church Hill
More light is let into the woodland below the Wain’s Hill rampart slope by cutting out some misshapen sycamore, clearing some scrub and trimming back elder
Reducing the height of old ivy-clad elder trees to rejuvinate them by promoting bushy growth, thereby improving this thicket on Church Hill as a wildlife habitat
Steps and paths near the churchyard weeded and swept
A south-facing woodand glade on Church Hill is extended by clearing back more bramble. Tall hawthorns growing among ash trees are topped to promote bushier growth.
Church Hill – controlling the spread of an old bramble patch into grassland and thinning self-set ash saplings to enhance a woodland glade
The badger bridge and coastal path towards Church Hill tidied and swept
January 2018
Work around the holly tree continues in St Andrew’s churchyard
The coastal path, seats and rock face are routinely tidied, weeded and swept
Thirteen volunteers were involved in clearing brambles and ivy from around the graves in St Andrew’s churchyard.
Tea break turned out to be a birthday celebration with cake!
Uncovering old graves in St Andrew’s churchyard by cutting back a large holly tree
Enhancing the ramparts & woodland on Wain’s Hill by managing sycamore
December 2017
Digging out remaining nettles and brambles in woodland glades on Church Hill
The paths & steps beside Marine Lake tidied and swept before a Marlens weekend event
Thinning out sycamore enhances woodland and reveals a sunset view from Church Hill
November 2017
The path along the south flank of Church Hill cleared of autumn leaves and mud
Self-set sycamores have obscured the view from Church Hill to the west; tree thinning reveals the view once more and enhances the woodland habitat by allowing in light.
A hedge of old brambles is cleared from the path edge near St Andrew’s to improve access for the contractor’s tractor and to allow low growing wild species to flourish on the bank.
Autumn leaves and mud are swept off Wain’s Hill paths to minimise the slip hazard
Church Hill – follow-up scrub control in the woodland glade behind Salthouse Flats by pulling feral raspberries and nettles and grubbing out remaining brambles
The coast path and the adjoining path beside the cemetery tidied and swept
Church Hill – scything the grass at the view point above the zigzag path, pulling nettles and cutting out tree shoots to preserve the view to the Pier and beyond
The steps and path above Marine Lake are thoroughly swept of autumn leaves.
The last and steepest section of the Wain’s Hill rampart slope is mechanically trimmed.
October 2017
Work continues along the coastal path, and the well known badger bridge gets a thorough tidy up.
After scything the Wain’s Hill rampart slope the arisings are left to dry for a few days, then raked off and left as habitat piles to rot down in the woodland below. Remaining nettles are pulled by hand. A curiously grown yew tree adds interest to the slope.
2nd October – we’re all out a-mowing!
September 2017
An old petrol mower is useful for keeping small semi-formal areas tidy.
The formal path from Church Hill to Salthouse Fields and carpark weeded and swept
Late summer scything starts on Church Hill on a slope too steep for tractor mowing. The arisings are left to dry for 3 days and then raked off and left as habitat piles in the scrub.
