Our Eighth Year

September 2018 marked the start of our eighth 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, sixth year (September 2016 – 2017) and our seventh year (September 2017 – 2018)

September 2019

Our paths team maintain Poets’ Walk coastal path on a regular basis, tidying all the seats and the badger bridge, keeping the path properly accessible and enhancing the sea views.

clearing away cut brambles and grubbing out their roots

up to a metre of grassland is reclaimed by clearing brambles

Scrub control on Church Hill – cutting and grubbing brambles to reclaim grassland

clearing the path and around the ruins of a seat

Follow-up scrub control in a Church Hill woodland glade and tidying of adjacent paths

vegetation cut back on coastal path, Wain's Hill

Wain's Hill coastal path tided and widened

Overgrown vegetation cut back to restore the width of the coastal path on Wain’s Hill

both hill tops have been tractor mown prior to baling

Church Hill – cutting overhanging brambles, raking up cut grass and scything

August 2019

mowing nettles on the lower slope of Wain's Hill

Mowing nettles on the lower slope of the Wain’s Hill ramparts to encourage grass cover

cutting back buddliea growing out of the wall

cutting off overhanging sycamore branches

removing black nightshade and course grass tufts

Wain’s Hill battery – lopping buddleia and sycamore and ‘weeding’ the parade ground

Hack’s Way mown and vegetation along the allotment fence trimmed back

The steps to the lookout above Marine Lake weeded & swept and the path above widened

Church Hill – the iron cross viewpoint above the zigzag steps is scythed and raked off while encroaching vegetation is trimmed back and nettles pulled along the access path.

Nettles on the lower part of Wain’s Hill ramparts are cut for the second time this summer to encourage the growth of good grassland species and to enhance the area for walkers.

The edges of the promenade above Marine Lake are weeded and swept.

The population of invasive wild radish in grassland on Church Hill has been significantly reduced over the last few years by forking out plants before they set seed.

ragwort has colonised the cemetery bank this year

Due to its toxicity to horses and cattle, insect-friendly ragwort needs to be controlled by forking out before seeding. Here seen on Church Hill and in St Andrew’s churchyard.

July 2019

cutting out dead wood overhanging the path

Wain’s Hill – part of an old hawthorn has collapsed over the footpath and needs to be removed. The annual ragwort pull starts – on possibly the hottest July day on record.

bramble shoots encroaching over the informal path

The 1923 path over Church Hill is mown again, and encroaching bramble shoots cut back.

cutting back vegetation and tidying the Church Hill zigzag steps

Encroaching vegetation is cut back to improve access to Church Hill via the zigzag steps.

clearing nettles from the upper approach path to the battery

battery site to the left, top of Wain's Hill and pillbox to the right

cutting new sycamore shoots from an old stump

controlling ragwort in the midst of scrub

not much ragwort on the hill top this year

The upper path to the battery is cleared of nettles; tree shoots are removed from elder & sycamore stumps on the Wain’s Hill ramparts and invasive, toxic ragwort is pulled.

The formal path leading up to Church Hill from beside Salthouse carpark is weeded and swept, and overhanging branches cut back.

mullein (foreground) is left, black nightshade pulled out

Wain’s Hill Battery – weeding, and preparing another wall for building work

removing low hanging branches to increase sunlight below

Sycamores on the Wain’s Hill lower slope are crown raised to increase sunlight below.

June 2019

the cut grass and nettles are raked down into the woodland

the lower part of the slope is again accessible to walkers

The mown areas on Wain’s Hill rampart slope are again attractive to walkers.

selective mowing to control nettle patches in grassland

nettles are cut while burdock (lower left) is left to flower

The grassland on the Wain’s Hill ramparts is much improved thanks to regular scything since 2012, so the ‘June cut’ this year is limited to the mowing and raking off of nettles.

The 1923 path through the woodland glade on Church Hill

left to the Tennyson posts and iron cross viewpoint, right to Salthouse Woods

This path over Church Hill, laid out in 1923, had become lost under grass and scrub until it was reopened by volunteers, who now keep it accessible to walkers by mowing.

clearing nettles and other weeds and sweeping up

Weeding and tidying the badger bridge and the coastal path to maintain good access

raking up cut vegetation from the path beside cemetery allotments

raking down cut nettles on Wain's Hill rampart

By this time of the year, rank vegetation and invasive nettles need cutting and raking off.

overgrown vegetation along the path behind the cemetery allottments is brush-cut and must be raked off

brush-cutting nettles on Wain's Hill ramparts

The path behind the cemetery allotments is cleared of rank and overgrown vegetation; invasive nettles on the lower section of Wain’s Hill ramparts are brush-cut or scythed.

Church Hill quarry and St Andrew's Church

The old quarry on Church Hill is cleared of nettles and other invasive vegetation.

May 2019

where possible, nettles are pulled before mowing the grass

scything rank weeds and grass beside the lych gate

pulling rank weeds by the wall, scything, raking and sweeping

Mowing and tidying the grassy bank near St Andrew’s Church green gate and lych gate

coastal path with the glebe field to the left

The coastal path looks very beautiful when it’s maintained so well by our volunteers.

Church Hill – After cutting back an overgrown buddleia last winter to create a glade, fresh buddleia suckers and old bramble roots are grubbed out and nettles pulled.

A popular view point seat on Church Hill and nearby formal paths are weeded & swept.

clearing around and above the powder store

the powder store weeded in preparation for wall building

Further progress at Wain’s Hill battery site; preparing for more rebuilding work

Hack’s Way, which leads up to Church Hill from Old Church Road, is mechanically mown.

In honour of the 90th anniversary of Marine Lake the associated paths and nearby flight of stone steps are thoroughly tidied and swept.

finally, the yew stump is ready to come out

rubble removed from the base of the brick walls

Work continues at Wain’s Hill battery site.

April 2019

more work at Wain's Hill battery site on a rainy day

the base of this end brick wall now exposed

A wet day at the Wain’s Hill battery site, digging out a tree stump and moving stones

trimming back ivy and clearing the path edge

the coast path on Wain's Hill after tidying

Wain’s Hill – ivy is trimmed back to the fence and the path edge cleared.

An old apple tree on Wain’s Hill is freed from brambles and nettles below it are pulled.

Cutting and grubbing out brambles encroaching into grassland on Wain’s Hill

trimming brambles and grubbing out bramble roots

Church Hill – limiting the spread of bramble into grassland and grubbing wild radish

March 2019

The rock face along the cemetery boundary is cleared of ‘weeds’ and the path edge tidied

excess soil is tipped outside the site and levelled

grubbing out nettles beside the path to the battery

Work continues at the gun battery to remove a yew stump, move soil and grub nettles.

raking up cut bramble and grubbed wild radish

controlling spread of bramble into grassland

Controlling the spread of bramble and invasive wild radish into grassland on Church Hill

February 2019

removing the fallen section of an ivy-clad hawthorn

a dangerously leaning ash trunk is cut with a pole saw

an elder is cut back to reveal the signpost

Tree work in a woodland glade on Church Hill and exposing a signpost to Poets’ Walk

this self-seeded yew coud be said to be rooted in history and needs to go to allow excavation below

work to uncover the rest of the floor and end wall can now begin

A self-set yew tree has to make way for further rubble clearance at the battery site.

the coast path and long bench swept and tidied

Work continues along the coast path below St Andrew’s Church cemetery.

The badger bridge and nearby grassy bank along the coast path tidied

Two more sycamores and a small hawthorn cleared from Wain’s Hill battery site

cutting bramble and grubbing out rooted buddleia stems

A south-facing glade on Church Hill is further enhanced by clearing brambles and remaining buddleia suckers, and thinning out ash saplings to allow in more sunlight.

January 2019

cut material is taken away to make a habitat pile

Controlling invasive wild radish on Church Hill by grubbing out by the root

Litter picking and improving access to the Wain’s Hill battery site by removing sycamore saplings and trimming a holly. Cut material is taken away and made into habitat piles.

Work to clear scrub beside St Andrew’s churchyard wall is completed.

clearing scrub to reveal more grave stones

Cutting back bramble & ivy on graves and clearing scrub in St Andrew’s churchyard

Seats and coastal path on Wain’s Hill weeded and tidied

More buddleia and brambles are cut back on Church Hill to create fresh wildlife habitat.

December 2018

An old and sprawling buddleia on Church Hill is cut back to rejuvinate it and open up the site. The wild damson arch over the path is raised by removing the lowest branches.

clearing soil from the base of the rock face

follow-up bramble clearance in the cemetery

graves cleared of bramble and other vegetation

Enhancing the Church Hill quarry site by exposing more of the rock face, and clearing bramble and other scrub re-growth from graves in St Andrew’s churchyard

cutting back scrub at the top of a former woodland trail to restore access

Cutting back overhanging blackthorn along the path between Church Hill and the churchyard and restoring access to the top of a former nature trail by clearing scrub

November 2018

Enhancing the quarry glade on Church Hill by exposing the rock face

Poets’ Walk path, steps and seats above Marine Lake are tidied and swept.

A hawthorn on the Wain’s Hill battery site is felled, but a yew tree left as a feature

a habitat pile created from rotting grass

Wain’s Hill ramparts were mown by the contractor Green Mantle this autumn. Arisings need to be raked off the grassland edge and into the woodland to become habitat piles.

With funding from Clevedon Civic Society the Wain’s Hill battery rubble is collected by grab lorry at 07:30 the day after barrowing down

breaking up a fallen section of brick wall to add to the heap

Around 14 tons of rubble/hardcore from Wain’s Hill battery is barrowed downhill by volunteers from Clevedon Civic Society & the Friends of Poets’ Walk to await collection.