Your usual correspondent being absent from another working party, this time due to an excess of visitors, blogging duties fell to Team Leader Margaret. This was somewhat thwarted by the intervention of her Labrador puppy, who seemed to think it would be fun to eat forbidden fruit. The resulting emergency vet appointment made Margaret 10 minutes late on parade, but never fear, the team was admirably led by Kevin anyway. (You’ll be glad to know that the dog has recovered well, even if their bank balance has had a nasty turn.)
Margaret’s absence caused a ripple of panic through the 13 other volunteers, for as faithful readers will know, refreshments at the break are treasured, and not only was Margaret missing, but so were those vital beverages. Joy was unbounded when they turned up:
The break affords the volunteers a chance for a period of quiet reflection, the better to appreciate the beauty of nature in which they find themselves (ahem)
Margaret reports that otherwise everything worked like clockwork, although I am not sure that cutting through a bees’ nest counts as clockwork (makes a change from falling on a wasps’ nest I suppose). Happily, the bees ignored the volunteers and concentrated on repairs instead. Unhappily, attempts at obtaining photographic evidence failed.
Photographic evidence of the other workers was however forthcoming, and is here displayed for your approval. Suffice it to say that the conditions were hot, humid and very sweaty. The ladies (who as we know don’t sweat but merely glow) pulled a lightly loaded sheet at the end, just to help out. Good show ladies! Here they are, on the pull as they say…
The section receiving attention this time was the prosaically named Area B – divided from the more excitingly known Area A by the boardwalk running between the Beck and Warren Road. These two sections are cut on alternate years, and in the intervening period take full advantage of the chance to generate as much heavy vegetation as they can. Here are some shots of the mighty struggle:
Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks:
This is very much a personal thank you.
As usual thank you to the 14 souls who turned up on
another hot humid morning and did a sterling job and now the boardwalk is
passable as well as the fen cleared. Today though my fellow leaders had to cope
with a last minute call to say I would be late due to a vet emergency. No
problem was the reply. You lovely volunteers were still happy to work despite
the promise of refreshments vanishing into the ether.
When I did arrive late complete with refreshments the
concern for the dog was heartwarming.
The said miscreant is recovering well and milking it for
all he is worth!
So thank you all. I am proud to be part of such a super
group.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and hopefully see you in
two weeks.
Margaret
The area which received attention before this was the central one (Area G for afficionados). The plan to cut it slightly earlier than first considered so that the Grass of Parnassus could flower after the event appears to have been a resounding success; there are now many of these delightful and rare flowers on show:
The famous Trimingham Bee-Eaters made a surprise visit to the Commons late one afternoon recently, with nine present around The Pit. Your correspondent, tardy as ever, popped along there the next day to see if they were there again. They weren’t, but since I had my camera with me and Bee-eaters like posing on power lines, I took this shot of some swallows, also no doubt thinking of dropping in on Africa soon. If you close your eyes you can almost imagine they are Bee-Eaters don’t you think?
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