This really has been a wet and windy couple of months. We seem to have done nothing but make paths safe for visitors by resurfacing them (the paths, not the visitors) and disposing of trees or branches blown down by the wind. Some of the wood is left for habitat, some chopped up for logs which we sell, and the brash mostly burnt.
You may think that the material which we use for the paths is not in keeping with the natural feel of the reserve. However we believe that it will gradually blend in with the surroundings and, more to the point, will make the paths much safer to walk on.
We did manage to complete the rabbit-proof fence round the sycamore, and the first crocuses are showing well. It was probably finished a little late to have its full effect, but next year we hope for a bumper crop.
The snowdrops are at their best now and will be for a couple of weeks, with the pretty blue scilla looking lovely amongst them. Crocuses and daffodils are both showing too, so in the next few weeks, weather permitting, the reserve will look beautiful.
We have made a start on digging up the bamboo in the boating lake. Well when I said 'we' perhaps I should admit that I had something else to do on the reserve that morning! It's a difficult task at the best of times, but in these damp conditions working in the bottom of an old lake is not an enviable task.
Open weekends start on 1st March and carry on until Easter Monday, 21st April. I hope the weather is better this year. It's bad enough for visitors when it is wet and cold, but you can imagine what it's like for volunteers manning the gazebo and carrying out car parking duties. We are continuing with our guided tours on Saturday mornings at 10.30.
If the weather is good then we hope you will bear with us with using the overflow car park when necessary. We have considered all sorts of ways of increasing car parking space on the reserve itself but none so far have been acceptable. The only way of getting a significant increase would be to use more of the meadow for parking, but that has been ruled out at least for the moment.
John
