A cold start to the day, but things had warmed up a bit by the time Frances and Paul arrived at the task. Rich and Janka arrived shortly after, having come from the Northern Slopes mission a little earlier.

We raked away any grass cuttings allowing for the light to get through and disturbing the top level of soil. Hopefully the wildflowers should get off to a good start.

Plenty of people passed us walking their dogs so we left the gift of a tempting looking stick that we found - not tempting enough apparently.

At the end there was time a glass of the latest batch of Manor Woods apple juice and the very last of the Christmas biscuits and mince pies - thanks Martin!

This week we gathered at the opposite end of the park to plant spring crocus bulbs at the library entrance. We manged 300 in total, which should make a for a great display next year.

We were rewarded for our efforts by some of Peter's homemade apple juice which was delicious!

A bright clear October morning saw us gathering to help Manor Woods Valley Group prepare for their apple picking event next weekend. The harvested apples will be sent away for pasteurisation with the juice being shared between volunteering sessions and Withywood food bank.

We used shears to cut away any brambles and undergrowth that might restrict access to the fruit trees.

A productive morning spent in amongst the colourful Autumn leaves with the usual tea break at the end ☕️

Danica has put together a short video of the session here

Another sunny morning cutting brambles and clearing scrub to maintain access to the orchard and prevent nature completely reclaiming the space. We were led today by Rachel of YourPark, who gave us our instructions and safety briefing.

We used shears and pitchforks, enjoying the sunshine and chatting away as we worked. Afterwards we enjoyed our usual coffee, tea and hot chocolate break courtesy of our hosts Peter and Martin.

It's likely we will be back harvesting the orchard apples in the next month or so, and then sending them off to be juiced.

Having arrived towards the end of the session, we escaped the hard labour of raking Rabbit field meadow today. Instead, we arrived just in time to plant native bluebells, supplied 'in the green' by Rachel from YourPark.

All in all, a pleasant morning planting the bulbs and chatting about our recent holidays!

A clash of the tasks today meant a smaller than usual group at Manor Valley Woods.

Undeterred, three of us had just started on the days task (forking out the cut scrub to make space for wildflowers and new pollinating growth) when we were joined by new recruit Karen (welcome!)

We spent the rest of the session keeping warm working away at our assignment while having a good chat and getting to know each other.

No Orchard book club this week, but regular volunteer Matthew made up for this by educating us all on international cinema and animation!