If you went down to the woods on Saturday...

There was an enthusiastic response to the call to clear the little woodland below the Parish Hall last Saturday. In a short time, logs and branches were being cleared to make way for the rotavator that will come in to prepare the ground for the special woodland grass and wildflower mix than is going to be sown there. I would like to thank everyone who turned up: we were certainly lucky with the weather, which was sunny and bright and, although it was cold, we soon warmed up. For those who ventured down towards the bottom of the valley, there was the joyous sight of wild violets blooming in the cleared spaces. There were some violets here last year, our Parish in Bloom co-ordinator Graham Langlois tells me, but the opening up of the woodland has allowed more light into the area and the violets have certainly responded. Mike Stentiford popped down to share his cold with us...thanks, Mike...but soon popped off to, I hope, a warm fire and some hot lemon and honey. We have begun collecting names for our proposed group of Parish wildlilfe and woodland volunteers and I would like to invite anyone with a few hours to spare a couple of times a year to contact me at the Parish Hall so we can add your name to the list. Just a thought: does anyone know what that little valley is actually called? I am going to try and find out so that it can have a proper name attached to it and become part of our parish community amenties, just like Patier Park.