11 of us went to the Nature Park and cleared an area suitable to hold the Picnic event on Sunday. Mower, Strimmer, Scythe & Shears all used to accomplish the task.
Ten of us arrived today. Eight went to the Tree Meadow to finish off clearing around the trees and removing dead and unwanted ones; and the remaining two went to Stone Cross Field to stick 2 slabs back on. Two more top slab sections (the west ones) on the north and south benches had come loose. They were re-fixed using PVA, and we noted that the two east slabs on the same benches fixed a fortnight ago had set securely.
Greener Greenhill organised a Comunity picnic on Sunday 12 July 12-4 pm on Stone Cross Field, and Members of BEG were invited to join them. It was based on the seat around the Sycamore,There were some gentle activities, but they mainly wished people to enjoy spending time in this green space and to see and appreciate the work that BEG does. The BEG dry stone wall team was there to talk about their work and demonstrate.
Eleven of us met today, and two tasks were agreed: Four of Tony’s Steps in Park Bank Wood required repair and a small group duly obliged. The rest went to the Woodland Meadow and cleared around the young trees. Brilliant to see how those small whips planted 8+ years ago are now maturing The Container Area looks like a wild flower meadow – all growing out of rubble – and better than we could plant ourselves!
Fifteen members of the Group met today, and twelve of us went to the three ponds on the Nature Park, and cleared access .paths, to assist the Ecology Survey taking place later this week. On the two dry ones we cut clear access paths to both and with the wet one, we cut a perimeter path around 2/3rds of it. In addition, three members went to Stone Cross field and repaired two of the benches, where slabs had come loose. We also moved the stone used for our walling demonstration at the Greenhill Family Picnic Day on Sunday to a concealed
Eleven of us again in total today Two went to Stone Cross Field and worked through the whips at the top end of the field, clearing grass and weeds from around their roots. We estimate we cleared between 60 and 70. Five went to the stone bench overlooking the gorse and spent the morning moving stone to Stone Cross Field, in preparation for the Greener Greenhill event there on Sunday 12th July afternoon. The stone was left next to the tree in the centre of the field, which is surrounded by four stone benches. Four of us cleared overhanging hedge
Eleven members met at the Balsam Patch, by the River Sheaf behind the Station, and cleared the area of all the Balsam Plants we could find. We did find some Knotweed plants also, mostly on the land owned by the Rail Network Regarding mowing – The mowing of the three meadows will be done later in the year October/November time unless advised differently by Ecology.
The nine of us that braved the expected high temperatures today, remained in the Nature Park area and cleared around the Perimeter Path. Making good use of our mower & strimmer. As we were setting up, we happened to meet up with the Council environment team for our area, who told us: The Ecology unit will be conducting a survey of the area which will assist Tom and ourselves in managing it. The Council will mow all three Meadows in the ensuing weeks We discussed the possibility of lining the other two ponds; early days yet, but we shall provide the
We had a really lovely gathering in the garden of Beauchief Hall on Sunday 21st June – the weather was superb. There was a magnificent spread of savouries, desserts, fruits and drinks which we thoroughly enjoyed. Professor Soltani sent this message: “This gathering was also in memory of Pam Hodgson, who is fondly missed. She introduced the BEG to us and I had a lot of respect for her. May her soul rest in eternal peace.” This is one of the photos she sent us, taken during the event.
The eight that arrived today all went to Carol’s Copse and totally cleared all the encroaching Bracken. Many of the Whips we planted are now very mature but some do look, comparatively, small. This could, of course, simply be the species, but we gave these smaller ones some clearance from the surrounding grass . Balsam pulling: Yes, it is that time of year again. Last year we did it June 23rd, we will discuss the best time for 2026 next week.
There were only two of us for the bird walk. Not much to report, really. We ambled around Little Wood Bank, the Nature Park and Parkbank Wood, and identified about 20 species of bird by sight or sound. The highlight was spending a few minutes watching treecreepers in Parkbank Wood.
Only six members braved the early rain today. Two mowed the Nature Park path, while the other four completed the de la Salle wall with cover and copestones. The two locks on the Store were given a dose of WD40.