A damp morning in Sustead

We are usually lucky with work party weather but Thursday July 1st was an exception: a dreich day, overcast and drizzly but not sufficiently wet to dampen the spirits of 13 doughty volunteers who turned up to help clear the access paths to three of our 4 sites in Sustead.

Most people worked on scything, lopping and raking, clearing the paths that had become incredibly overgrown in the past few weeks. Three teams of three cleared all of the paths in Spurrell’s Wood and on Sustead Common and began work on the Surveyor’s Allotment, with more work to be done there soon.

Meanwhile, an executive decision had been made to move the pedestrian entrance to Spurrell’s Wood from its position at the north-east corner of the wood, which was becoming increasingly hidden by the large Norfolk comfrey in the middle of the path, to a new position alongside the 5-bar gate on the road near the beck. To this end, two volunteers removed the pedestrian gate from its original site and moved it to its new site. John, Trevor and Nigel Smith made space for its new position by removing part of the field bank and digging a new hole, in very stony ground, to receive the post holding the gate. More work was done the following day to finish fitting the gate and laying sleepers over the ditch to create a safe (and more easily-discovered) entrance to the wood. We hope this will lead to more people entering the wood and enjoying its meandering pleasures.