Anyone for Acrobatics?

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our latest bit of kit – an acrobat rake. We have been mowing parts of our West Beckham Old Allotments site using a mowing attachment on a vintage tractor. This is a very efficient method of getting large areas of grass cut, but it still leaves a lot of raking; even with our super large wooden rakes. However, life is about to become a whole lot easier. The acrobat rake will be towed along behind the tractor, gathering the scattered grass into neat rows. Ideally the grass can then be left to dry for a couple of days, making it much lighter and easier to carry to the composting heaps. The acrobat rake has been a major investment, costing £1,000, and we are really grateful to everyone who has contributed to our fundraising efforts, making this purchase possible.

So, on April 1st, a couple of our volunteers got together at West Beckham to put together all the nuts and bolts and other bits and pieces.

After a couple of hours and a few false starts, the acrobat rake was successfully assembled.

A few days later, the acrobat rake was put through its paces

West Beckham Old Allotments Local Engagement Event

We invited local residents to drop in to the WBOA site on the afternoon of Saturday April 3rd to meet three trustees and to hear what measures we plan to put in place to both encourage the development of the wildflower meadow and to protect the area put aside for the hoped-for return of Turtle Dove. It was not a particularly clement afternoon but 6 people visited and spent time walking around the site asking questions about our plans and listening to our reasons for taking the steps we are taking to help us achieve our goals. Not a huge turnout but each person who visits passes on information to other residents so we considered the event a success.