On Saturday morning, 28th January, Alan, Lesley, Paul, Malcolm and Louise tested the erection of the MCT gazebo with a replacement canopy. It was done in a back garden to familiarize us with the slightly different design and make sure it was a good fit.

Lovely to see so many of the 3000-plus snowdrops planted by MCT volunteers with help from Ian Tomlinson in past years starting to flower again at the north end of the main path on Friday 27th January. The native primroses are a bit later this year but coming on well. The hazels were almost as beautiful as the bird song.

Great to have 4 excellent Goodgym volunteers out on January 14 to help Louise and Malcolm clear the heavy fall of twigs and small branches off of the southern end of the main path before they (the twigs!) got trampled in too heavily and formed mud.

The small side gate entrance to Mayfields should be automatically closing to reduce the risk of young children and dogs running out into the road. Unfortunately someone, probably a cyclist, has locked it open. We have put a notice on the gate asking them to remove the locks if they want to keep them.

Great to have Paul and Lesley Abbott out helping on January 12. We managed to strim and mow on either side of the Nelsons Lane fence and trim back several of the shrubs starting to encroach across the grass area. It’s important to keep the line of vision around the bend beside the Playground clear.

It was a useful session too yo show that the Mayfields Volunteers Ap Lesley set up for Malcom was working well. If you’d like volunteer to work in Mayfields for the odd hour or two and to join the group to hear of upcoming volunteer sessions, and you use Whats Ap, just send your name and mobile number to Malcolm.

We had a short break from field work over the festive season, but spent time circulating a members Newsletter and collecting Annual Subscriptions. Many thanks to the 45 members who have paid already and especially to those who added extra donations to support our work. It’s a very encouraging response. New members are always welcome too, as are new volunteers.

Malcolm was back out again on January 4th, clearing away some fallen and dead branches following the recent periods of windy weather.