Good to see Adam Cresser back on Mayfields during a visit on February 25th. He was admiring the sequence of wildflowers on a quick tour, from Snowdrops to native Daffodils and Primroses to Cowslips. He particularly enjoyed the Blackthorn blossom on trees planted by MCT a few years ago though.

Quite cool on February 22 on Mayfields but fine for doing a bit more clearing of vegetation that was starting to invade the path behind Goodwood Grove houses. We plan to replant this area with attractive native shrubs that will be more manageable over the next few years.

Before (left) and after (right) shots of the section cleared on Wednesday 22nd February, 2023. Still a bit more to do before replanting..

The overnight rain went quite early on Thursday morning, leaving pleasantly mild conditions for Lesley & Paul, Alan, and Louise & Malcolm to do more work behind the Goodwood Grove houses. We managed to cut back a willow growing through the fence panels at one point as well as disposing off-cut material at the composting area. Thanks to Louise for her excellent photographs.

.We started to reduce the brambles growing towards (and sometimes through!) the fences of Goodwood Grove gardens on February 15th. There’s more to do and we’re also reducing the leaf cover there to give more light to the buried wildflowers.

Malcolm, Louise, Lesley and Paul took advantage of the sustained dry weather on February 3rd to clean and apply wood preservative to the small gate and fence beside it now these were accessible.

Louise and Lesley after a job well done. Paul also managed to reinforce the slats on the adjacent fence on either side of the playground.

With help from the Council on February 1st we managed to dispose of the two locks that had been added (by someone without permission) to hold the Nelsons Lane gate permanently open. The gate opens easily both ways and closes automatically. It was installed for safety reasons to reduce the risk of children and/or dogs running straight out into the road.