THE Friends of Culcheth Linear Park have been busy with a fresh year and fresh start for volunteers.
There was a fresh start ‘weather wise’ to the day for their first volunteer working party of the year. And also a few ‘fresh’ faces amongst the volunteers – which was great to see.
With a pretty big list of jobs to tackle the volunteers soon got going and over the course of the morning made quite an impact in different areas of the park.
The work at the bench by Farmers Bridge was completed – providing a pleasant place to sit.
Further down the park a mass of brambles were tackled and a hidden picnic bench was released – although it’s not looking too comfy yet to welcome you for a brew!
And the carved panels of one of the old benches were rescued – hopefully these will be renovated and put back in the park for everyone to see.
At the other end of the park volunteers were busy with coppicing and clearance work. One of the volunteers involved told us: “In this area there was a requirement to fell one of the larger trees. All the natural material has been left to decompose in situ with the smaller branches and twigs used to create ‘dead’ hedges. This work provides an opportunity both to enhance biodiversity and to create a valuable wildlife habitat.”
Some volunteers helped by moving logs and others walked the length of the park picking up litter. The volunteers have access to a range of tools to help with their work – recently there’s been a generous donation from Wickes and a wheelbarrow donated by a Culcheth resident.
One of the new volunteers shared their reasons for getting involved with the park.
They said: “I visit the park regularly and am impressed with the work that the volunteers do. I realised that there was more that could be done – so thought the best way to do this was by getting involved myself. I really enjoyed the session – being out in the fresh air and working with the other volunteers. And at the end of the morning it’s great to see the results of our labours.”
The next volunteer working party is Saturday 21st February at 9:30am.
