December 2012
It is a year since the previous summary article on the construction blog and time to consider our achievements in 2012.
Please use the index on the right to select the aspects of interest to you.
The year started with the erection of a new steel mesh fence around the car park and clubhouse portion of the Club's land.
During March in one weekend we planted over 500 saplings around the Club's land to reinforce the existing hedge and create a hedge over those section where none currently exists.
Whilst we started sowing the wild flower meadow in September 2011 it was in 2012 that we have transformed the east end of the site into a wild flower meadow:
- In March we finished sowing the central portion.
- In July the portion sown last autumn was in full bloom.
- In August the portion sown in the spring was in full bloom and we started cutting the meadow.
- In August we finished preparing the west portion for sowing this year.
- In September all the meadow was cut and the western portion was sown.
The logpile in the wild flower meadow is quite inconspicuous adjacent to the towpath fence in the wild flower meadow. We hope that it will encourage beetles and other invertebrates on the site and help to foster diversity of fauna on the site.
Moving soil around the site and off the site seems to be a never ending task. This year the task has been hampered by rain following the announcement of a drought in April and again in the autumn. Nevertheless we have been successful at removing 4 large (15m3) skip loads of sub-soil and 5 grab lorry loads of topsoil.
With the wild flower meadow largely established we have continued to move west across the site with our volunteer efforts. With only minimal further excavation at this end it has been possible to start to lay the base for the future car parking and create a usable hard standing area.
Looking forwards to 2013 some plans are clear whilst others are less certain.
- Hedging - we have over 100 saplings to further reinforce the hedges around the plot and replace those saplings that did not take this year.
- Fencing - we hope to erect another couple of panels of the steel mesh fence adjacent to the wharf so we can join the temporary fence without impeding access to the pedestrian gate.
- Entrance - extending a strip of hardstanding in through the vehicular gates will be a priority in the New Year.
- Meadow - maintenance mowing of the meadow that is already sown and sowing the shaded far east end of the plot will be tasks for the summer and autumn.
- More fencing - work on the the post and wire mesh fencing around the east end of the plot remains a maintenance job to be completed.
We would also ike to think that we will be in a position to appoint a contractor to build the shell of the clubhouse next year.
