Here are the plans for the first three work parties.
14 January
Meet at St Dominic’s car park
We shall be working in the Convent Pools area clearing paths of leaves and overgrowth and pruning any trees requiring attention. 2017 is the fifth anniversary of the Convent Pools Restoration Project which restored the Middle Pool and created paths to increase access. This work party was cancelled due to the weather conditions
18 February
Meet at Vicarage Road car park
We shall be working on the car park by-pass path. This path requires the removal of some leaf litter, mud and attention to the surface where the hard core base is showing through and we shall top up the path where necessary. We may also have time to widen the short path from Vicarage car park to the top of the slope by the litter bin. The bin itself would probably be better sited in plain view on the car park.
We began by widening the short path from Vicarage Road car park to the sloping path by the litter bin. We then stoned it.
Raking the stoned and widened path
We then tackled the by-pass path behind Vicarage Road car park – scraping the surface to remove accumulated mud and leaves and then stoning the path in part. WE also created a few drainage channels on the lower side and moved some red ash to the centre of the path to improve drainage. We were Paul and Andy from the Countryside Management team at Park Hall, Scott, Phil, Steve and Reg – not forgetting Sully and his ball.
Path scraped and channels to improve drainage
Path part stoned near Stoke Old Road
Stoning another part of the path were the base was showing through.Sully waiting for someone to kick his ball.
18 March
Meet at North Street car park 10 am
We shall be creating an improved entrance to the Park at the barrier by cutting back the trees to the right of the barrier and rediscovering the original entrance.
Sometime before the work party the ditch at the side of the path was cleaned out by a digger and at the same time part of the path beyond the barrier was scraped and widened. This gave us a good start. We decided it would be better to start at the point to which the digger had finished the widening, since this meant we could work back to the barrier without the necessity of driving over the laid stone. We scraped off as much of the mud remaining and then stoned the path. At the same time branches were cut back. The original intention to access the path at the right of the barrier rather than the present left side, because of the narrow distance between the barrier and the ditch was stymied by the fact that some of the spoil from the ditch clearance had been deposited there. Instead as a temporary measure, until the spoil can be removed, we laid stone on the left side of the barrier to improve the surface. Thanks to Paul and Andy from Park Hall and volunteers Scott, Phil, Steve and Reg, not forgetting Sully who brought his ball. We expect to continue the work on the June work party and it may be possible to fit in a midweek work party as well.
There are more photographs on the Friends of Hartshill Park facebook page.
22 April
This is a good time to have a spring clean and remove rubbish before it disappears under new vegetation. Meet at Vicarage Road car park 10 am. Check the Facebook page for photographs showing the amount of bags collected.
27 May
The path from the safe route towards the Boardwalk Pool needs some attention where the surface is breaking up. Meet at St Dominic’s car park 10 am
Today we cleared most of the path of vegetation and found the original red ash surface. We stoned the area where the path meets the cross path towards the Boardwalk Pool and repaired part of that path and managed to finish just before the downpour. Photographs on the Friends facebook page.
6 June
The oak bench on the Vicarage Road car park bypass path was vandalised today and part of the seat discovered on the Park behind the houses in North Street. It may not be possible to repair. This is the second time this bench has been targeted. Only one of the three remains. A metal bench has been put in its place.
24 June
More work on the Path leading from the North Street car park. Meet at the North Street car park 10 am. We laid some more stone on the path near the North Street car Park which has much improved the condition of the path there where it was once narrow and muddy. Following that we transferred to the Stoke Old Road entrance where we replaced two decayed steps and took out one to make access easier. Our next work party will be on Tuesday 25 July when we shall continue work on the Stoke Old Road steps by improving the ramp alongside the steps.
19 August
Path maintenance – meet Vicarage Road
16 September
Path Maintenance – meet Vicarage Road
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