Today's task had last been visited in 1991 when existing members of the group had fashioned habitats at each corner of the boating lake and created a brick enclosure in the centre.  The task today involved pruning and clearing the 4 habitats, making sure to leave some grasses with seeds for birds to feed from, removing litter from the lake and pruning back the dense undergrowth on the island to encourage nesting of waterfowl again.

Boating lakes attract rubbish and we managed to remove several sacks of debris including a tyre, a computer monitor and an assortment of clothing (none of it fit to salvage due to the fact it stank!).

New waders were elegantly but manfully fashioned by Simon and new elbow length gloves by Steve our latest ECV male models for the most up to date outdoor waterproof gear. No leaks were reported.

A young swan kept us company.

In the afternoon we cleared small sprouts of saplings and rubbish from an area of acid grass on the other side of the park which would otherwise be endangered if the saplings and bramble were allowed to grow. We also chatted a lot and had a laugh. We trust the council will run a mower over the grass this year to encourage further growth.