Part Three
Posted: 20 April 2022
If you've joined the tour at this point, you might want to use the "Previous" link above to see the start of the New Path. Alternatively, go the The Beginning of the tour.
After the right angled junction where the "New Path" leaves the original path around the site, it makes a sweeping 90° turn to bring it alongside the dyke that forms our western boundary. Not too much has changed in this area except that the tree that used to stand to the left of the Poor's Allotment end of the bridge is no more. It was one of those taken down in a storm and then felled by us.
Stepping onto the "temporary bridge" and looking to the south you can see that it is not the clearest of waterways. It's condition varies constantly depending on the levels of rain and, to some extent, the direction of the wind. The Trustees told us that they are no longer encouraged to keep it clear as at times of flood it helps to hold water back and so minimise flooding further downstream.
Swinging the camera round you see that we have removed some of the logs cut shortly after the bridge was built. A lot of the material has been brought onto our side of the dyke and used to generate chippings for our paths or raise some of their levels.
Swinging it again to point northwards you can begin to see how well the ground which we cleared has recovered since the original work. In 2020 I reported removing a couple of the larger fallen trees. More have fallen into the dyke since then and we have done nothing to remove them.
Returning to our side of the dyke we continue northwards on the boardwalk. Taking the pictures later in the day certainly helps removes the shadows so in evidence in the 2020 photographs. Much of the ground has been cleared in this area and it is beginning to lose its wild appearance as Diana has begun work to replant it.
At the end of the boardwalk the path continues to snake around the trees. There's little obvious change in this area with only ground cover plants in evidence and the remains of last Autumn's leaf drop.
With lower branches removed, this area is getting more light into it, but that doesn't mean that all is growing as we would wish. We had hoped the extra light would allow the path to become grassier, but if anything it is moss that is fairing better.
As we approach the north west corner of the site the path ahead begins to turn to the right. We reach a small oak tree with some rather thin twisted branches around six feet off the ground. The extra light in this area seems to mean that the soil is drying out more. As reported in 2020, the path around here was raised by burying logs and covering them with soil. Since then, although flooding has come close, it has not covered the path.
The path continues to turn as we draw level with a larger tree on the left. Here begins the dyke that forms the small triangular island in the north west corner of the grounds. Comparing this view with that taken in 2020 and we see that, on the right, another tree is gone. It used to hide a good view of the large fern ahead. Opposite that are some logs on the path. These are the remains of the tangled timber that used to grow on the left hand side and had to be taken down after a storm in February this year.
As mentioned in 2020, when the "New Path" was created we were only aware of one fern on the site, the one you see ahead on the right. Now we are now aware of more younger plants that are growing to either side of the new path along its whole length.
Beside the large fern is resting another artificial ornament to the grounds. It is hoped that it will be joined by another piece in the near future, so don't expect to see it remain exactly where seen now.
A step or two beyond the original fern we see some of the new specimens but, for many, it will be the glimpse of "The Manna" ahead that will draw the eye.
The path is now running east and is about to rejoin the main path. Two years ago it seemed that foxgloves had begun to colonise the area. Since then Diana has done much clearance work in this area, mainly to remove the nettles but it seems a lot of other plants have been the subject of clearance too!
Finally, the New Path rejoins the original path. If you have read the 2020 report you will know that the idea of having a cabin installed was suspended following Diana's cancer diagnosis. However, as you can see, the plan was revived and it seems sensible to keep, as far as is practical, all the images of the cabin in a single report rather than split them over two parts.
