At The Maltings, Egyptian Geese were around as usual and we fitted Beryl's new bird nesting box in a tree near her holiday cottages. On the way to the mill we saw Egrets and Herons flying and Swans on the river.

We had some frosty mornings at the mill which gave some good views. We filled the new bird feeders and watched Coal Tits and Great Tits eating from them. Wooden struts were added to the back of the wildlife habitat to make it stronger and we added more hollow stems and canes to fill gaps and drilled more holes in the logs.

Fencing staples were hammered into the sides of the compost bay to prevent the wire netting coming away when full and we added more weeds to the bay to fill it up a bit more.

We made a wooden surround and cover for the boiling house foundations which we recently exposed. This will be uncovered when we have visitors so the feature can be viewed, and covered over afterwards to protect from rain. We will paint the cover next time to make it waterproof and fix an explanation sign to it. This is part of the Wildflower Meadow project which includes preserving features nearby.

When removing soil around the foundation bracket we found more wood fragments from the timber post which the bracket fitted into, also the base of a pot, a nut and bolt, and a large iron nail. 

A pair of Swans flew over when we were working in this area and we noticed the weeds and nettles have subsided in what will be the wildflower meadow, so we went in and explored it. We should be able to start working there soon, we will also continue with our Green Community Grant, we are having a meeting soon to organise both projects.

On New Years Day we were given a picture taken in 1917 of Airmen swimming in the river at the upper lock, have a look at the picture and find out more in the article.

Graham Bartlett                

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