Thursday 14/5/26  Beryl’s bird table fell over and broke, so we removed the top section and took it to the mill for repair, on our way we saw two families of greylag geese and goslings on the fishing lake.

It was a cold rainy start to the day so we had tea in the wagon and watched the great tit feeding her chicks on the nest camera screen while I filled coconut shells with a soft suet block which Beryl gave us, then I went outside and hung them on the bird feeding station. Outside the wagon was a painted lady butterfly on the grass.

We walked round to see what needed clearing up after the open days. Coasters had been left outside in the gear wheel table so I took them to the wagon to dry out and we rolled up the hose used to turn the water wheel, ensuring water was not trapped, as it could freeze and damage the hose, we put it in the tunnel to protect it.

Pink lupins planted by Emma and blue ones given to us by Dennis are in flower. The top of Beryl’s bird table was repaired by adding extra screws and while we had the screws out we topped up the pack from our supplies and the boxes Fred gave us.

The gazebo was used at the open days, so we put it away in its bag. We took all the feature signs outside as the elevator sign came off the board and blew into the river at the weekend, so today I stapled all the signs to the boards in case the rest were loose. We put Howard’s table against the wall and stacked the signs under it.

The outside chairs were put in the visitor centre after the open days, so we took them back to the compound and covered them up with black material. I put the gazebo, parasol and camping table back in the loft. The visitor centre is now clear and tidy.

The old bird table was rotten but we have a newer one, so Eddie took the old one apart, he saved the thick pole and cut it up for firewood and burned the rest of the stand and table top in the incinerator, as well as an old bridge board which had split apart.

We had lunch outside as the sun came out. A kestrel flew out of the owl box opposite the mill where they are nesting. Lapwings were calling and flying over the field again. Debra and Hector joined us at lunch time, Hector found a log to play with and we discussed the open days with Debra. While we were sitting at the table a kingfisher flew through the mill, we just saw a metallic blue flash flying above the ground.

In the afternoon I padlocked the water wheel to the bolt in the wall to stop it turning. Eddie emptied the water butt used for watering the gardens into the other one, as the butt was leaning over. I got some wood to wedge under the stand which levelled the butt. We then watered the gardens as they looked dry, despite today’s rain.

We went back to The Maltings with Beryl’s bird table top and refitted it to the stand and held it to the railings with a cable tie to stop it falling over again.

Thursday 21/5/26  We switched on the nest camera and watched great tits feeding their chicks, which have grown a lot since last week. There are more blue and pink lupins which are flowering well along the wall and bistort are still in flower, there was a bee on one. Honesty and foxgloves are in flower on the river bank.

Our shed door was hard to open as it had dropped and was sticking on the shed floor, so we levered and wedged the door up, removed and refitted the hinge posts slightly higher. One of the wooden spacers split apart so Eddie made a new one from a featheredge board offcut. The door now opens and closes easily.

We brought the mower today, we thought the grass would need cutting as we’ve had rain recently, but the main lawns didn’t need cutting, I just cut the corner where the old bird table was removed and grass in front of the compost bays. 

Anne Marie weeded the river bank of nettles and cleavers, then watered the gardens. I got the thick gloves and pulled thistles and nettles from the lower part of the river bank.

Eddie and I crossed our bridge to view the fallen river wall, vegetation has grown up in front of it and birds are nesting in the exposed soil, we saw a wren fly out of a hole but sand martins are probably nesting there too, something similar flew into our wagon at one point. We walked down to the notice board and put up a new label with the next open day dates which are 19 & 20 September 2026. The card box was broken so we replaced it and topped up the cards.

We repaired the fence next to the Blacksmith’s area as two posts were loose, so we dug holes and hammered them in the ground and re-attached the fence tapes.

Eddie found the green paint and repainted the bridge handrails as we noticed they were scratched, while I picked up loose rubble from the track entrance to prevent it getting caught in the mower, then I mowed the entrance area. I also mowed paths through the wildflower meadow, where chamomile and buttercups are flowering and a few poppy plants have appeared, two poppies are in flower above the trench.

Debra and Hector walked to the mill, I threw logs for Hector to catch, then Emma and Ivor arrived. We noticed poppies and daisies were growing in the compost bay, so we pulled them out and Anne Marie replanted them in the wildflower meadow next to the trench, then watered them and also watered the oak saplings. I cut dock leaves and weeds with large leaves from the meadow with loppers.

Canes had been pulled out of the insect hotel again by birds trying to get the insects, Emma and Ivor picked up the fallen canes and put them in a box, I took the insect hotel off the stand to take home with the canes for repair using my glue gun. Eddie checked and topped up the oil and water in the Gator and checked the oil in the mower.

We had a last cup of tea at the outside table and saw a small muntjac walking along the top of the wildflower meadow, then a kingfisher landed on the post near the water wheel again, this time I got a photo. There were a lot of Mayflys around today and we saw a blue tit eating suet balls from the feeder.

Graham Bartlett  

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