Thursday 9/7/26 Fred gave us two scaffold planks to make ramps for loading the mower into the trailer for taking it to the mill. This will save petrol as we had to drive the mower two miles every time we use it, the top speed is only 5.5mph so it will also save time. We hooked up the trailer and took it to the mill with the scaffold planks, last week we removed seats to fit the mower. Eddie drove the mower to the mill for the last time.
At the mill we saw the two stock dove chicks in the nest box, they have really grown, we didn’t see the parents again today but they must be feeding them or they wouldn’t have survived. The free Heritage Open Days materials arrived so I brought the package to the mill and opened it while we had tea, there are only flags, bunting and a carrier bag this time, as we have several banners left over from previous years.
It was very hot so we parked the trailer in the shade and tried the planks resting on top of the trailer floor, we fitted screws near the top to fit over the lip of the trailer to stop them falling out and loaded the mower, but the cutting deck scraped the ends of the planks and got stuck, so we put thick pieces of wood in the trailer against the planks which gave extra lift, the cutting deck now clears the ramp.
The planks bent under the weight of the mower and operator, so we cut wooden supports with my mitre saw and fitted them to the ramps with hinges. This has limited the bending, we loaded and unloaded the mower several times to test the ramps.
Eddie got buckets of river water for Anne Marie to water the gardens, Hollyhocks and Lobelia are flowering around the trees. We all had lunch outside and Anne Marie told us about her 34 mile walk along the entire Nar Valley Way with her friend. They walked from Pentney to Kings Lynn last Sunday, then from Pentney to a B&B in Litcham where they stayed on Monday night, then on to Mileham. Unfortunately from Castle Acre to Mileham it doesn't follow the river and the source of the Nar can't be seen.
After lunch Anne Marie walked back and Eddie took the push mower over to the Nar Valley Way and cut the grass on the footpath opposite the mill including around the bench seat, while I cut paths through our wildflower meadow again as well as the clearing for the picnic bench. Eddie also filled the bird food.
Last week I took the insect hotel home to repair as canes were missing again, this time I used much more glue, so I hope the birds won’t be able to pull canes out. I put it back on the stand in the meadow today.
We watered the gardens again as we had two buckets of river water left, then loaded the mower into the trailer with the ramps beside it, with the supports folded flat. We went back to The Maltings and unloaded the mower, we need to modify the ramps to ensure they don’t slip out of the trailer, which we’ll do another time.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Activity Previous Projects Workers 5 Years Ago
Solitary Bee Box
We made our solitary bee box in November 2024, it has Perspex covering slots in the wood so we can watch progress of the eggs and larvae. There is a mud tray on top which bees use to line the slots and seal between each egg cell, they put a final mud plug at the end of the slot.
We noticed the box was being used on 15/5/25 when we saw some slot ends sealed up, we pulled out the cores and saw the slots filled with eggs and pollen.
Female Solitary bees lay an egg with a supply of pollen and nectar in each cell for the larvae to feed on when it hatches. Bees seal each cell with a mud plug in between.
Male eggs are laid towards the front of the slot so they emerge first and are ready to mate the following year.
Female eggs hatch into larvae and eat the pollen, then hibernate for around 11 months in the nest through summer and winter. The following spring, the larvae pupate, turn into adult bees and emerge from their nest.
I made a similar box for my garden which was also partially used.
We will keep watch on the nest box at the mill and keep this page updated with progress.
In late 2025 we noticed the male eggs in the front part of the slots have hatched and left the box, female eggs were still in the back of the slots, but in April 2026 we noticed all the eggs were gone, so the females have hatched.
Graham Bartlett
The Little Egret is white with a black beak and yellow feet, its smaller than the Great White Egret which is the size of a Heron. Back to Wildlife
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The Great White Egret is the same size as a Heron and has a yellow beak and black feet. See also Little Egret. Back to Wildlife
