Thursday 25th February
The Hunt Park team had an away day and went over to Leatherhead for a Surrey Wildlife Trust training day. This was a course on willow crafts and we can thoroughly recommend it. For once, the tutor went at her speed and not the speed of a snail. As soon one project had been explained, Julie was showing us another idea to try. As we have plenty of new willow growing in our osier bed there will be no shortage of supplies. There are a number of “artisan” objects made from willow in the Northern Office and in due course when we have a visitor centre, we will take commissions.
Thursday, 18th February
Wildly exciting morning with the first of the blue tits finding our new nesting boxes. He popped his head into the south-facing box and disappeared inside for quite a time. We assumed he was measuring for carpets. We also saw some nuthatches feeding away and a couple of robins. We had feared that squirrels were munching through our stock. Please don’t forget that we have plenty of logs available – all you need to do is phone 01483 505566 or email: support@weyandarun.co.uk to arrange a suitable time for collection. A donation in return would be appreciated.
28th January 2016
What terrific weather for January. The sun was out and it was positively warm as we did the circuit. The Cranleigh Waters was flowing quite fast as we walked along the opposite bank. Our bird feeders aren’t doing as well as we had expected, probably due to the warm weather and still plenty of food available. But we did have 2 long tail tits arrive which we haven’t seen before.
It was a busy morning. First we had 35 replacement hedge plants to put in along our official boundary alongside the A281 main road. The others had mysteriously disappeared last year so a further supply of Hawthorn and Guelder roses had been ordered. The plants have arrived with very long roots, so Mike had some difficulty getting his spade deep enough among the existing tree roots. The aim of the hedge is to eventually mask the post and rail fence and provide good habitat. Further northwards along the hedge, the planting at the far end is beginning to grow high, but also tangled up with lots of brambles which needed to be cut off before they strangled everything.
Thursday 14th January 2016 –
a cold wet day that didn’t really inspire us to do anything much other than watch the birds eat from our bird feeders. These new feeders have been made by Mike Hobbs using offcuts from the viewing platform boards. We saw: Robin, Fieldfares, Long tail tits and a pheasant. But a visitor saw two Ruddy Shell Ducks which are most unusual and we’re wondering if they have flown in from Holland. Otherwise the morning was spent doing the usual circuit checking all is in good condition. We noticed that the white poplar is growing so much better than the black ones. They are now about 3 foot high, whereas the black poplar are barely getting their heads above the tree guards.
Wednesday, 6th January 2016
Mike was out and about today planting Rowan and Oak (the latter kindly donated by Malcolm and Susan Brenton) along the cyclepath where the Trust has recently started tree management to reduce the number of dead and dying trees. This new planting will replace the trees removed. Two new nest boxes were installed, made out of the off-cuts from the viewing platform. These are the deluxe versions. We noted that Cranleigh Waters is flowing fast and the water level is well up. This is all attracting masses of Canada geese.
Thursday, 31st December 2015
Spent most of the morning bailing out the pontoons around Gun’s Mouth Island. One was very low in the water and we feared it would disappear with the heavy rain forecasted. It is a tedious job with a hand pump, but we had recruited Julian Morgan to help us. We then cleared the landing stages of leaves and branches before walking “the patch” to see that all was well in Hunt Park. To our delight we discovered evidence of a bank vole.
Wikipedia says “The bank vole (Myodes glareolus; formerly Clethrionomys glareolus) is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.
The bank vole lives in woodland, hedgerows and other dense vegetation such as bracken and bramble. Its underground chamber is lined with moss, feathers and vegetable fibre and contains a store of food. It can live for eighteen months to two years and is mostly herbivorous, eating buds, bark, seeds, leaves and fruits and occasionally insects and other small invertebrates. It readily climbs into scrub and low branches of trees. It breeds in shallow burrows, the female rearing about four litters of pups during the summer.
17th December 2015
A very warm day, but cloudy, as we set off to do the weekly inspection of the park. Down the zigzag path and a close look for our primroses and cowslips we planted along the banks. A few are already coming up which is good news. Further along we search for the snowdrops around the viewing platform and find that they are about an inch high. Last year they were spectacular. Then it’s on to admire the work of the WRG Forestry team and the results of the chipping machine.
Thursday, 10th December
A busy morning ahead as we have to get ready for our visiting working party from WRG Forestry who will be removing overgrown and diseased trees along the route of the former Guildford-Horsham railway (now the cycle route) and near the future rebuilt canal section on Tanglewood Farm land. We put up notices explaining the work to take place at the weekend. Rain eventually stops play but we have managed to cut up a dead tree that is a real eye sore. Let's hope Rob Nicholson can spare some time with his chain saw to remove a few of the ones that are just leaning against other trees and we need to get out of the way before they fall down taking others with them. Kevin Tayler visits to discuss the proposed boardwalk around what we hope will be the duck pond area in due course.
Thursday, 3rd December
Mike carries on lopping and it's my job to collect up the cuttings and put them on the eco-piles. This is a very skilled job you know, and after 3 weeks I'm beginning to get the hang of it. We spy a deer, long-tail tits and squirrels. Another tree has fallen into Cranleigh Waters - let's hope the Northern Working Party will be along shortly and will be able to remove it from the bank. Group of keen walkers pass by at a good speed, all with those walking poles. A good number of visitors walk along the viewing platform as well. The other week Lucy the dog attached herself to us rather than her owner. We see a visitor reading all about the canal at our noticeboard and we stop for a chat. The autumn colours are now fading but also the nettles so at last we can start to see what we've planted.
Thursday, 26th November
A lot of the lower branches are dead and we continue adding them to the eco piles to establish a habitat for our insects. In the undergrowth we come across some of the new plantings made last year and Mike puts guards around them - more for the purpose of making sure we see them rather than protection. The eco piles are now dotted around the park and we hope that we'll see some wild flowers appearing in the spring with the increase in light. We're actually quite pleased at the progress and already a number of areas are beginning to look much lighter and give a better view. We see that one of our leaflet holders has been broken off - the last of our supply will need to replace it.
Thursday, 19th November
Another good day and lots to get done. The more we look, the more broken and dead branches need to be cut back. Mike announces he doesn't like holly. Our osier bed is doing really well but we'll be pleased when all the stinging nettles die down. Spy an excellent gilder rose with startling red berries. See that the deer have again brushed up against the new spindle trees and broken off the tips. We tidy up along the path that will eventually lead to the new Tanglewood lock and see that most of the plantings have survived. Most of the trees will produce either fruit or nuts, so the aim is to have a produce stall in the future. Don't ask about the wild garlic. One week it was there and I got ready to make pesto, the next week it was past its best. Next year I must remember to pick it immediately.
Thursday, 12th November
Mike Hobbs, manager of Hunt Park decides that now is the time to tackle some of the neglected trees and lift the canopies. We make a start near the new viewing platform that now has new picnic seats. Lots of people out walking and enjoying the warm autumn weather. The oaks still have some colour and there are plenty of people out walking - and using our riverside path. One of our jobs is to clear the leaves off the viewing platform - how many weeks will we be doing this job?
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Visitors to the northernmost reach of the canal at Stonebridge, Shalford, can now view the first part of WACT's programme of providing a “green corridor” reaching from Gun’s Mouth Island to the outskirts of Bramley.. These improvements flow from a bequest from the late Ed and Doris Hunt who reserved part of their estate to support a local environmental project. On land granted to WACT by Surrey County Council, volunteers of the Trust and fellow waterway-restoration groups have established a riverside footpath on the north side of the Cranleigh Waters.
This work is the first part of an important new amenity for residents and visitors which WACT has titled the Hunt Park in honour of our benefactors. Walkers and runners are already making use of the new amenity as an alternative to sharing the parallel section of the Wey-South Path that is often busy with cyclists. The new, meandering, waterside path opens up previously hidden views through the plantation and across to the sunny meadow of the Cranleigh Waters' south bank which is studded with fine mature trees. The new path has a durable walking surface and is wheelchair-accessible throughout.
The footpath will quite soon be complemented by a viewing platform sited alongside the Wey-South Path, offering an elevated viewpoint for longer views and supplementing the appreciation of the charming setting gained from the riverside footpath. Cycle stands will be provided at the viewing platform so that cyclists too may break their journeys to appreciate the landscape. A further phase of new-footpath construction will upgrade access along the south side of the Cranleigh Waters, primarily for the benefit of local schools, all the paths being located so as to complement canal channel when the canal is reinstated.
Our present work includes re-planting with native species and maintenance work including removal of dead trees and vegetation clearance. We hope that the shallow ponds that already exist will attract a variety of wildlife this coming year.
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