Uppermill is beginning to spring into action
It is always a joy, as Spring arrives, to see the daffodils in bloom across our beautiful village. The Uppermill Community Action Network (UCAN) Volunteers always feel that there is something quite special about this time of year; maybe it is because these flowers are often the first sign of colour to appear after the long cold months of winter but given the challenges we have all faced this last 12 months, the anticipated display of bright yellow this year seems so much more special somehow. It was, therefore, an absolute delight to see the first daffodils of the season just starting to flower in the raised bed alongside the canal in Uppermill.
UCAN volunteers plant a variety of bulbs each year so to continue this work we have, in socially distanced pairs, been out and about again planting new bulbs – including Bluebells – in the flower beds at Wade Lock in Uppermill which we hope will grow year on year and give a visual delight to everyone who lives, works or visits the village.
A totally different, but equally rewarding and enjoyable arm of our voluntary work, is maintaining the bird boxes we built in previous years. We positioned the boxes in various areas in the village having spent quite some time carefully selecting perfect spots for them so that our amazing and beautiful range of birds can build their nests inside them and raise their families.
It is obviously very important to maintain the boxes so in the last month or so, two of our volunteers – working in a socially distanced manner – have focussed on repairing and cleaning the boxes which we do annually after the end of each breeding season. We took down the boxes, removed old nesting materials to lessen the chances of predation and cleaned the boxes to kill any parasites and stop the spread of diseases. Then, as the breeding season begins each spring, we can all observe the amazing variety of beautiful birds carrying pieces of twigs to prepare their nests and then watch them flitting back and forth feeding their young ones. It is so heart-warming to feel that we have made a small positive contribution to a little piece of our precious local wildlife.
Our volunteers have, as always, been litter-picking. Thank you for all your lovely feedback from people walking alongside the canal, saying just how nice, clean and tidy the canal walk is. We do like to think all our ongoing work is still making an impact, even though we have had most of the year off.
Final note, some great news – we are holding ongoing discussions now with the Canal and River Trust (CRT) about re-starting group activity which we all hope will commence very soon.
We are always pleased to welcome new members; for anyone interested when we are able to resume our regular Group type voluntary work and would like further information please contact Peter Killan on 01457 878361 or email peterkillan@hotmail.com
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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