This Friday we'll be cutting back an overgrown community garden. Meet 10am at the end of Hiles Road. All tools provided.
This is a joint event with Cardiff Parks Services Community Park Rangers, Ely & Caerau C1st and Ely's Growing Together.
View 02.11.11 CFMEP with Ely's Growing Together in a larger map
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
November Update
November has been a very busy month with a great load of bulb planting. We’ve planted with Neighbourhood regeneration in Gabalfa and Hill View in Fairwater (no pictures on this one).
We’ve also done bulb planting with the Llanrumney Environment Group working with Llanrumney High and Glan-yr-Afon Primary School . Probably the most fun was night time planting in Fairwater with Waterhall Youth Centre.
All of these bulbs were made available from the Parks Department as part of Cardiff in Bloom.
We helped out Friends of Hailey Park earlier in the month with two non-native maple digging up days. These were very tiring but great fun and was with volunteers from Barclays. We also did a similar event in Bute Park with the Outreach Officer and another gang from Barclays.
It was a good month with Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association this month, with their annual autumn litterpick.
closely followed by a Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project where we helped to recover a stolen bike and some discarded electronic machinery
We then tipped off Cardiff Rivers Group to tackle the dock which pulled out a great amount of rubbish in only a few hours.
There is a nice story starting to develop over in Discovery Wood, where we have a local litter champion who has been litterpicking this wood for a couple of months. He is keen to try and set up a group down there, so we helped him with a few bigger tidy ups down there. All the waste was taken away by Parks Waste Services, who we are always grateful for their support. We have permission from the Parks Department to perform a little vegetation cutback, especially along the stream, put up an owl box, spruce up the Discovery Wood sign and hopefully events such as these will increase to help form a group who can help to take care of this little lovely woodland.
I helped perform a massive garden clean up with ISSA on a lovely Saturday towards the end of November. There were over 30 vols on the day and an amazing amount of work was undertaken.
We’ve also done bulb planting with the Llanrumney Environment Group working with Llanrumney High and Glan-yr-Afon Primary School . Probably the most fun was night time planting in Fairwater with Waterhall Youth Centre.
All of these bulbs were made available from the Parks Department as part of Cardiff in Bloom.
We helped out Friends of Hailey Park earlier in the month with two non-native maple digging up days. These were very tiring but great fun and was with volunteers from Barclays. We also did a similar event in Bute Park with the Outreach Officer and another gang from Barclays.
It was a good month with Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association this month, with their annual autumn litterpick.
closely followed by a Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project where we helped to recover a stolen bike and some discarded electronic machinery
We then tipped off Cardiff Rivers Group to tackle the dock which pulled out a great amount of rubbish in only a few hours.
There is a nice story starting to develop over in Discovery Wood, where we have a local litter champion who has been litterpicking this wood for a couple of months. He is keen to try and set up a group down there, so we helped him with a few bigger tidy ups down there. All the waste was taken away by Parks Waste Services, who we are always grateful for their support. We have permission from the Parks Department to perform a little vegetation cutback, especially along the stream, put up an owl box, spruce up the Discovery Wood sign and hopefully events such as these will increase to help form a group who can help to take care of this little lovely woodland.
I helped perform a massive garden clean up with ISSA on a lovely Saturday towards the end of November. There were over 30 vols on the day and an amazing amount of work was undertaken.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Next 3 CFMEP Events Nov 18th & 25th and Dec 2nd.
Hello there, I am taking some flexi from Mon 21st to Thurs 24th Nov, but there will be a Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project on Friday the 25th of November.
Fri 18th Nov: Discovery Wood clear up and woodland management.
Meet Car Park behind Discovery Inn on Clearwater Way.
Map: http://g.co/maps/vdgzk
Fri 25th Nov: Wern Gethin Lane, St. Mellons, mainly clear up.
Meet Play area off Coleford Drive. Parking is at ends of Heol Trostre or Heol Pwllyplaca.
Map: http://g.co/maps/kzkpn
Fri 2nd December: Clear up of Diana Memorial Gardens Ely.
This is overgrown with brambles, so a great morning spent swing long-handled edged slashing tools, some bowsawing and digging up of trees. This is in partnership with Ely's Growing Together(whom we've worked with several times before). It'll be a really big help to them to help sort this area out.
Please let me know if you are coming so I can bring enough tools;
Chris 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Fri 18th Nov: Discovery Wood clear up and woodland management.
Meet Car Park behind Discovery Inn on Clearwater Way.
Map: http://g.co/maps/vdgzk
Fri 25th Nov: Wern Gethin Lane, St. Mellons, mainly clear up.
Meet Play area off Coleford Drive. Parking is at ends of Heol Trostre or Heol Pwllyplaca.
Map: http://g.co/maps/kzkpn
Fri 2nd December: Clear up of Diana Memorial Gardens Ely.
This is overgrown with brambles, so a great morning spent swing long-handled edged slashing tools, some bowsawing and digging up of trees. This is in partnership with Ely's Growing Together(whom we've worked with several times before). It'll be a really big help to them to help sort this area out.
Please let me know if you are coming so I can bring enough tools;
Chris 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Friday, 4 November 2011
October Activities 2011
October initially rolled out like a spill over of Tidy Wales Week. Initially, LNRA hosted a follow up tidy up of Hawthorn Junior School. Much of this was buddleia from the walls and building. To prevent a repeat next year the cut stumps were painted with glyphosate. Over 40 bags were collected altogether here by the 9 vols including one of the local PCSOs. These were kindly taken away by a team from Street Cleansing.
here.
Hot on the tails of this was a trip down memory lane, to see an old favourite in St. Mellons, Wern Gethin Lane. Organised by Marcus of Communities First and with 13 children from Meadowlane Primary School we cleared 13 bags big bags of rubbish in less than 1 hour.
Over at the other end of Cardiff in deep Fairwater at Clos Ty Bronna, we completed one of the last parts of the Wild Weekend Grant. This was in partnership with the landowners Cadwyn Housing Association with Kath Williams. Previously we had installed, dormouse, bat and bird boxes in these woods and today was about planting bluebells. We talked about where they normally grow and chose suitable sites for them in the woods. Afterwards the 6-local children asked if we could do a litterpick as there was quite a lot of rubbish especially around the sheltered house Ty bronna itself. Luckily I had some equipment with me and we tidied the area mainly in the woods around the house. Most of this consisted various 2-litre bottles of soft and alcoholic drinks partially filled with yellow liquids. Many more similar bottles were on the inside fence of the house almost as if they had been thrown from the top floor windows of the house. We were wise enough not to empty these bottles, but the woods looked miles better after we collected our 2-bags worth.
The CFMEP went out on the 7th of October and the last time with volunteer stalwart Dave King before his sabbatical to Africa. Back in St. Mellons behind the Community and Education Centre. With just 3 people we collected 8 bags of rubbish, 3 recycling bags, a bike, golf club, 2 inhalers, a seat belt and the 6 ubiquitous trolleys from Tesco. We kindly removed the trolleys from the stream and deposited them back in front of the staff cafe windows.
Then it was time for my Summer Holiday, which I spent almost 2 weeks in the Peak District and Shropshire. I can’t bore you with that, but I’ll indulge in a photograph:
Upon return, there was the usual mass of Emails, the good, the bad and the spamy. First event back was over in Mill Rd. Park in Ely where we planted some bulbs with new Community Ranger Rich Roberts followed by scrub clearance with the nursery, communities first and a great load of enthusiastic kids. The kids really got stuck in and worked really hard. The best part is they used all the tools very responsibly and listened very carefully when we explained how and where to use them. Moreover, it was also half term so nobody was telling them they had to do this. Community Action at its best!!!
We then had a great event in Bute Park with 17 Regional Managers from Barclays. The main tasks were as follows:1. To clear the path of litter to which we collected 3 bags of rubbish.
2. To clear the pathway of encroaching vegetation, which we cleared using shears, loppers and slashers. 3. To remove some of the invasive and non-native sycamore and Norway maples. This continued from a little bit of this last year. Coppicing seems to make things worse with bushier growth and this leaves digging them up. We came up with a plan to bowsaw or lopper the trees about a foot above the soil. The roots were then dug up with spades, hoes and an iron bar. 4. Removing rubbish and fallen logs from the dock feeder. Two volunteers entered the water with waders, buoyancy aids and some trial full arm length gauntlets. Logs were bowsawn into manageable lengths, removed from the water and dragged up the banks by other volunteers. 5. Construct habitat piles from brash. All the wood was processed for habitat piles including an otter holt.
Many thanks to Katie Tuite-Dalton, Bute Park's Outreach and Education Officer for allowing this valuable work to take place.
Towards the end of the month CFMEP returned to Wern Gethin Lane in St. Mellons to attempt a big clear up with Pearl from Hafod Housing. The four volunteers spent 2.5 hours here and pulled out 1.5 tonnes of rubbish plus 15 bags of rubbish and 7 bags of recycling. On top of this, there were about 7-8 trolleys from the local supermarket (rhymes with Mess-co). Loads of clothes had been dumped as well as loads of household materials such as kitchen cupboards, 2-mattresses a couple of broken bed frames, garden waste, a broken glass table and a frame for another table. All of this was taken away by Cardiff Council's Street Cleansing Department, so thanks to Stuart for organising the rapid removal.
A big thank you and goodbye to Brittany who returns to Canada after spending a few months in Wales. Brittany was so shocked about the litter here that she came out with us to try and make Cardiff a cleaner, tidier and nicer place. Thanks for all your help and generosity and best of luck back home.
On the Sunday of the last day of October, I took part in the annual Autumn Clean up with Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association. Nine people turned out to help clear litter around the Atlantic Wharf area where we collected 15 rubbish bags, 1 recycle bag, a metal fence, bread crate, wonderbra and a pair of Reef Brazil sandals and an unmentionable item of dubious use. Great fun was had by all and Holiday Inn kindly gave all the vols a cuppa and some biscuits.
All the waste was kindly taken away by Cardiff Parks Services Waste Team unless otherwise mentioned.
here.
Hot on the tails of this was a trip down memory lane, to see an old favourite in St. Mellons, Wern Gethin Lane. Organised by Marcus of Communities First and with 13 children from Meadowlane Primary School we cleared 13 bags big bags of rubbish in less than 1 hour.
Over at the other end of Cardiff in deep Fairwater at Clos Ty Bronna, we completed one of the last parts of the Wild Weekend Grant. This was in partnership with the landowners Cadwyn Housing Association with Kath Williams. Previously we had installed, dormouse, bat and bird boxes in these woods and today was about planting bluebells. We talked about where they normally grow and chose suitable sites for them in the woods. Afterwards the 6-local children asked if we could do a litterpick as there was quite a lot of rubbish especially around the sheltered house Ty bronna itself. Luckily I had some equipment with me and we tidied the area mainly in the woods around the house. Most of this consisted various 2-litre bottles of soft and alcoholic drinks partially filled with yellow liquids. Many more similar bottles were on the inside fence of the house almost as if they had been thrown from the top floor windows of the house. We were wise enough not to empty these bottles, but the woods looked miles better after we collected our 2-bags worth.
Then it was time for my Summer Holiday, which I spent almost 2 weeks in the Peak District and Shropshire. I can’t bore you with that, but I’ll indulge in a photograph:
Upon return, there was the usual mass of Emails, the good, the bad and the spamy. First event back was over in Mill Rd. Park in Ely where we planted some bulbs with new Community Ranger Rich Roberts followed by scrub clearance with the nursery, communities first and a great load of enthusiastic kids. The kids really got stuck in and worked really hard. The best part is they used all the tools very responsibly and listened very carefully when we explained how and where to use them. Moreover, it was also half term so nobody was telling them they had to do this. Community Action at its best!!!
2. To clear the pathway of encroaching vegetation, which we cleared using shears, loppers and slashers. 3. To remove some of the invasive and non-native sycamore and Norway maples. This continued from a little bit of this last year. Coppicing seems to make things worse with bushier growth and this leaves digging them up. We came up with a plan to bowsaw or lopper the trees about a foot above the soil. The roots were then dug up with spades, hoes and an iron bar. 4. Removing rubbish and fallen logs from the dock feeder. Two volunteers entered the water with waders, buoyancy aids and some trial full arm length gauntlets. Logs were bowsawn into manageable lengths, removed from the water and dragged up the banks by other volunteers. 5. Construct habitat piles from brash. All the wood was processed for habitat piles including an otter holt.
Many thanks to Katie Tuite-Dalton, Bute Park's Outreach and Education Officer for allowing this valuable work to take place.
Towards the end of the month CFMEP returned to Wern Gethin Lane in St. Mellons to attempt a big clear up with Pearl from Hafod Housing. The four volunteers spent 2.5 hours here and pulled out 1.5 tonnes of rubbish plus 15 bags of rubbish and 7 bags of recycling. On top of this, there were about 7-8 trolleys from the local supermarket (rhymes with Mess-co). Loads of clothes had been dumped as well as loads of household materials such as kitchen cupboards, 2-mattresses a couple of broken bed frames, garden waste, a broken glass table and a frame for another table. All of this was taken away by Cardiff Council's Street Cleansing Department, so thanks to Stuart for organising the rapid removal.
A big thank you and goodbye to Brittany who returns to Canada after spending a few months in Wales. Brittany was so shocked about the litter here that she came out with us to try and make Cardiff a cleaner, tidier and nicer place. Thanks for all your help and generosity and best of luck back home.
On the Sunday of the last day of October, I took part in the annual Autumn Clean up with Atlantic Wharf Residents’ Association. Nine people turned out to help clear litter around the Atlantic Wharf area where we collected 15 rubbish bags, 1 recycle bag, a metal fence, bread crate, wonderbra and a pair of Reef Brazil sandals and an unmentionable item of dubious use. Great fun was had by all and Holiday Inn kindly gave all the vols a cuppa and some biscuits.
All the waste was kindly taken away by Cardiff Parks Services Waste Team unless otherwise mentioned.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
September 2011 Autumn fun
September is a big month for Keep Wales Tidy, traditionally incorporating Tidy Wales Week. The month started with a clean up of the upper end of the Roath Brook before it enters the lake from Roath Wild Gardens. Often some of this rubbish just ends up in the lake.
The Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project (CFMEP) had a decent turn out and managed to handsort through the blockage to the grill and rescued 34 bags of rubbish of which 4 were recyclables. Slideshow
Later in the month we constructed a small herb spiral and soft fruit garden with raspberries, red currants and 4-apple trees near Canton Community Centre. Loads of groups were involved in this and has hopefully saved another patch of green space in Canton from being subject to tarmac landscaping. This was a Wild Weekend project and was paid for by John Lewis.
This article was published by the Echo and includes a great picture of one of the toddlers tap dancing a bluebell in the ground.
Slideshow
I had a great event with Cardiff Rivers Group which involved a clean up in the Dock feeder right next to Cardiff Castle. This stream is very important for controlling water levels and comes from the taff next to Blackweir Bridge and comes around Bute Park and exits by the castle. There is a grill there which stops some rubbish and wood debris from being washed downstream. The grill had been raised, but luckily, the water levels were so high that most of the water was higher than the arch so it was a case of scooping off most of the rubbish, move the wood out of the way. I don’t normally go out with CRG as they are a sustainable and competent group, but the risks on this event were higher so I came along to aid Dave King on this day. We collected a mass of bags and tonnes of waste. For a slideshow see here
In TWW we did 3 great events with Llanrumney High, Glan yr Avon Primary (Llanrumney) and Windsor Clive Primary school in Ely. Altogether with these 3 schools we collected over 50 bags of rubbish.
We did a lovely event with the travel and tourism department of Cardiff & Vale College where we collected 15 bags of rubbish and 513 cig butts (the smoking litter was around the reception area of the college). For a slideshow see here
We did a great little event with Llanedeyrn Playcentre where is about 1 hour we pulled out 6 bags of rubbish and pulled up a new stand of Himalayan balsam. For pics see here
We rounded off TWW with a great event in Chapel Wood where we have done a load of work in the past with businesses, and especially St. Philip Evans Primary School. We were lucky to have Jenny Rathbone AM to be out with us as well as a group from BT. Jenny contacted us as she wished to take part in Tidy Wales Week and this seemed like a great event to have her help out. We collected 23 rubbish bags, 14 recycling bags and around a tonne of extra material. Parks’ Waste services were on hand to take the rubbish away almost immediately. Slideshow here
Later in the month we constructed a small herb spiral and soft fruit garden with raspberries, red currants and 4-apple trees near Canton Community Centre. Loads of groups were involved in this and has hopefully saved another patch of green space in Canton from being subject to tarmac landscaping. This was a Wild Weekend project and was paid for by John Lewis.
Slideshow
I had a great event with Cardiff Rivers Group which involved a clean up in the Dock feeder right next to Cardiff Castle. This stream is very important for controlling water levels and comes from the taff next to Blackweir Bridge and comes around Bute Park and exits by the castle. There is a grill there which stops some rubbish and wood debris from being washed downstream. The grill had been raised, but luckily, the water levels were so high that most of the water was higher than the arch so it was a case of scooping off most of the rubbish, move the wood out of the way. I don’t normally go out with CRG as they are a sustainable and competent group, but the risks on this event were higher so I came along to aid Dave King on this day. We collected a mass of bags and tonnes of waste. For a slideshow see here
In TWW we did 3 great events with Llanrumney High, Glan yr Avon Primary (Llanrumney) and Windsor Clive Primary school in Ely. Altogether with these 3 schools we collected over 50 bags of rubbish.
We did a lovely event with the travel and tourism department of Cardiff & Vale College where we collected 15 bags of rubbish and 513 cig butts (the smoking litter was around the reception area of the college). For a slideshow see here
We did a great little event with Llanedeyrn Playcentre where is about 1 hour we pulled out 6 bags of rubbish and pulled up a new stand of Himalayan balsam. For pics see here
We rounded off TWW with a great event in Chapel Wood where we have done a load of work in the past with businesses, and especially St. Philip Evans Primary School. We were lucky to have Jenny Rathbone AM to be out with us as well as a group from BT. Jenny contacted us as she wished to take part in Tidy Wales Week and this seemed like a great event to have her help out. We collected 23 rubbish bags, 14 recycling bags and around a tonne of extra material. Parks’ Waste services were on hand to take the rubbish away almost immediately. Slideshow here
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
St Mellons/Trowbridge Border Clean Up success; 59 rubbish bags and 4 tonnes in 2 Friday Morning Events
Over two Friday mornings, the Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project managed to clear up an amazing haul from this small borderland greenspace.
View Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project 19th Aug in a larger map
This included 59 bags of rubbish of which there was 12 recycling and 3 glass bags, and over 4 tonnes of other fly tipping of which most of this was a flytipped garden renovation project including bricks, soil, plants, paving slabs, cable, glass and other bits of concrete. It was a terrible sight in several areas before we started, but looked magnificent after we left. On both occassions, this was removed by Cardiff Council's Parks Waste Services.
Rubble site before:
Rubble site after:
Other items included 7 tyres, 1 bike, carpets, kitchen tiles, glass mirrors, toilet, kitchen furniture, cupboards, deep fat fryer, a beer pump, a cistern, picture frame, a firedoor, a chair, a traffic cone, watering can, scaffolding pole, golf bag, a school bag, 2 wallets, insides of a freezer, a childrens trike, plastic piping, bits of a shed, old decking, a mattress, rocking horse, car battery, garden waste including grass clippings and conifer cuttings, a wardrobe, a box of needles and 2 ubiquitous TESCO trolleys.
Den-like jumble sale clothes mess before:
Den-like jumble sale clothes mess after:
Rubbish piles:
One local resident mentioned that he used to catch tadpoles in the stream as a youngster and that the area was prone to flooding. Looking at the stream, this wasn’t surprising as we couldn’t find the drains or pipes as they must be under silt, soil or rubbish. So hopefully we will do a little digging and see what we can find.
Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project Volunteer and Litter Champion Dave King said “It was great to see so many people out on Friday Mornings helping to clear out such a litter hotspot. Its a shame really because it is a such a nice spot. Hopefully, our work here can help to regain local pride in the site and increase ownership for the right reasons”.
Later in the year and in partnership with the Parks Department we will be cutting back the vegetation to reopen the paths and along the stream to try and return the area to past glories.
View Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project 19th Aug in a larger map
This included 59 bags of rubbish of which there was 12 recycling and 3 glass bags, and over 4 tonnes of other fly tipping of which most of this was a flytipped garden renovation project including bricks, soil, plants, paving slabs, cable, glass and other bits of concrete. It was a terrible sight in several areas before we started, but looked magnificent after we left. On both occassions, this was removed by Cardiff Council's Parks Waste Services.
Rubble site before:
Rubble site after:
Other items included 7 tyres, 1 bike, carpets, kitchen tiles, glass mirrors, toilet, kitchen furniture, cupboards, deep fat fryer, a beer pump, a cistern, picture frame, a firedoor, a chair, a traffic cone, watering can, scaffolding pole, golf bag, a school bag, 2 wallets, insides of a freezer, a childrens trike, plastic piping, bits of a shed, old decking, a mattress, rocking horse, car battery, garden waste including grass clippings and conifer cuttings, a wardrobe, a box of needles and 2 ubiquitous TESCO trolleys.
Den-like jumble sale clothes mess before:
Den-like jumble sale clothes mess after:
Rubbish piles:
One local resident mentioned that he used to catch tadpoles in the stream as a youngster and that the area was prone to flooding. Looking at the stream, this wasn’t surprising as we couldn’t find the drains or pipes as they must be under silt, soil or rubbish. So hopefully we will do a little digging and see what we can find.
Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project Volunteer and Litter Champion Dave King said “It was great to see so many people out on Friday Mornings helping to clear out such a litter hotspot. Its a shame really because it is a such a nice spot. Hopefully, our work here can help to regain local pride in the site and increase ownership for the right reasons”.
Later in the year and in partnership with the Parks Department we will be cutting back the vegetation to reopen the paths and along the stream to try and return the area to past glories.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Event: CFMEP Clear up vandalised trees in Llanrumney
This Friday, 26th August, we'll meet at
10 am Llanrumney Playcentre off Braunton Crescent (The Barn).
View Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Project Llanrumney in a larger map
Some local people have been cutting down some lovely trees in the woods here, very badly. Today, we'll perform remedial work on some vandalised trees in the woods here and will brash up and stack the wood neatly.
All tools and equipment will be provided but bring sturdy shoes and clothes suitable for the conditions.
For further information call Chris on 07717 412 270.
10 am Llanrumney Playcentre off Braunton Crescent (The Barn).
View Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Project Llanrumney in a larger map
Some local people have been cutting down some lovely trees in the woods here, very badly. Today, we'll perform remedial work on some vandalised trees in the woods here and will brash up and stack the wood neatly.
All tools and equipment will be provided but bring sturdy shoes and clothes suitable for the conditions.
For further information call Chris on 07717 412 270.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Sofa removal from the Taff in Hailey Park
A sofa was recently spotted and reported to us by several members of the public, which had beached itself near the banks in Hailey Park.
We responded to this and called up Penny from Friends of Hailey Park and we organised an impromptu clean up.Penny, Matt, Sue with her 2 children Sam and Megan and I donned our wellies waders, gloves, litterpickers, grappel hooks and rope and headed down the steep slope to the Taff.
The Sofa was stinking, literally, had a mass of water in it which meant we had to use the grappel hook to pull pieces of the sofa apart.
We then physically pulled, tore, sawed, axed and knifed the sofa into pieces so we could take it away. Some of this was bagged up and others were dragged up the hill after being attached to our rope or grappel hooks.
We repeated this with the large metal piping and finally, we dragged everything and everyone upto the top of the bank.
The 7 bags, loose bits of flat packed sofa and the metal posts were taken away by Cardiff Councils' Parks Waste Services.
RCMA Orchards Froes GPS handy
Today I paid an afternoon's visit to RCMA's amazing and vibrant Riverside Community Allotments in Pontcanna. It was a 3-pronged visit, with one faulty tine, but at least there's a great excuse to go back again.
The first part of the visit was to demonstrate how valuable a froe is for splitting wood. There are several ovens which the group collectively built here, all of which can burn wood as a fuel. Currently, a small hand axe is used to split the wood. I suggested they try a froe last time I visited, so I brought one along this time. Both Jenny and Matt were instand converts. We use the froe a lot when working with children as it is a safe and accurate way of splitting wood. It is also very useful if you are trying to make a more uniform charcoal, which no doubt the group will attempt at some point in time. I blew off my froeing cobwebs to make sure all was well, then demonstrated it to Jenny and Matt.
Once they both got into it, they could hardly stop with Matt especially the RCMA whackarat grand champion as the following picture shows:
The second part of the day was to support the Cardiff Orchard Project in a high tech way. Some time ago, I mentioned to Jenny that I'd GPS waymarked an apple tree for her Cardiff Orchard Project. I started using a GPS years ago when performing woodland survey work at Westonbirt Arboretum, then footpath mapping with Monmouthshire County Council and Japanese knotweed surveying for Torfaen County Borough Council. It is a very quick and accurate way of reporting a multitude of data which can be easily incorporated into GIS systems, or for me now more likely Google Maps for marking fly tipping, litter collection points or just meeting points for events. The Cardiff Orchard Project aims to show us just how much food is growing around us in Cardiff. There is a website here and a Googlemap here and I said I would help to see if GPS technology could augment the Cardiff Orchard Project. The first part of the session was to see if a GPS would be a practical asset for the project, so we walked along and waymarked 4 fruit trees on the allotment site. We returned to the laptop and uploaded the data into Garmin's basic Mapsource software and exported them into Google Earth. The accuracy of the GPS on such a cloudy day stunned them. From Google Earth we then exported the trees as a .kml file to the hard drive, then uploaded the .kml file into a back-up of the Cardiff Orchard Google Map. The Results are below and they were bang on and simple to do:
All in all a great afternoon. The Riverside Community Allotments in Pontcanna are open Wednesdays and Fridays at this time of the year and anyone is welcome to pop along. For more info visit their website here or look them up on Facebook.
For those of you still reading, the third prong was meant to be photographing bumblebees that have nested in one of the sheds that the group have been diligently policing since we had a joint clean up operation earlier in the year. Possitive identification of the bumblebee will help them to work out what best to do with the nest.
The first part of the visit was to demonstrate how valuable a froe is for splitting wood. There are several ovens which the group collectively built here, all of which can burn wood as a fuel. Currently, a small hand axe is used to split the wood. I suggested they try a froe last time I visited, so I brought one along this time. Both Jenny and Matt were instand converts. We use the froe a lot when working with children as it is a safe and accurate way of splitting wood. It is also very useful if you are trying to make a more uniform charcoal, which no doubt the group will attempt at some point in time. I blew off my froeing cobwebs to make sure all was well, then demonstrated it to Jenny and Matt.
The second part of the day was to support the Cardiff Orchard Project in a high tech way. Some time ago, I mentioned to Jenny that I'd GPS waymarked an apple tree for her Cardiff Orchard Project. I started using a GPS years ago when performing woodland survey work at Westonbirt Arboretum, then footpath mapping with Monmouthshire County Council and Japanese knotweed surveying for Torfaen County Borough Council. It is a very quick and accurate way of reporting a multitude of data which can be easily incorporated into GIS systems, or for me now more likely Google Maps for marking fly tipping, litter collection points or just meeting points for events. The Cardiff Orchard Project aims to show us just how much food is growing around us in Cardiff. There is a website here and a Googlemap here and I said I would help to see if GPS technology could augment the Cardiff Orchard Project. The first part of the session was to see if a GPS would be a practical asset for the project, so we walked along and waymarked 4 fruit trees on the allotment site. We returned to the laptop and uploaded the data into Garmin's basic Mapsource software and exported them into Google Earth. The accuracy of the GPS on such a cloudy day stunned them. From Google Earth we then exported the trees as a .kml file to the hard drive, then uploaded the .kml file into a back-up of the Cardiff Orchard Google Map. The Results are below and they were bang on and simple to do:
All in all a great afternoon. The Riverside Community Allotments in Pontcanna are open Wednesdays and Fridays at this time of the year and anyone is welcome to pop along. For more info visit their website here or look them up on Facebook.
For those of you still reading, the third prong was meant to be photographing bumblebees that have nested in one of the sheds that the group have been diligently policing since we had a joint clean up operation earlier in the year. Possitive identification of the bumblebee will help them to work out what best to do with the nest.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Event: Friday 19th August 10am Trowbridge/St. Mellons Border Clean meet Trefaser Crescent
This Friday, we'll be carrying on the great work from last weeks amazing clean up. Altogether the 13 of us pulled out 1.5 tonnes of rubbish and 33 bags of rubbish. All of this was taken away by the Parks Waste Services Department.
We aim to meet again at 10 am on Trefaser Crescent and will try and clear as much of the fly tipping as possible in our 2 hours. We will also try and dig out and find the drain that is holding up the stream. It looks like a tough one so make sure you have your 4-Weetabix.
Best to bring sturdy shoes and clothing suitable for the conditions. Other tools will be provided.
View Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project 19th Aug in a larger map
Any problems or questions call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
We aim to meet again at 10 am on Trefaser Crescent and will try and clear as much of the fly tipping as possible in our 2 hours. We will also try and dig out and find the drain that is holding up the stream. It looks like a tough one so make sure you have your 4-Weetabix.
Best to bring sturdy shoes and clothing suitable for the conditions. Other tools will be provided.
View Cardiff Friday Mornings Environmental Project 19th Aug in a larger map
Any problems or questions call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Event: Cardiff Friday Mornings Project in Roath Park Fri 5th August
This Friday, we carry on from the fantastic work undertaken by the Cardiff Soroptimists on Roath Brook and try and carry on further upstream while also removing some Himalayan Balsam and some picking on the banks. The banks have been especially stinking and their steepness tricky for the faint hearted.
Meet 10 am in Penylan Library Car Park.
Wellies are best, but sturdy shoes if you plan to work from the bank.
All tools and equipment will be provided.
Any problems call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
View CFMEP August 5th 2011 in a larger map
Meet 10 am in Penylan Library Car Park.
Wellies are best, but sturdy shoes if you plan to work from the bank.
All tools and equipment will be provided.
Any problems call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
View CFMEP August 5th 2011 in a larger map
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Friday 1st July 10am. Cardiff Friday Morning Project in Llanedeyrn Stream Clean Success
We returned to Llanedeyrn this Friday to the finish clearance of a stream and a woodland on Llanedeyrn Road just off Circle Way East.
Wellies were worn by one and waders for the rest. We made such a good go of it last week with the general litter collecting some 13 bags and about 200kg of assorted rubbish.
This week our aim was to collect any more rubbish in the wood and to completely clear the culvert/drain of blockages. Armed with shovels, spades and a mud rake Dave and John filled up our sturdy blue bags with accumulated sediment which I dragged up the hill to deposit along the path. This would prevent the material from being washed back into the stream taking us back to square 1. Johns aim was to clear the roof:
Disclaimer- As you can tell, at the time when John stepped onto the squeeky toy buried deep in the sediment this was hilarious.
John realised while tackling the roof of the drain that the roof although solid, was also iron grills and perhaps not so safe or sensible to try and shovel it off from above. We then scraped it off the bars into the blue bags for deposition. Meanwhile, Dave concentrated on removing the inflow area:
While this was ongoing, Ron and Julie were removing loads of rubbish from up stream and in the woods:
By the end of the shovelling work, we had shifted over 40 bags of sediment, 4 bags of rubbish plus one recycling bag, 1 trolley, part of a metal-framed bed, part of a record player, 2 carpets, 2 unknown tools, 1 spade handle, 1 plastic garden container and a few unidentifiable bits of metal. All rubbish has been removed again by Cardiff CC Parks Waste Services.
Importantly, we cleared the stream drain, back down to the original concrete base. Unfortunately, the weight of the sediment had broken one side of the grills downwards and had pushed in the metal grills towards the drain itself. This has been reported back and will be repaired.
All in all we enjoyed ourselves and helped unblock a drain through a beautiful woodland. We hope to come back in the winter and put in some bank supports hopefully using coppiced materials from the woods.
For any more information call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
We'll be back out again next Friday, location TBC.
View Friday 1st July Llanedeyrn Nant Pent bach clean up in a larger map
Wellies were worn by one and waders for the rest. We made such a good go of it last week with the general litter collecting some 13 bags and about 200kg of assorted rubbish.
This week our aim was to collect any more rubbish in the wood and to completely clear the culvert/drain of blockages. Armed with shovels, spades and a mud rake Dave and John filled up our sturdy blue bags with accumulated sediment which I dragged up the hill to deposit along the path. This would prevent the material from being washed back into the stream taking us back to square 1. Johns aim was to clear the roof:
Disclaimer- As you can tell, at the time when John stepped onto the squeeky toy buried deep in the sediment this was hilarious.
John realised while tackling the roof of the drain that the roof although solid, was also iron grills and perhaps not so safe or sensible to try and shovel it off from above. We then scraped it off the bars into the blue bags for deposition. Meanwhile, Dave concentrated on removing the inflow area:
While this was ongoing, Ron and Julie were removing loads of rubbish from up stream and in the woods:
Importantly, we cleared the stream drain, back down to the original concrete base. Unfortunately, the weight of the sediment had broken one side of the grills downwards and had pushed in the metal grills towards the drain itself. This has been reported back and will be repaired.
For any more information call Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
We'll be back out again next Friday, location TBC.
View Friday 1st July Llanedeyrn Nant Pent bach clean up in a larger map
29.06.11 Keep Cathays Tidy Litterpick
Today we helped out Cathays Community Centre who are keen to set up a group in Cathays to help tidy it up. We were joined by a large group from Barclaycard and spent around 2 hours on bin day.
We witnessed masses of bags which had been torn open along several streets by, we presume, seagulls. The cause almost exactly the same; food waste in normal litter bags. in several streets, notably Letty Street, rows of bags were torn open revealing food waste and items such as plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and glass all of which are recyclable.
We cleared several of these up and even popped into one Landlords Office just along from one such property, who was advertising for new lets, replied with "Students init".
Cardiff County Council Street Cleansing do an excellent job and I have no doubt that these streets will be cleared, but we can make this so much easier by putting the right items in the right bins.
All in all, we collected 11 bags of rubbish, 5 bags of recycling, 1 tv and 2 plastic chairs. All of this was removed by a team from Cardiff County Council's Street Cleansing Department.
We hope to perform more litterpicks across Cathays from Cathays Community Centre and welcome any volunteer interest. With our presence we hope to be able to effect behaviour change to help Keep Cathays Tidy. For more information contact wither myself or Joanne Sutton from Cathays Communiy centre on 029 2037 3144 or email via admin@cathays.org.uk
We witnessed masses of bags which had been torn open along several streets by, we presume, seagulls. The cause almost exactly the same; food waste in normal litter bags. in several streets, notably Letty Street, rows of bags were torn open revealing food waste and items such as plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and glass all of which are recyclable.
All in all, we collected 11 bags of rubbish, 5 bags of recycling, 1 tv and 2 plastic chairs. All of this was removed by a team from Cardiff County Council's Street Cleansing Department.
We hope to perform more litterpicks across Cathays from Cathays Community Centre and welcome any volunteer interest. With our presence we hope to be able to effect behaviour change to help Keep Cathays Tidy. For more information contact wither myself or Joanne Sutton from Cathays Communiy centre on 029 2037 3144 or email via admin@cathays.org.uk
23.06.11 Trelai Park Clean Up Woodlands High School, C1st & KWT
Last Thursday I had a real pleasure to be invited along to help a class from Woodlands High school in Ely to clean up Trelai Park just outside the School. Anne from Communities First got in touch some time ago to help out with the event and it was a tremendous success.
As per usual, I started off with a walkabout and it was a bit stinking even though bins were present. We all met up at the car and had a chat about litter, health and safety and the fact we were going to split the rubbish into recycling and non-recycling.
The park around the skating area was stinking with mainly fast food and plastic bottles and we cleared this up pretty sharpish. We then headed across the meadow area and talked about why the grass was left longer here with a little tree ID thrown in for good measure (I think they'll know ash now for the rest of their lives). As the rain came down we retreated back to class for tea, biscuits and a toilet break before resuming the pick in sunshine. The last part of the pick was held mainly in the shrubline alongside the schoolgates which accumulated a great deal of litter, including yards of stripped cabling and dozens of bags of dog poo (these can go in the normal bins you know!!!). Altogether, the class of 9 collected 10 bags of rubbish and 6 bags of recycling.
Once again, we were supported by Parks Waste Services who came along and collected away the rubbish afterwards. One of the class, Kieron, is currently gaining regular work experience with Brian, one of the fellows who regularly collects our stuff.
Afterwards, the class got together and came up with some quotes for the event and are as follows:
• LF
I really enjoyed it. I liked being outside of school for a few hours!
• AM
We got changed to go to Trelai park. We put gloves on, then we put jackets on. Chris and Anne were there to pick up rubbish. We were in groups and we had to work in a team. We picked up packets and cans. It was good. I enjoyed picking up the rubbish.
• AP
I enjoyed it because we’re keeping our country clean.
• ZA
It was really good. We filled loads of bags.
- I could hardly say it better myself.
Once again, we were supported by Parks Waste Services who came along and collected away the rubbish afterwards. One of the class, Kieron, is currently gaining regular work experience with Brian, one of the fellows who regularly collects our stuff.
Afterwards, the class got together and came up with some quotes for the event and are as follows:
• LF
I really enjoyed it. I liked being outside of school for a few hours!
• AM
We got changed to go to Trelai park. We put gloves on, then we put jackets on. Chris and Anne were there to pick up rubbish. We were in groups and we had to work in a team. We picked up packets and cans. It was good. I enjoyed picking up the rubbish.
• AP
I enjoyed it because we’re keeping our country clean.
• ZA
It was really good. We filled loads of bags.
- I could hardly say it better myself.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
June 2011. HSBC Staff help to give a Roath Community Garden a Spring Clean
Ten volunteer South-East Wales branch managers from HSBC put down their abaci, took off their ties and rolled up their sleeves to provide a much needed spring clean for a community garden in Roath.
Under local advice from Roath Acting Together (RAT-pickers), staff and volunteers from Keep Wales Tidy decided to tackle the community garden area near the Mackintosh Sports Institute in Roath. This beautiful, yet very small community garden area has of late been blighted by a tremendous volume of flytipping. This included snooker cue cases, umbrellas, bags of clothes, loose clothes, drinks cans and bottles, used nappies, shoes, and several bags of garden waste. All in all a daunting task for any group. Following a quick warm up litterpicking the Mackintosh car park, the group set out to the main task. The early blue skies and sunshine soon turned black but the downpours did not stop the volunteers’ enthusiasm for the job who collected an astonishing 37 bags of rubbish and 12 bags of recyclables. All the waste was removed by one of Cardiff County Council’s Street Cleansing teams.
Chris Bastian, HSBC Local Business Manager from Brigend, commented:
“We had great fun today knowing that the work that we all did here is of benefit to the local community and may even help kick-start a local group to restore it”.
Chris Partridge, Keep Wales Tidy’s Tidy Towns Project Officer for Cardiff, added:
“It was a great day out for the staff at HSBC, knowing that what they did today could lead to renewed interest in taking care of this gem of a site”.
Martin Gower from RAT-pickers said:
“I hope that we will be able to do come back in September to encourage this as a wildlife garden area and today’s clean up is a massive step towards us achieving this.”
For more information call Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org.
Under local advice from Roath Acting Together (RAT-pickers), staff and volunteers from Keep Wales Tidy decided to tackle the community garden area near the Mackintosh Sports Institute in Roath. This beautiful, yet very small community garden area has of late been blighted by a tremendous volume of flytipping. This included snooker cue cases, umbrellas, bags of clothes, loose clothes, drinks cans and bottles, used nappies, shoes, and several bags of garden waste. All in all a daunting task for any group. Following a quick warm up litterpicking the Mackintosh car park, the group set out to the main task. The early blue skies and sunshine soon turned black but the downpours did not stop the volunteers’ enthusiasm for the job who collected an astonishing 37 bags of rubbish and 12 bags of recyclables. All the waste was removed by one of Cardiff County Council’s Street Cleansing teams.
Chris Bastian, HSBC Local Business Manager from Brigend, commented:
“We had great fun today knowing that the work that we all did here is of benefit to the local community and may even help kick-start a local group to restore it”.
Chris Partridge, Keep Wales Tidy’s Tidy Towns Project Officer for Cardiff, added:
“It was a great day out for the staff at HSBC, knowing that what they did today could lead to renewed interest in taking care of this gem of a site”.
Martin Gower from RAT-pickers said:
“I hope that we will be able to do come back in September to encourage this as a wildlife garden area and today’s clean up is a massive step towards us achieving this.”
For more information call Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org.
Friday, 10 June 2011
10.06.11 Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Project build a frog & toad house
Today, we joined in with the Biodiversity Day run jointly between Cardiff Council Parks Department and Ely's Growing Together.
Our diminished in number, but not in enthusiasm, Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Group had a think about what we could do to help biodiversity without being too conspicuous and decided upon a hibernaculum for toads and frogs.
Essentially, Julie and I dug a great big hole (very stony) using my current favourite tool, a Chillington hoe (Cheers again Riverside Community Allotments). While this was going on Barrie and Shaun found branches of various girths and using a bowsaw cut them to about 1 meter lengths. We then put these in our hole, which had a sloping base. Finally we shovelled soil back onto the logs, leaving the entrance exposed and tamped it down with our feet. Finally we disguised the hibernaculum with bracken and brambles from the site. In so, we created, possibly the least interesting before and after photos I have ever created.
Next week, we'll be pulling Himalayan balsam on the River Ely.
For any more information contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Our diminished in number, but not in enthusiasm, Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Group had a think about what we could do to help biodiversity without being too conspicuous and decided upon a hibernaculum for toads and frogs.
Next week, we'll be pulling Himalayan balsam on the River Ely.
For any more information contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
03.06.11 Cardiff Friday Morning Environmental Project. Bute Park Himalayan Balsam pull part ii
Seven of us returned to Bute Park to remove some of the Himalayan balsam which threatens so much habitat around Cardiff.
We pulled up quite a large area, unfortunately uncovering new areas of the arguably worse Japanese knotweed yet fortunately also one patch of native bluebells which was completely covered by balsam. Although bluebells emerge and flower first, the balsam isn't too far behind and it swamps the bluebells of valuable sunlight which will diminish the bluebells strength in future years. My guess is that this may lead to the plant flowering later or just growing more slowly in future years. Moreover, as we pull up the balsam to help the bleubells, there is a chance that any seeds may be pulled up with the small amount of soil associated with the balsam. Either way, the ground flora of native plant species is threatened by the balsam, even in places where only ground ivy appears to present. This is surprising as this is in areas of very high shade. I do have to take my hat off to this extremely tolerant plant.
On this trip we discovered a patch of variegated-leaved Himalayan balsam. I have seen similar patterns on glyphosate treated plant leaves, but this was from a patch deep in the balsam. In any case, all of it was pulled up, so we may never know the answer to that mystery.
Anyway, job done and 2 hours later while walking back down through Bute Park and I was amazed by the massive quantity of balsam present here. This story is repeated all the way up the Taff, along the Ely and no doubt also the Rumney. If you want to find out what you can do to stop this menace, please don't hesitate to contact me on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Slideshow of event:
We pulled up quite a large area, unfortunately uncovering new areas of the arguably worse Japanese knotweed yet fortunately also one patch of native bluebells which was completely covered by balsam. Although bluebells emerge and flower first, the balsam isn't too far behind and it swamps the bluebells of valuable sunlight which will diminish the bluebells strength in future years. My guess is that this may lead to the plant flowering later or just growing more slowly in future years. Moreover, as we pull up the balsam to help the bleubells, there is a chance that any seeds may be pulled up with the small amount of soil associated with the balsam. Either way, the ground flora of native plant species is threatened by the balsam, even in places where only ground ivy appears to present. This is surprising as this is in areas of very high shade. I do have to take my hat off to this extremely tolerant plant.
On this trip we discovered a patch of variegated-leaved Himalayan balsam. I have seen similar patterns on glyphosate treated plant leaves, but this was from a patch deep in the balsam. In any case, all of it was pulled up, so we may never know the answer to that mystery.
Anyway, job done and 2 hours later while walking back down through Bute Park and I was amazed by the massive quantity of balsam present here. This story is repeated all the way up the Taff, along the Ely and no doubt also the Rumney. If you want to find out what you can do to stop this menace, please don't hesitate to contact me on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Slideshow of event:
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Event: Litterpick in Maltings Park Splott, Thurs 9th June, 9-11.30.
Eight police officers and KWT joined forces today to give Maltings Park in Splott a spring clean in preparation for the Open Day here on Saturday. We started bright and early (7.30 am) and superficially it looked very clean. However, patches of dense shrubbery held a secret that required fine detective work. Evidence found at the scene of the crime indicated that some of these may not have been investigated since 1993 (based on a best before date on a can in one patch of shrubs).
The grassed area mainly contained occassional shredded drinks cans and plastic bottles. Altogether in 3 hours, we collected a magnificent 28 bags of rubbish including 14 bags of recycling. We also pulled out a mattress with a similarly unpleasantly stained sheet, a starter motor, a few strangely-shaped pieces of metal and a large cardboard tube.
All in all, it was an extremely successful litterpick which has locked away a great load of rubbish for good.
Contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org for details
View Litterpick Maltings Park Splott in a larger map
The grassed area mainly contained occassional shredded drinks cans and plastic bottles. Altogether in 3 hours, we collected a magnificent 28 bags of rubbish including 14 bags of recycling. We also pulled out a mattress with a similarly unpleasantly stained sheet, a starter motor, a few strangely-shaped pieces of metal and a large cardboard tube.
All in all, it was an extremely successful litterpick which has locked away a great load of rubbish for good.
Contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org for details
View Litterpick Maltings Park Splott in a larger map
Sunday, 5 June 2011
05.06.11 Cardiff Rivers Group, Keep Wales Tidy & Llanrumney Communities first team up to tackle Rumney River
Brilliant first clean up of the Rumney in who knows how long. This was a joint event between Llanrumney Communities First, Keep Wales Tidy and Cardiff Rivers Group. It was a great turn out for the Rivers Group, joined by a local Llanrumney family and a group of 8 young Llanrumney teenagers also joined in. We collected a massive amount of waste from the river, but spent more than a little time on a massive gate post stuck in concrete. Difficult challenge even for a tirfor winch and about 12 boys.
C1st even provided some post match fodder with pizza and pop, nice one Amy.
Slideshow of event.
Cardiff Rivers Group Chairman Gerard Opel, said, “This is the first time that our group has ventured to the River Rhymney and we had a really successful day. This is a lovely stretch of river which unfortunately seems to have been subjected to flytipping, so I am really pleased that local residents have decided to take action and start looking after the area and we were delighted to help out”.
Amy McCarthy, Llanrumney Communities First Development Worker said, “I would like to say a big thank you to Cardiff Rivers Group and Keep Wales Tidy for taking the time to come into Llanrumney to help clean the river and also for inspiring the young people from the community, who also took part, by showing them what can be achieved by such a hard working and dedicated team. The young people in the area often receive such a negative response, so it was brilliant to see them challenging those stereotypes and actively taking part in a project that benefits both their environment and community!”
Chris Partridge from Keep Wales Tidy said, ”Residents have shown today that they care about their area and I hope that this inspires more locals to get involved. We would like to replicate the success of Cardiff Rivers Group and set up a dedicated environmental group for Llanrumney who can undertake a wide range of projects. Hopefully today was just the start”.
The waste from the event was again taken away by Cardiff County Council's Parks Waste Services Team.
I'm sure we'll be back over here to help clear up the river again, but in the meantime C1st and KWT are setting up a Llanrumney Environmental group and this week we'll be meeting at 12pm on Thursday (9th June) at the John Reynolds Centre for a litterpick walkabout/discussion. Feel free to pop along. Contact chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org or Amy McCarthy on amy.mccarthy@cardiff.gov.uk or 029 2079 3660 for more info.
C1st even provided some post match fodder with pizza and pop, nice one Amy.
Slideshow of event.
Cardiff Rivers Group Chairman Gerard Opel, said, “This is the first time that our group has ventured to the River Rhymney and we had a really successful day. This is a lovely stretch of river which unfortunately seems to have been subjected to flytipping, so I am really pleased that local residents have decided to take action and start looking after the area and we were delighted to help out”.
Amy McCarthy, Llanrumney Communities First Development Worker said, “I would like to say a big thank you to Cardiff Rivers Group and Keep Wales Tidy for taking the time to come into Llanrumney to help clean the river and also for inspiring the young people from the community, who also took part, by showing them what can be achieved by such a hard working and dedicated team. The young people in the area often receive such a negative response, so it was brilliant to see them challenging those stereotypes and actively taking part in a project that benefits both their environment and community!”
Chris Partridge from Keep Wales Tidy said, ”Residents have shown today that they care about their area and I hope that this inspires more locals to get involved. We would like to replicate the success of Cardiff Rivers Group and set up a dedicated environmental group for Llanrumney who can undertake a wide range of projects. Hopefully today was just the start”.
The waste from the event was again taken away by Cardiff County Council's Parks Waste Services Team.
I'm sure we'll be back over here to help clear up the river again, but in the meantime C1st and KWT are setting up a Llanrumney Environmental group and this week we'll be meeting at 12pm on Thursday (9th June) at the John Reynolds Centre for a litterpick walkabout/discussion. Feel free to pop along. Contact chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org or Amy McCarthy on amy.mccarthy@cardiff.gov.uk or 029 2079 3660 for more info.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Preparing Habitat Boxes for Wild Weekend Events
With plenty of forthcoming Wild Weekend Events, of which many involve bat or bird boxes, it can be daunting to make these at the event while the accuracy can be variable. As a rule, I strongly believe in teaching from the foundations upwards. This is in accordance to the wise biblical principle of teaching a man to fish rather than giving a man a fish. With the recent dormice boxes one young fellow, Ben, was keen to learn and get engaged with the entire process and that was great if you have the opportunity. Sometimes, however, you just have to go home, lock yourself in the garage and get sawing. In this case it was a friends garage and instead of a hand saw it was a sliding mitre saw. The accuracy and speed of this was fantastic and what would have taken several days took about a full day's work. Cheers again John!!!
Even with the boxes cut into the right lengths and angles, predrilling holes for volunteers saves time and wood which are both limited. John Adkins, tinkerer extraordinaire, quickly knocked up this jig to help me drill end holes for bat or bird box back plates. This quickly allows the operator to have a central drilled hole at a pre-determined distance from either edge of 150 mm width wood. These are the points in which 4 inch nails are driven into the tree or post when it comes to final siting. The jig is simple, but saved a load of time. Moreover, the jig was flipped over and bolted in place to give accurate side drilling holes. Pre-drilling helps to speed up the process of building the boxes at an event and crucially decreases wood splitting associated with straight nailing. Nice one, again John.
Roll on the events now!! Photos, videos and stories to follow.
Even with the boxes cut into the right lengths and angles, predrilling holes for volunteers saves time and wood which are both limited. John Adkins, tinkerer extraordinaire, quickly knocked up this jig to help me drill end holes for bat or bird box back plates. This quickly allows the operator to have a central drilled hole at a pre-determined distance from either edge of 150 mm width wood. These are the points in which 4 inch nails are driven into the tree or post when it comes to final siting. The jig is simple, but saved a load of time. Moreover, the jig was flipped over and bolted in place to give accurate side drilling holes. Pre-drilling helps to speed up the process of building the boxes at an event and crucially decreases wood splitting associated with straight nailing. Nice one, again John.
Roll on the events now!! Photos, videos and stories to follow.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Sowing Wildflower Seeds in Old St. Mellons; Wild Weekend for Wales
Some of the St. Mellons over 50's club returned to the hedge that they layed with us in Old St. Mellons earlier this year. The aim this time was to see how well the hedge had regrown and to further enhance local biodiversity by sowing a wildflower seed mixture in several patches along the hedgeline.
The first part was to chose suitable sites for the wildflower seeds. We found 2 relatively bare areas and decided to sow a small area within a large patch of nettles for the third site. These were cleared with Chillington hoes (Cheers Riverside Community Allotments for proving to me in seconds how good these tools are) followed by a little peat free compost. The seed packets were all mixed up and added to the compost layer. The seeds were gently "rolled" with the back of a spade followed by another sprinkling of compost. Finally the seeds were liberally watered. Hopefully, many of these will grow this year. The group have kept some of the packets back to re-sow in the Autumn, while we plan to germinate and grow on some cowslip seeds in September which will hopefully be ready for planting out along the hedge next Spring.
The funding for this was achieved through the recent Wild Weekend for Wales Project which was in partnership with B&Q. This particular one was kindly funded by John Lewis.
The first part was to chose suitable sites for the wildflower seeds. We found 2 relatively bare areas and decided to sow a small area within a large patch of nettles for the third site. These were cleared with Chillington hoes (Cheers Riverside Community Allotments for proving to me in seconds how good these tools are) followed by a little peat free compost. The seed packets were all mixed up and added to the compost layer. The seeds were gently "rolled" with the back of a spade followed by another sprinkling of compost. Finally the seeds were liberally watered. Hopefully, many of these will grow this year. The group have kept some of the packets back to re-sow in the Autumn, while we plan to germinate and grow on some cowslip seeds in September which will hopefully be ready for planting out along the hedge next Spring.
The funding for this was achieved through the recent Wild Weekend for Wales Project which was in partnership with B&Q. This particular one was kindly funded by John Lewis.
Event: Sunday 5th June 2.30 pm. Rumney River Clean in Llanrumney
Cardiff Rivers Group in partnership with Llanrumney Communities First and Keep Wales Tidy will join up with the fledgeling Llanrumney Environmental Group to tackle part of the Rumney River. We meet at 2.30 pm on Ball Lane at the Bridge near the Boxing Club, just passed Llanrumney High School. See Map:
View Sunday 5th June CRG in Llanrumney in a larger map
All equipment will be provided and all waste will be removed by Parks Waste Services. The event will go on until about 4 - 4.30pm depending on conditions.
View Sunday 5th June CRG in Llanrumney in a larger map
All equipment will be provided and all waste will be removed by Parks Waste Services. The event will go on until about 4 - 4.30pm depending on conditions.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
26.05.11 Fairwater Dormouse Boxes part 2. Wild Weekend For Wales.
After a full day regional Keep Wales Tidy Community Project Officers Meeting, I was rewarded with a return to Waterhall Youth Centre in Fairwater to make more dormouse boxes. This is one of the Wild Weekend for Wales Events supported by B&Q. This particular event's materials were kindly paid for by John Lewis.
Louise Bassett from Communities First rallied together star carpenter from last time Ben (grey top) and a new recruit Lucas (blue top).
With a bit of practice already behind him, Ben turned his attention to the job with great gusto and helped his friend and cousin to put together 3 complete boxes, while still having the time to impart useful information like "a ruler is someone who governs a country, a rule is used to measure lengths Chris". - Cheeky!!
We ploughed on with the boxes and we all agreed that the hardest part was nailing the 1mm thick panel pins into the plywood without bending them.
All of the boxes that we made are going to go up in Fairwater under the expert supervision of Community Park Ranger Gareth Stamp next Wednesday (1st June) at 12, meeting outside Fairwater Leisure Centre. He will be monitoring these boxes over the coming years to see if these rare and protected mice are found in Fairwater.
Louise Bassett from Communities First rallied together star carpenter from last time Ben (grey top) and a new recruit Lucas (blue top).
With a bit of practice already behind him, Ben turned his attention to the job with great gusto and helped his friend and cousin to put together 3 complete boxes, while still having the time to impart useful information like "a ruler is someone who governs a country, a rule is used to measure lengths Chris". - Cheeky!!
We ploughed on with the boxes and we all agreed that the hardest part was nailing the 1mm thick panel pins into the plywood without bending them.
All of the boxes that we made are going to go up in Fairwater under the expert supervision of Community Park Ranger Gareth Stamp next Wednesday (1st June) at 12, meeting outside Fairwater Leisure Centre. He will be monitoring these boxes over the coming years to see if these rare and protected mice are found in Fairwater.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Cardiff friday Morning Environmental Project: Friday 27th May Himalayan Balsam Pulling in Bute Park
Seven volunteers visited Bute Park today to help remove patches of the invasive plant himalayan balsam. Himalayan balsam plagues so much of our river banks and due to such a massive invasion and spread, it now threatens our woodlands and meadows.
Luckily, these invasive plants have such shallow roots we can pull them up very easily. This is handy as we need as many volunteers as possible to eradicate the plant completely. Each polinated flower has up to 100 viable seeds and each plant may have up to 70 flowers. This means for each plant we miss there are potentially thousands of new plants next year. The longer we fail to tackle this issue the worse the situation will get. There are plenty of opportunities to help pull some up, so give us a call if you fancy helping out.
The following photo was taken before and after a volunteer spent about 15 minutes pulling balsam and this section is now balsam free (for now):
Slideshow from today:
Map of area:
View 27.05.11 Blackweir Cardiff Friday Morning Project in a larger map
Here is a Himalayan balsam montage, which I made a couple of years ago where it domanates the banks of the River Wye, has invaded ancient semi-natural woodland and pond margins:
Luckily, these invasive plants have such shallow roots we can pull them up very easily. This is handy as we need as many volunteers as possible to eradicate the plant completely. Each polinated flower has up to 100 viable seeds and each plant may have up to 70 flowers. This means for each plant we miss there are potentially thousands of new plants next year. The longer we fail to tackle this issue the worse the situation will get. There are plenty of opportunities to help pull some up, so give us a call if you fancy helping out.
The following photo was taken before and after a volunteer spent about 15 minutes pulling balsam and this section is now balsam free (for now):
Slideshow from today:
Map of area:
View 27.05.11 Blackweir Cardiff Friday Morning Project in a larger map
Here is a Himalayan balsam montage, which I made a couple of years ago where it domanates the banks of the River Wye, has invaded ancient semi-natural woodland and pond margins:
Friday, 20 May 2011
Cardiff Rivers Group tidy up Brynfedw Woods Sunday 22nd May
Cardiff Rivers Group branched out this blustery Sunday into a blocked and stagnant woodland stream and littered Brynfedw Woods in Llanedeyrn. The eight volunteers, including 2 new recruits, continued on from recent Friday Morning Project efforts and cleared large sections of this woodland of litter and flytipping.
The group met at 10 am in blustery conditions and were cautioned about falling branches and nesting birds before heading off into the woods. As per instructions most turned up in wellies and headed into the blocked stream.
Map of site:
View Cardiff Rivers Group 22.05.11 10am-12.30 in a larger map
There were a very large number of unusual items including a sofa, bits of beds, advertising boards, a trike with only 2-wheels (a wobbly bike?), bits of cars, motorbikes, scooters, a shopping trolley frame, loads of blue post office delivery bags, loads of carpets, reg plates and a pram...
Altogether, the group in a couple of hours collected 27 rubbish bags, 3 recycling bags and about 1/2 tonne of other rubbish.
The group met at 10 am in blustery conditions and were cautioned about falling branches and nesting birds before heading off into the woods. As per instructions most turned up in wellies and headed into the blocked stream.
Map of site:
View Cardiff Rivers Group 22.05.11 10am-12.30 in a larger map
There were a very large number of unusual items including a sofa, bits of beds, advertising boards, a trike with only 2-wheels (a wobbly bike?), bits of cars, motorbikes, scooters, a shopping trolley frame, loads of blue post office delivery bags, loads of carpets, reg plates and a pram...
Altogether, the group in a couple of hours collected 27 rubbish bags, 3 recycling bags and about 1/2 tonne of other rubbish.
19.05.11 Wild Weekend for Wales: Dormouse Boxes in Fairwater
I started assisting with one of the first Wild Weekend for Wales events in Cardiff yesterday and it was great fun. Firstly, I should raise a quick point on the wildflower seed mixes that are available from B&Q. The native seed varieties are as follows:
a. Suttons Wildlife Garden, Wildflower Collection Mix. Cat number 5 011567 300484. Contains Corn Marigold, Ox Eye Daisy, Wild Pansy, Field Scabious & Field Poppy.
b. B&Q's Wildflower Collection. Cat number 0311 1239. These contain foxglove which is very poisonous, so bear this in mind. Contains Field Cornflower, Field Poppy, Foxglove, Cowslip & Ox Eye Daisy.
c. Suttons Wildlife Garden, Shaded Areas Mix. Cat number 5 011567 300620. These also contain foxglove. Contains Foxglove, Oxlip, Columbine & Wood Sage.
The first Wild Weekend for Wales Event involved making dormouse boxes to go up in Fairwater to assist the surveying work of Gareth, one of the Community Park Rangers. Previously, the Goodies in Hoodies, a group supported by Fairwater Communities First, had assisted in clearing an area of Fairwater of rubbish which appears to have perfect habitat conditions for dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius). To find out if they are present, surveyors either look for hazel nuts in which the discarded shells have been gnawed in a particular way, or boxes can be constructed and erected and these can be periodically checked (these are used all year round by the dormice). Dormice are a rare, but locally abundant, European Protected Species, so harming them in any way is a serious wildlife criminal offence, but we would like to know if they are here in Fairwater.
The first port of call was to B&Q to purchase some of the tools and materials for this project. Luckily the store at Culverhouse Cross has a massive saw which they can cut up non-tanalised wood for you. Alex, who works in the wood section was brilliant and he cut the 9mm thick x 2440mm width x 1220mm length WBP external plyboard (cat number 5 022652 835965) into strips that could fit into my car and that were the right widths for the various panels on the dormouse boxes (12, 14.2 & 15 mm). I then went over the Waterhall Youth Centre in Fairwater to help them, again with assistance from Louise Bassett from Communities First, construct the boxes. At least 10 of the children helped to measure up and cut sections out of the plywood for the various panels needed to make the box. This took longer than we expected due to the preciseness of the work. However, by 9 pm we had finished our very first prototype box, which we will improve upon on further examples next week.
More pictures to follow, but here are a couple of the pics from the day.
a. Suttons Wildlife Garden, Wildflower Collection Mix. Cat number 5 011567 300484. Contains Corn Marigold, Ox Eye Daisy, Wild Pansy, Field Scabious & Field Poppy.
b. B&Q's Wildflower Collection. Cat number 0311 1239. These contain foxglove which is very poisonous, so bear this in mind. Contains Field Cornflower, Field Poppy, Foxglove, Cowslip & Ox Eye Daisy.
c. Suttons Wildlife Garden, Shaded Areas Mix. Cat number 5 011567 300620. These also contain foxglove. Contains Foxglove, Oxlip, Columbine & Wood Sage.
The first Wild Weekend for Wales Event involved making dormouse boxes to go up in Fairwater to assist the surveying work of Gareth, one of the Community Park Rangers. Previously, the Goodies in Hoodies, a group supported by Fairwater Communities First, had assisted in clearing an area of Fairwater of rubbish which appears to have perfect habitat conditions for dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius). To find out if they are present, surveyors either look for hazel nuts in which the discarded shells have been gnawed in a particular way, or boxes can be constructed and erected and these can be periodically checked (these are used all year round by the dormice). Dormice are a rare, but locally abundant, European Protected Species, so harming them in any way is a serious wildlife criminal offence, but we would like to know if they are here in Fairwater.
The first port of call was to B&Q to purchase some of the tools and materials for this project. Luckily the store at Culverhouse Cross has a massive saw which they can cut up non-tanalised wood for you. Alex, who works in the wood section was brilliant and he cut the 9mm thick x 2440mm width x 1220mm length WBP external plyboard (cat number 5 022652 835965) into strips that could fit into my car and that were the right widths for the various panels on the dormouse boxes (12, 14.2 & 15 mm). I then went over the Waterhall Youth Centre in Fairwater to help them, again with assistance from Louise Bassett from Communities First, construct the boxes. At least 10 of the children helped to measure up and cut sections out of the plywood for the various panels needed to make the box. This took longer than we expected due to the preciseness of the work. However, by 9 pm we had finished our very first prototype box, which we will improve upon on further examples next week.
More pictures to follow, but here are a couple of the pics from the day.
Monday, 16 May 2011
16.05.11 Learning from the pro's in Merthyr; moving rubbish up steep banks with winches
Occassionally, we have to spend a day or two elsewhere topping up skills or in this case learning new ones. Several weeks ago I helped Cardiff Rivers Group to move large volumes of accumulated rubbish from the bank downstream of Radyr Cricket club across the river to Forest Farm. It was a brilliant occassion in the sun, but it was really hard work. There must be a better way.
A few weeks passed and my new colleague KWT Tidy Town's funded officer for RCT, Richard Barrett, showed me a video of winching material that he recorded while out training for his new post with our Merthyr Officer, Paul Kent. I sought permission for a day out of Cardiff as this could be very handy for us here.
Here we are, Quakers Yard, under the magnificent viaduct. The water rushes downstream here and forms eddys when it hits the massive pillars of the viaduct. This swirls, collects and dumps fly tipped items just here. Problem here is that the banks are very steep, the rocks are slipppers and the trolleys are generally razor sharp, yet dirty. Initially Rob and Paul set up a hand winch to pull items from the water,
but we quickly swapped over the heavy duty Tirfor winch which can lift 1.5 tonne and pull 2.4 t. The trolleys were grapple-hooked out and dragged up to a collecting platform away from the water's edge. The biggest item was an old metal container which was full of silt and debris. All we could do was winch it to the waters edge and we slowly winched it over until the silt was emptied; This was really hard work.
We enjoyed a brief water break, followed by the removal of our waders and Buoyancy Aids. The next part of the job was to construct an A-frame which would raise up a rope high for the pulley system. To do this we used 2x 8 foot long pieces of elm which had a Y and the end. These poles were lashed together while the rope to the bottom of the slope was tied to a tree at the bottom and a concrete pot at the top. A pulley was then added to this rope with 2 carabiners and a piece of rope which was wrapped around the rubbish and attached to the carabiner. We then had a rope attached to the pulley carabiner which enabled us to pull the items up the bank with more ease and safety compared to dragging it up the slope; genius.
For the large metal conainer, we attached the tirfor to the A-frame and the concrete pillar and the end of the wire rope was attached to rope which was attached to the container via a knot and grapple hook.
Altogether we collected 17 trolleys, 5 bikes, 2 bags of miscellaneous rubbish and the massive metal container.
Slideshow of pictures:
A few weeks passed and my new colleague KWT Tidy Town's funded officer for RCT, Richard Barrett, showed me a video of winching material that he recorded while out training for his new post with our Merthyr Officer, Paul Kent. I sought permission for a day out of Cardiff as this could be very handy for us here.
Here we are, Quakers Yard, under the magnificent viaduct. The water rushes downstream here and forms eddys when it hits the massive pillars of the viaduct. This swirls, collects and dumps fly tipped items just here. Problem here is that the banks are very steep, the rocks are slipppers and the trolleys are generally razor sharp, yet dirty. Initially Rob and Paul set up a hand winch to pull items from the water,
but we quickly swapped over the heavy duty Tirfor winch which can lift 1.5 tonne and pull 2.4 t. The trolleys were grapple-hooked out and dragged up to a collecting platform away from the water's edge. The biggest item was an old metal container which was full of silt and debris. All we could do was winch it to the waters edge and we slowly winched it over until the silt was emptied; This was really hard work.
We enjoyed a brief water break, followed by the removal of our waders and Buoyancy Aids. The next part of the job was to construct an A-frame which would raise up a rope high for the pulley system. To do this we used 2x 8 foot long pieces of elm which had a Y and the end. These poles were lashed together while the rope to the bottom of the slope was tied to a tree at the bottom and a concrete pot at the top. A pulley was then added to this rope with 2 carabiners and a piece of rope which was wrapped around the rubbish and attached to the carabiner. We then had a rope attached to the pulley carabiner which enabled us to pull the items up the bank with more ease and safety compared to dragging it up the slope; genius.
For the large metal conainer, we attached the tirfor to the A-frame and the concrete pillar and the end of the wire rope was attached to rope which was attached to the container via a knot and grapple hook.
Altogether we collected 17 trolleys, 5 bikes, 2 bags of miscellaneous rubbish and the massive metal container.
Slideshow of pictures:
Cardiff Friday Morning Project Brynfedw Woods Friday 13th Part 2...
We returned again to Brynfedw Woods in Llanedeyrn on this cloudy friday 13th. Our plan was to continue from last Friday's work but moving a little deeper into these woods (see map).
View Friday 6th May Brynfedw Woods in a larger map
We pulled out more carpets, cables, bits of motorbikes, cars, oil cans, drinks cans, bikes, kitchens, wooden school desk, Xbox chair, wheels and tyres, 1 Volleyball net pole (plus concrete base), blinds and rails and an old tent. Interestingly, we saw more evidence of the rare, but locally abundant Cider Drinking Woodcreeper (Homo sapiens ssp. whitestormii) in the same hideaway spot as last week. It is just like finding the tell tale signs of dormouse knawed hazel nuts; exciting, but not conclusive. Only by trap photography will we find conclusive proof of this reclusive and frugal woodland species.
Altogether, we collected 17 bags of rubbish of which 4 were recycling. We will return here soon, to finish the job....
Slideshow of event
Do you have somewhere near you which could do with a hand to tidy it up. Contact Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
View Friday 6th May Brynfedw Woods in a larger map
We pulled out more carpets, cables, bits of motorbikes, cars, oil cans, drinks cans, bikes, kitchens, wooden school desk, Xbox chair, wheels and tyres, 1 Volleyball net pole (plus concrete base), blinds and rails and an old tent. Interestingly, we saw more evidence of the rare, but locally abundant Cider Drinking Woodcreeper (Homo sapiens ssp. whitestormii) in the same hideaway spot as last week. It is just like finding the tell tale signs of dormouse knawed hazel nuts; exciting, but not conclusive. Only by trap photography will we find conclusive proof of this reclusive and frugal woodland species.
Altogether, we collected 17 bags of rubbish of which 4 were recycling. We will return here soon, to finish the job....
Slideshow of event
Do you have somewhere near you which could do with a hand to tidy it up. Contact Chris on 07717 412 270 or chris.partridge@keepwalestidy.org
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
11.05.11 Ely Charity Football Tournament, KWT distinguishes itself well
We were contacted by Ely Garden Villagers to see if KWT wanted to get involved in a fete like event to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Duchenne. Instead of a stand, we opted to try and put together a 5-a-side team. This proved difficult and after several late injuries including leaf fall induced tendonitis and torn crustacean ligaments(?) we settled on Jake, James and myself from Keep Wales Tidy with Cameron, a local ringer who was half some of our ages, Gareth one of the Community Park Rangers and we were all managed, coached, supported and photographed by KWT's Alaw from the touchline.
The first game was against Gafod, a big physically imposing team. None of us had played any football for years and our passing, control, movement, timing, panache, hair and flair wasn't brilliant and we thought we would do much better than our 2-0 defeat. We did show some good touches and hoped to improve later on, a bit like Germany in World Cups.
Alaw commented in the break that "Sir Alex didn't create his new team overnight after the splintering of his golden generation and we aren't that different".
This motivational talk spurned us on in the second game against Ely Hibs 2nds. These guys were young skillfull and fast and were much better than our first opponents. Bravely, we held on to a 0-0 draw against this team mostly due to poor finishing, brilliant saves from our goalkeeper James and some last ditch tackles. For the last two minutes we were just happy to kick the ball up the other end and tried to contain them. There was much relief at the final whistle.
Our heckles were up and collectively we thought we weren't so bad, but our legs were tired, ankles knackered and swollen like Nora Batty's and my achilles ached like I had been shot with an arrow in each tendon. However, we faced a team of old timers in QPR strips, who like us had keener minds than bodies (apart from one of them). Beyond all belief we scored in the first half when a corner was crossed in over the heads of most of the players and I side-footed in a volley under the goalkeeper. We had several more chances in the game to finish them off, but failed to take them. The second half saw a ju-jitsu tackle on Gareth which left him winded and temporarily paralysed, but he quickly recovered from that with liberal daubing of the magic sponge-cake. We never got that breathing space second goal despite several good chances and we paid for it late on starting with a poor pass from defence from myself and after a couple of passes they scored off a near brilliant save from James. There was no time to get another and it finished 1-1. Encouragingly, we all left the field with our heads high and quite pleased with what we achieved. Importantly we donated a little money towards the charity and helped a tiny bit towards this fantastic event. Off for a bath now as everything from my brain downwards aches.
The first game was against Gafod, a big physically imposing team. None of us had played any football for years and our passing, control, movement, timing, panache, hair and flair wasn't brilliant and we thought we would do much better than our 2-0 defeat. We did show some good touches and hoped to improve later on, a bit like Germany in World Cups.
Alaw commented in the break that "Sir Alex didn't create his new team overnight after the splintering of his golden generation and we aren't that different".
This motivational talk spurned us on in the second game against Ely Hibs 2nds. These guys were young skillfull and fast and were much better than our first opponents. Bravely, we held on to a 0-0 draw against this team mostly due to poor finishing, brilliant saves from our goalkeeper James and some last ditch tackles. For the last two minutes we were just happy to kick the ball up the other end and tried to contain them. There was much relief at the final whistle.
Our heckles were up and collectively we thought we weren't so bad, but our legs were tired, ankles knackered and swollen like Nora Batty's and my achilles ached like I had been shot with an arrow in each tendon. However, we faced a team of old timers in QPR strips, who like us had keener minds than bodies (apart from one of them). Beyond all belief we scored in the first half when a corner was crossed in over the heads of most of the players and I side-footed in a volley under the goalkeeper. We had several more chances in the game to finish them off, but failed to take them. The second half saw a ju-jitsu tackle on Gareth which left him winded and temporarily paralysed, but he quickly recovered from that with liberal daubing of the magic sponge-cake. We never got that breathing space second goal despite several good chances and we paid for it late on starting with a poor pass from defence from myself and after a couple of passes they scored off a near brilliant save from James. There was no time to get another and it finished 1-1. Encouragingly, we all left the field with our heads high and quite pleased with what we achieved. Importantly we donated a little money towards the charity and helped a tiny bit towards this fantastic event. Off for a bath now as everything from my brain downwards aches.
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