The Martley footpath volunteers have been busy in the early part of 2004 despite the continuing wet weather. Our March session, under the friendly supervision of Jo Tufton, relocated and installed a new ditch crossing in Kingswood on the Eastern slope of the Teme Valley, located on the ancient path known as Chimney Lane. As the photos show, conditions on the steeply sloping and slippery clay site were challenging; it was distant from the nearest vehicle access and we could not have achieved the task without the assistance of the landowner, farmer Mr Richard Bray, who was able to deliver the heavy planks almost to where we needed them.

For our April working party we were assigned 10 waymark posts to replace. We had enough participants to divide into 2 groups each doing 5 and finished the job within the allocated morning. Although the ground remains waterlogged in many places, the relentless rain actually held off on the day, which felt pleasantly Springlike.

We continue to meet on the first Friday of the month and welcome new members, who should contact Mervyn Hardwell in the first instance via mailto:mervyn.hardwell@yahoo.com