The main task today was making a compost bay from old pallets. We cleared and strimmed the area, then made the bay on the flat surface opposite. Extra strips of wood were cut and fitted to fill in gaps at the back and wire netting was fitted both sides to stop contents falling out. We then put it upright and moved it into position, leaving room for the new shed to be built. Eddie loaded some cuttings into it, the front is open so barrows and grass collectors can be emptied directly into it. The compost will be used on the gardens.

This was the first phase of our Green Community Grant project which includes making things from re-used materials, so we put one of the notices about the project on the compost bay and another on the railway wagon. The pallet left over from the compost bay will be used to make a wildlife habitat.

We filled up the bird food with Beryl’s special mix and checked what bird feeders we have, so we know what else to buy for our Green Community Grant project which includes bird table, feeders and bird food.

Wildlife seen today were a Muntjac and Hares in the fields, and Cormorants flying overhead. We also saw a Buzzard and Heron flying but I could not get any good pictures. In the distance we noticed one of the fields has become a Pig farm.

Donna and Darren walked down from the holiday cottages where they were staying. They saw us working and I explained our two projects and showed them round the mill and visitor centre while their Sheepdog, Max enjoyed playing with a wooden post.

We were given some information about our grindstones from Jonathan of the Norfolk Mills website. They are French Burrs from a quarry near Paris, which are the most expensive type, a lot of mills used much cheaper Peak stones.

We plan to start our wildflower meadow project soon, we will buy the insect hotels and make stands for them so they are the right height for the wildflower meadow when it matures, they will be put among the flowers. The weeds are gradually dying back in this area, so we should be able to start earthworks in the new year. One of the project signs had fallen over so this was fixed upright.

The river is high and fast flowing after all the heavy rain and I was expecting to have to clear fallen trees after the recent storm but we did not see any on either side of the river.

UPDATE: We now have two small compost bins and in 2023 we extended the compost bay as it was heavily used and constantly overflowing, so we doubled the size by adding two more pallets. 

Graham Bartlett                

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