Thursday 26/9/24 I brought some strimmer blades as we were running low, a piece of wood salvaged from the fire site, and my caliper to measure the thickness of the bridge floor panels. We plan to replace the whole floor as the boards are becoming spongy, we repaired one panel last week but the bridge is now eight years old.
While we were working at the bridge, Alan and Judith walked past the other side, so we put the bridge across for them to come over. Alan had not visited the mill since 2015, so I showed them both round and told them about our recent projects and showed videos of the water wheel turning and the meadow in flower on the display screens.
We cut the main part of the wildflower meadow recently, so Eddie strimmed around the insect hotels and Oak trees. The advice is to remove cuttings to prevent soil being enriched, but this year I raked the cuttings onto the areas where the soil is thin as we don’t get many flowers there, so enriching the soil may help.
Anne Marie moved plants from around the Oak tree across to the Lupin garden, then cut back the Montbretia and weeded the garden beside the tunnel outlet. We noticed there are no Cyclamen on the river bank this year, they normally flower from August to November.
Our incinerator lid was damaged, we think it got run over, so I used some wood and a rubber mallet to get it back into shape. We will use it soon to burn the cuttings which are building up. The insect hotel we made from a box was splitting apart, so I fitted screws each side to hold it together. Lots of insects are using it.
We had lunch outside again, Anne Marie brought us Norfolk Shortbread which was really nice. There were Buzzards calling and flying high above us. In the afternoon I tidied the visitor centre by putting the gazebo and parasol in the loft and moving the table Howard gave us and the new information panel out of the way. I put a few exhibits on the new table and stacked all the information boards under it.
Eddie and I used loppers to cut down thick weeds from the wildflower meadow. I went to get the Gator truck to load up all the thick cuttings to take to the incinerator but it wouldn’t start. I discovered the wire to the starter motor had broken off, so we used the electrical fittings and tools left over from the solar panel installation to repair it. By then it was time to lock up and come back, we saw a Jay fly up from the riverside track and the Swan family were in the river.
Thursday 3/10/24 It was a cold start to the day so Eddie lit the fire in the railway wagon and brought logs in from the wood store, he found a lot which were too long for our stove, so I cut them in half and put them in the wagon. Then the sun came out and it warmed up, so we let the fire go out.
Eddie also lit a fire in the incinerator as there were a lot of cuttings to burn, I went to the wildflower meadow and brought back thick weeds we cut down last time to burn, they can’t go in the compost bay as they don’t rot down. I brought the mower today so I cut the small lawn and entrance track as they were in the sun, the rest of the grass was too wet to cut in the morning.
I loaded up some tools and wood and went back along the track as one of the ‘No Fishing’ signs was broken, these are near overhead power lines, so casting fishing lines under them would be dangerous. On my way there I saw a Muntjac walking down the track towards me, it soon darted off into the field when it saw me. I found the fallen signpost frame and repaired it with long screws, then I hammered the posts into the bank and refitted the sign. A pair of Swans were in the river nearby while I was working.
Anne Marie brought replacement plants for the Cyclamen which we thought had been swept away by the floods earlier this year, but when we went to the river bank to decide where to put them, we saw the original one was still there, now in flower. Anne Marie planted the new ones at the top of the bank anyway and planted an Anemone around one of the trees and watered them all.
We had lunch outdoors again and a Swan was flying around several times then landed in the river, we got good views of it flying over us. Eddie saw a Goldfinch on the Nyger seed, he then filled up all the bird food and noticed birds had eaten the fat filled Coconut which Howard gave us.
In the afternoon most of the grass was in the sun and had dried out, so I cut the lawn in front of the railway wagon and Eddie cut the large lawn. I used Barry’s push mower to cut the area between the fallen walls and strimmed under the bench and around the chimney base.
Emma joined us towards the end of the day and tidied up the railway wagon, the open day bunting, posters and photo albums are now all together in one of the under-seat cupboards.
Emma walked back, Eddie took the mower and I took the recycle bins back to empty into the mixed recycling waste at The Maltings. We saw the Swans and their seven Cygnets in the river on the way back.
Graham Bartlett
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