Removing a Support Post from one of the Silver Birches   8 May 2016 - Spring Update - at long last the copse is getting back to normal, the muddy paths have finally dried out and it is once again a pleasure to walk through the woodland with the fresh green leaves appearing on the trees and the cow-parsley getting taller by the minute - due to the endless rain in the winter we had to cancel a couple of work sessions and I know many of the regular dog walkers abandoned the copse altogether for the drier paths of Hove Park - we finally had our first spring work session on 5th. March 2016 which was our Clean for the Queen Day, we managed to fill about a dozen large black bin bags with the rubbish which had accumulated over the winter - because we had registered this work session with Keep Britain Tidy our chair Ruth was invited to a thank you event at Westminster Palace where she met many like minded people from other groups around the country who are also trying to preserve our green spaces for the enjoyment of all - our next work session was in April, about 12 people came to help, one of the main tasks was to remove the Support Posts from the Silver Birches which we planted back in November 2010 and which have now grown sturdy enough to support themselves, we also cut back quite a few small shrubs and fallen trees which were beginning to block the paths through the copse

Chalk & Wood Chips on the Path at the Top of the Copse   - at the beginning of April the Council Ranger, with help from people from Community Payback, spread the chalk along the muddy paths at the top of the copse so that hopefully next winter these paths will remain useable, the chalk is already bedding in and making the paths much firmer - those of us who attended the AGM on 27th. April were able to have a preview of the draft artwork for the Information Boards, the artwork looked most attractive and I'm sure the Information Boards will provide an interesting feature in the copse as well as being very informative

- despite the bad winter the copse continued to delight with the snowdrops in January/February and the bluebells and the blackthorn in March/April. Snowdrops

English Bluebells Blackthorn Older News